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The Disappearance of Aimee

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The Disappearance of Aimee
VHS box art
GenreBiography
Drama
Based onDisappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson
Written byJohn McGreevey
Directed byAnthony Harvey
StarringFaye Dunaway
Bette Davis
James Sloyan
James Woods
Music bySteve Byrne
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerThomas W. Moore
ProducerPaul Leaf
Production locationsUniversal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California
CinematographyJames Crabe
EditorsArline Garson
Jerry Greenberg
Running time100 minutes
Production companiesHallmark Hall of Fame
Tomorrow Entertainment
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseNovember 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

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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

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Mention in Bette Davis Memoir

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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.

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