‘AFTER THE PROMISE’ SUNDAY ON CBS

“After the Promise” (Sunday at 9 p.m. on CBS Channels 2 and 8) revives a ‘30s stock villain: social workers whose half-baked theories separate children from those who love them.

But instead of Shirley Temple, Mark Harmon is the star here. He plays a Depression-era father who loses his four boys to the welfare department after his wife dies.

In depicting what happens to the kids, Robert W. Lenski’s script (based on a story by Sebastian Milito, “inspired by actual events”) goes much farther than the ‘30s movies ever did. After nine months in a foster home and a foiled rescue attempt by their father, the boys are sent to a miserable compound for the retarded. This place makes the Squeers home in “Nicholas Nickleby” look like Club Med.

The boys are at the heart of the film. The two older ones escape their initial tormentors only to be caught, beaten and sent to mental hospitals. The youngest one struggles through a series of foster homes. This is harrowing material.

Unfortunately, most of it isn’t on the screen. Because Harmon is the star, the film keeps returning to the father, whose story isn’t nearly as interesting. His one rescue attempt is over almost as soon as it begins. The father gets mad, but he doesn’t get even.

Years pass. Because the film covers such a long period, three sets of actors play the boys, which effectively prevents us from identifying closely with any of them.

Meanwhile, the father marries and vows to build a house for his offspring. But we don’t see him taking direct action to locate or free the boys; he refers to lawyers we never meet. Because this is a TV movie, a reunion is inevitable, but the struggle isn’t visible enough.

The actors do their best (though someone with grittier looks--say, Randy Quaid--might bring more to the blandly written role of the father). Director David Greene’s unerring eye creates some striking compositions. Too bad the script doesn’t measure up.