Agatha (1979)

A fictional account of the real life, eleven day, never explained 1926 disappearance of famed murder mystery writer Agatha Christie is presented. On a cold winter day, her damaged car with ... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers:

Kathleen Tynan (screenplay), Arthur Hopcraft (screenplay),

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Wally Stanton
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Agatha Christie
Timothy Dalton	...	Col. Archibald Christie
Helen Morse	...	Evelyn Crawley
Celia Gregory	...	Nancy Neele
Paul Brooke	...	John Foster
Carolyn Pickles	...	Charlotte Fisher
Timothy West	...	Kenward
Tony Britton	...	William Collins
Alan Badel	...	Lord Brackenbury
Robert Longden	...	Pettelson
Donald Nithsdale	...	Uncle Jones
Yvonne Gilan	...	Mrs. Braithwaite
Sandra Voe	...	Therapist
Barry Hart	...	Supt. MacDonald

Storyline

A fictional account of the real life, eleven day, never explained 1926 disappearance of famed murder mystery writer Agatha Christie is presented. On a cold winter day, her damaged car with her expensive fur coat is found abandoned at the side of a country road. While the authorities initially suspect that she could have committed suicide, her pompous husband, Col. Archibald Christie, who is less than cooperative with the authorities, is adamant that she is still alive. What he doesn't tell them is that he recently asked her for a divorce so that he could marry his secretary, Miss Nancy Neele. Although the divorce request was not a total surprise since she knew of the extramarital affair, Mrs. Christie still did not want to grant him the request since she still loves him. Concurrently, American newspaper columnist Wally Stanton was scheduled to conduct an interview with Mrs. Christie. Since he can no longer do so with her disappearance, Stanton instead tries to find out himself what ...

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Plot Keywords:

suicide attempt | divorce | newspaper columnist | health spa | electric chair | 

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Taglines:

A fictional solution to the real mystery of Agatha Christie's disappearance.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 February 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Mistério de Agatha

Filming Locations:

Bath, Somerset, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sweetwall, First Artists, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Vanessa Redgrave (Agatha Christie) and Timothy Dalton (Colonel Archibald Christie) previously played another real life married couple, Mary, Queen of Scots and her second husband Lord Darnley, in Mary, Queen of Scots. Though they never married in real life, they were in a relationship from 1971 to 1986.

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Connections

Version of Agatha Christie: A Life in Pictures (2004)

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Soundtracks

"Close Enough for Love"
(theme for Agatha)
Sung by Pattie Brooks
Lyrics by Paul Williams
Music by Johnny Mandel

User Reviews

What a Great Villain is Timothy Dalton

Fie on all adulterers!!!! Vanessa makes you feel her pain as she is rejected by her handsome cold husband and then subjected to his lies about his new mistress. We follow her thought processes, so good is her acting, as she mulls over suicide and the various ways it may be accomplished. Her masochistic love for this man is hard to believe, unless you've been caught up in the spell of a @#$$^$*%()_ , know what I mean? She certainly doesn't need him, financially.

Anyway, Dustin Hoffman comes along playing a hard-eyed, confident newspaper man, quite against type. He meets the wealthy owner of the paper he's stringing for eye to eye with great firmness. The way he brings another reporter into some high faluting meeting place over the snobbish insults of the wait-staff is a beautiful and subtle thing to watch.

I of course enjoyed all the English scenery at Bath, England at the old hotel there meant for folks in the old days to take different 'cures'. Of course, we're talking the idle rich here, and it was rather fascinating since we have our own Warm Springs, also used for similar type cures during the 30s and 40s.

Buy the movie for your big screen TV, and back it up with some Merchant Ivory for a great evening of hoighty-toighty England.