Agatha [1979] [DVD]

Director Michael Apted's drama is based on a real-life incident in 1926 when crime novelist Agatha Christie disappeared, casting suspicion on her husband and sparking off a nationwide hunt.

Vanessa Redgrave is fine as the redoubtable writer of whodunnits, but Dustin Hoffman is less successful as the American journalist on her trail, and his lack of stature in his scenes with Redgrave is often comical.

Apted, meanwhile, ladles on the 1920s style, but loses his way when it comes to plot and suspense, though the overall result is entertaining enough.