The Disappearance of Aimee

The Disappearance of Aimee
VHS box art
Genre	Biography Drama
Based on	Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson
Written by	John McGreevey
Directed by	Anthony Harvey
Starring	Faye Dunaway Bette Davis James Sloyan James Woods
Music by	Steve Byrne
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Executive producer	Thomas W. Moore
Producer	Paul Leaf
Production locations	Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
Cinematography	James Crabe
Editors	Arline Garson Jerry Greenberg
Running time	100 minutes
Production companies	Hallmark Hall of Fame Tomorrow Entertainment
Original release
Network	NBC
Release	November 17, 1976 (1976-11-17)

The Disappearance of Aimee is a 1976 American made-for-television biographical drama film directed by Anthony Harvey and starring Faye Dunaway as the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, co-starring Bette Davis, James Sloyan and James Woods. The film originally premiered as a presentation of Hallmark Hall of Fame on NBC on November 17, 1976.

Plot

Based on true events, the film attempts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson in 1926 and the court case that followed her safe return after she was missing for four weeks.

Cast

• Faye Dunaway as Aimee Semple McPherson
• Bette Davis as Minnie Kennedy
• James Sloyan as District Attorney Asa Keyes
• James Woods 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.

Appropriately, Dunaway would go on to portray Davis’s heyday peer and rival, Joan Crawford, in the 1981 cult classic film Mommie Dearest.

External links

• The Disappearance of Aimee at IMDb
• The Disappearance of Aimee at the TCM Movie Database
• The Disappearance of Aimee at AllMovie