Agatha 1978 ***

Early work from documentary director Michael Apted, before he moved to a Bond blockbuster level, this engaging curiosity features Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha Christie, and focuses on her eleven-day disappearance circa 1926. Dustin Hoffman is Wally Stanton, an American journalist determined to track down the truth, and Timothy Dalton is the obstructive, philandering husband who stands in his way. Agatha was part of 1970’s cinema’s yearning for the past, but serves up a crisp, well-acted period drama, with Hoffman and Redgrave convincing. Photographed by the great Vittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now)