"The Disappearance of Aimee" is a made for TV movie about a famous woman who has been pretty much forgotten by most people. Because of this, I want to explain the context for the story...one that isn't given in the movie. In the early 20th century, this Canadian evangelist moved to the States and soon became the most famous preacher in North America, if not the world. She was the first big religious radio personality and her ministry built a huge church for her services. Despite this, she's mostly forgotten today because as time passes, more and more people seem to have accepted that she was a fake...a woman who did fake faith healings and who lived a life far different from her public image. In particular, this film focuses on her disappearance in the 1920s. She was assumed to have drowned initially but later she showed up...claiming to having been a kidnap victim. This film is about the hearing in which she was on trial for fraud...fraud related to her apparently faux kidnapping.
The story behind the filming is perhaps more interesting than the script! Bette Davis apparently hated her co-star, Fay Dunaway. Davis was famous for either helping and supporting actresses who worked with her....or hating them and openly showing contempt for them (such as the case with Dunaway and Marilyn Monroe, to name a few). As for Dunaway, she has a reputation as an extremely difficult person. The combination of these two strong personalities must have proved daunting for the film's director!
So is the film worth seeing? Yes, though I really wish the style of the movie had been different. It's told from the time of her kidnapping with occasional flashbacks. As a result, it's not really a full story of her life, her impact or her ministry. Of course, to do this would probably require a mini-series! But if you want a full picture of McPherson, you just might want to read up on her instead. Like her or not, she was an amazing personality!
