Baffled

This non_classic, remembered fondly by some, forgotten by most, is likely to be enjoyed the most by fans of 1970s made-for-tv genre movies, Leonard Nimoy or Vera Miles completists, or avid fans of all things psychic. It is in the same vein as The Sixth Sense tv series, AKA Circle of Fear, with Gary Collins, except that where the latter was quite earnest, Baffled is relatively light-hearted and decidedly unintense. It consists largely of Leonard Nimoy driving around a rear-projection landscape, mannequins being tossed off of cliffs, and cheeky flirtation among certain of the adult leads. Baffled is a mellow easy chair in which you might sit as you fold your laundry.

In between his iconic small screen and big screen STAR TREK career, Leonard Nimoy headlined this television movie that was really an intended pilot for a British series co-starring sophisticated blonde beauty Susan Hamphire: an ESP expert aiding Nimoy's famous race car driver to channel visions of a veteran actress murdered in a castle where he, reluctantly at first, takes on the case...

BAFFLED! has all the elements of a good mystery but without enough doomed tension. And yet it works from the affable chemistry between Nimoy and Hampshire, brightening up the surrounding ensemble of Agatha Christie-like suspects including a tempestuous Rachel Roberts; Vera Miles as the possibly doomed starlet; and scene-stealing Jewel Blanch as a childlike pre-teen whose personality morphs into a creepy, possessed teenager...

Making the best scenes a "Spock verses THE EXORCIST" kind of thing, and a year earlier. But it's really Susan Hampshire's ride. She energetically tackles the part as if it were truly the beginning of an assured series. In fact this "movie" ends with their next case shaping up. Sadly, it was her show to lose.

Leonard Nimoy stars as a race car driver with psychic visions in "Baffled!" also starring Susan Hampshire, Vera Miles, Rachel Roberts, and Jewel Blanch. After the Nimoy character reports on television that he had a vision that caused him to lose control of his race car during a competition, he is visited by Susan Hampshire. She is a student of psychic phenomenon and believes he should follow up on what he saw - a manor house in England, the phrase "It's Wyndham in Devon, dear," and a familiar-looking woman who is need of help.

He agrees to join her after he has another vision which is much stronger -- and scarier - than the previous one. The two of them end up at a manor house which has been turned into a sort of resort hotel. There, they meet the woman of the vision - an American film star who is waiting for her ex-husband, her young daughter, and some rather strange characters.

Judging by what happens at the end of this entertaining movie, "Baffled" seems to have been a pilot for a TV series. The stars - Hampshire and Nimoy - are delightful, and the story is an interesting one that manages to tie in not only psychic phenomenon but a satanic element as well. Vera Miles does an effective job as a woman anticipating a reunion with her ex, Rachel Roberts is terrific as the owner of Wyndham, and Jewel Blanch is very good as Miles' daughter.

This intriguing story will hold the viewer's interest, and it is immensely helped by the likability of the main characters.

BAFFLED is a mystery whodunit in which the twist is that "it" has not been done yet: due to clairvoyant episodes of the protagonist played by Leonard Nimoy, who then promptly teams up with a psychic expert to prevent "it" from happening, the story takes place before "it" is done.

This is a light entertaining film which was apparently filmed as a pilot to a series that never got off the ground. Though much of it plays like a cinematic movie, the credit sequence and ending allow one to guess as much.

The thing that struck me most about this film was the choice of Leonard Nimoy as the lead character in a role that would have been a much more obvious fit with someone like (ideally) Rock Hudson. Nimoy already has quite a serious face, and his close identification with his role as the ultra-serious Mr Spock in the STAR TREK franchise would not naturally suggest him in scenes of lighthearted banter.

However, he does lighten up in the movie, we see him smile frequently, and the initial feeling of the oddness of the choice of the lead does subside eventually. Who knows, had the series got off the ground, his aura of seriousness might even have faded.

The film has some editing issues (perhaps due to time constraints?), there is a car chase which is pretty lame by today's standards (though FRENCH CONNECTION (1971) and its phenomenal car chase scene were filmed the year prior, so we know people could do better even back then), and the supernatural shtick got a bit much for my taste, but nonetheless it keeps the audience guessing with various red herrings while doing a good job of only gradually revealing the mystery.

This is especially for people who want to see Mr. Spock like they've never seen him before, but fans of old-fashioned light mystery films might also enjoy this.

Learning that this was intended as a pilot for a tv series actually helps sum up how this movie felt to me. There were hints throughout that the main characters, Spock and his lady interest, either had a prior relationship or were building toward a more involved future one. There are no big surprises here and there is definitely plenty of 70s cheese. But I found myself watching the entire movie and enjoying it. Worth a look if you come across it.