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

David Puttnam was involved with the production but left when much of the script was re-written to accommodate Dustin Hoffman. David Puttnam vowed never to work with Dustin Hoffman again.

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood Remembers Dustin Hoffman (2000)

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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

OK speculative film about Christie's "disappearance"

This film is about the "disappearance" of Agatha Christie in 1926. It matches what is known about this episode pretty well. What happened was that Mrs. Christie's husband was having an affair, and making little effort to hide it. Her car was found abandoned near a lake, with her ID and other possessions strewn about. She checked into a health spa under the surname of her husband's mistress for about eleven days. There was a big uproar in the press, and some of the spa's other guests noticed the likeness to Christie of the stranger there but she just laughed it off. When she returned she claimed amnesia, but no one believed that. She never spoke of the episode again, and it is not mentioned in her autobiography. (There is no evidence that her husband's mistress was at that spa.) At least the film says up-front that the story told is "speculation". In these times of historical fabrications by the likes of Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg, that is a bit refreshing. Having said all that, this is an OK film. Vanessa Redgrave does her usual top-notch acting. It was fun seeing Dustin Hoffman Hitting on her, and dancing with her, him being at least six inches shorter.