Escape to Witch Mountain

The story is about two orphans, Tony and Tia, who have moderate paranormal abilities. They live in a juvenile detention home under grim, unwholesome conditions. Both have repressed memories of their past, but discover clues -- a map and a huge amount of money -- hidden in the bottom of a leather box owned by Tia. With the assistance of a tough-nut inner-city Irish priest, the pair run away. As with most of Alexander Key's stories, they find that most of the people they meet are untrustworthy, greedy and hateful. As their memories begin to return, they realize that they are actually of extraterrestrial origin, and in the end they find their way to their own people.

This plotline somewhat resembles the fiction of Zenna Henderson and there is some evidence that Key was influenced by her writings.

In the film version, the children are adopted by a millionaire who plans to use their abilities to his own purposes. The story has been considerably cleaned and lightened up from the original novel, and the children's powers have been amplified to the point of absurdity.

Cast of the original version: