''The Disappearance of Aimee'' is a 1976 American made-for-television

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

directed by

Anthony Harvey Anthony Harvey (3 June 1930 – 23 November 2017) was an English filmmaker who began his career as a teenage actor, was a film editor in the 1950s and moved into directing in the mid-1960s. Harvey had fifteen film credits as an editor, and he ...

and starring

Faye Dunaway Dorothy Faye Dunaway (born January 14, 1941) is an American actress. She is the recipient of many accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and a BAFTA Award. In 2011, the government of France mad ...

as the

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a co ...

Aimee Semple McPherson Aimee Elizabeth Semple McPherson (née Kennedy; October 9, 1890 – September 27, 1944), also known as Sister Aimee or Sister, was a Canadian Pentecostal evangelist and media celebrity in the 1920s and 1930s,Obituary ''Variety'', October ...

, co-starring

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her p ...

James Sloyan James Joseph Sloyan (born February 24, 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American actor. Early years Sloyan left the United States at an early age to live abroad in Rome, Capri, Milan, Switzerland, and Ireland. His career in show busi ...

and

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off- Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in ''The Trial of the ...

. The film originally premiered as a presentation of ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City-based greeting card company. The longest-running prime-time series in ...

'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

on November 17, 1976.

Plot

Based on true events, the film attempts to investigate the mysterious

disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson On May 18, 1926, Christianity, Christian Evangelism, evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared from Venice Beach, California, after going for a swim. She reappeared in Mexico five weeks later, stating she had escaped from kidnappers there. ...

in 1926 and the court case that followed her safe return after she was missing for four weeks.

Cast

as Minnie Kennedy *

as District Attorney Asa Keyes *

as Assistant District Attorney Joseph Ryan *John Lehne as Captain Cline * Lelia Goldoni as Emma Shaffer * Severn Darden as S.I. Gilbert * William Jordan as Kenneth Ormiston

Mention in Bette Davis Memoir

In her memoir '' This 'n That'' (1987, Berkley Pub Group), Bette Davis recounted several anecdotes about working on ''The Disappearance of Aimee''. Among them was that her co-star, Faye Dunaway, was one of the most unprofessional people she had ever worked with. Davis stated that Dunaway would show up hours late, not knowing her lines, and being generally difficult. For one of the scenes in the un-air-conditioned tabernacle, over 1800 unpaid extras (locals who had been promised a box lunch and a chance to be in a movie) were left for hours awaiting Dunaway's arrival. When they finally began leaving, Davis rushed to the pulpit and began singing "I've Written a Letter to Daddy," a song from her wildly popular 1962 film '' What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?''. Hearing her, many returned to their seats in the pews.

External links

* * * 1976 television films 1976 films 1970s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Drama films based on actual events Aimee Semple McPherson NBC network original films Hallmark Hall of Fame episodes Films directed by Anthony Harvey 1970s English-language films 1970s American films {{bio-film-stub