The Disappearance of Aimee (TV) [1976] Faye Dunaway

http://bayimg.com/oaInmAaDo The Disappearance of Aimee http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074411/ THE SOURCE VIDEO IS FORTY YEARS OLD THERE IS IMAGE DEGRADATION IN THE FIRST FEW MINUTES. The Disappearance of Aimee is a 1976 telemovie drama. It was directed by Anthony Harvey for Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions. It stars Faye Dunaway as the evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, with Bette Davis and James Woods. Based on true events, it attempts to investigate the mysterious disappearance of McPherson in 1926 and the court case that followed her safe return after being missing for four weeks. Faye Dunaway ... Sister Aimee Semple McPherson Bette Davis ... Minnie Kennedy James Sloyan ... Dist. Atty. Asa Keyes James Woods ... Asst. Disty. Atty. Joseph Ryan John Lehne ... Capt. Cline Lelia Goldoni ... Emma Shaffer Severn Darden ... S.I. Gilbert William Jordan ... Kenneth Ormiston Sandy Ward ... Judge Blake Barry Brown ... Wallace Moore Irby Smith ... Benedict Hartley Silver ... Clerk Superb. Spellbinding. Those highly complimentary adjectives can be ascribed rightly to the 1976 made-for-television movie The Disappearance of Aimee, which covers the trial (and the circumstances leading up to it)of celebrated evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson, whose disappearance for over a month from May to June in 1926 sparked a nationwide manhunt. (At first, it was presumed that she had drowned; then, that she had been kidnapped.) Round-the-clock prayer vigils were held for Aimee's safe return, and Aimee's mother, ever the opportunist, capitalized very profitably upon her daughter's probable watery demise. However, a less-than-desirable reason came to light for Aimee's vanishing act. Aimee was apparently involved romantically with her radio engineer Kenneth Ormiston, a married man. Another unfortunate by-product of the rescue effort for her were the drowning deaths of two of the searchers.Therefore, a bill of indictment was returned against Aimee and her mother, Minnie Kennedy, charging them both with obstruction of justice. The movie itself is an interesting collage of silent movie titles, newsreel-type snippets, and is filmed in black-and-white, as well as in color. The sets and costumes are authentic; the filming itself redolent of the style used in the 1930's and 1940's. The most outstanding feature, though, is the deportment of the actors; they do not slouch, mumble, use obscenities nor any other incongruous expressions. They behave, and express themselves faithfully in accordance with the mores of that period. The film switches very smoothly between the testimony of the sensational trial and the equally peculiar events leading up to it. the cast of characters is a marriage made in Heaven; each individual player fits perfectly in the role, and suitably complements the others. Faye Dunaway is dynamic as the flamboyant female evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson. the electricity of her performance at a revival service is almost palpable, and Ms. Dunaway captures to perfection all of the nuances (conniving opportunism, ecstatic exaltation, counterfeit wounded innocence) of Aimee Semple McPherson's complex, carefully-constructed stage persona. Bette Davis (as Minnie Kennedy, Aimee's mother) adds a new dimension to the term control freak. Her performance as the cold, calculating, domineering mother is masterful - and pure Bette Davis. James Sloyan is excellent as the hard-hitting District Attorney Asa Keyes, whose ruthless, unrelenting style of cross-examination seeks to disclose all of the sordid details of the supposed kidnapping. James Wood (who plays the Assistant District Attorney, Joseph Ryan) gives his usual taut, tense performance, culminating in a courtroom screaming match from the witness stand with Sister Aimee when he becomes exercised over her obvious lies. Lelia Goldoni (as Emma Shaffer, Sister Aimee's secretary) is convincingly prim and pious: unshakable in her testimony (while being pounded with embarrassing questions by the prosecutor), and unswervingly loyal in her devotion to her employer and mentor, Aimee Semple McPherson. Barry Brown (as Wallace Moore, a young reporter for the Santa Barbara Press) certainly does not disappoint, turning out his usual talented, professional performance as a nervous, eager-beaver, very kinetic newspaperman who is deployed by his city editor to wait at a spot nearby on the Pacific Coast Highway for the advent of Kenneth Ormiston and Aimee Semple McPherson (both of whom are reported to be traveling that stretch of road south from San Luis Obispo, after hiding out together in a secret love nest in Carmel.) Moore is then to confront, and identify the runaway lovers - thus scoring a master coup for the local newspaper. William Jordan (as Kenneth Ormiston, Sister Aimee's lover/radio engineer) is a man very sure of himself, and unctuously agreeable (particularly to Aimee's mother, who hates him and fires him, perceiving rightly the threat that he represents to Aimee's (and her)lucrative ministry. Other actors of note are John Lehne (who plays the deceptively soft-spoken, yet resolutely cynical Police Capt. Herman Cline; Severn Darden (as S.I. Gilbert, the defense attorney for Sister Aimee and her mother); and Sandy Ward (Judge Blake, who presides over the proceedings.) After a enervating two-month trial (at which critical evidence important to the prosecution cannot be introduced, since during the Grand Jury hearing prior, a female juror sympathetic to Aimee had stolen and destroyed it), District Attorney Asa Keyes wearily moves to drops all charges against the defendants (citing lack of evidence), and on January 10, 1927, Sister Aimee and her mother are, in effect, exonerated (at least in the eyes of their devoted followers.) The movie very skillfully describes a vignette from the life of a celebrated pre-Depression-era religious leader/performer, and also affords the viewer a glimpse into the world (sometimes gloomy, sometimes colorful) of the evangelist - before the age in which evangelism became a televised media event. Still vibrant after an absence of 30 years, The Disappearance of Aimee is truly a rare, sparkling gem of a film; definitely do not miss this excellent movie.

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thinkofone (2012-04-05)

I'd been looking forward to seeing this rarity, but the going was very slow and now I'm stuck on 87.5% with no seeds! Help!
thinkofone