Baffled

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.

One of my sci-fi/horror/fantasy reviews written 50 years ago: Directed and Produced by Philip Leacock at Pinewood Studios for Arena Productions and ITC. A British-U. S. Telefilm co-production broadcast by NBC. Screenplay by Theodore Apstein; Photography by Ken Hodges; Edited by Bill Blunden; Music by Richard Hill. Starring: Leonard Nimoy, Susan Hampshire, Rachel Roberts, Vera Miles, Jewel Blanche, Angharad Rees, Val Taylor, Mike Murray and Al Mancini.

Slick TV pilot pegged on prescience with dozens of red herrings and preposterous antics as Rachel dabbles in supernatural regaining her youth at the expense of aging young Miss Blanche. Fine cast and Hodges' lensing redeem this turkey.

The plot was pretty straightforward, but I thought that the writing, direction, and the acting were actually quite good.

I particularly liked the dialog between the two leads. There was a good chemistry and considering the time and that it was a Telefilm for a pilot, it COULD have simply been tossed off without much thought put into it. But, I liked the humour and interplay between them.

You could tell that they were sort of shooting for a feel similar to the series The Avengers. Between the two of them, her being British and him being a pretty cool fellow, I felt it worked rather well.

There was a decent Mystery too, and I liked the way the story unfolded where they continued to build a sense of tension as the audience tries to figure out what is going on.

Again, considering the time and type of film, the characters were all portrayed fairly well. Usually during that time and with such a low budget production, you would see a lot of overacting and hammy performances, but not here.

It was really nice to see Leonard Nimoy in such a role and see him smiling freely and using humour, which as we all are well aware for a few years there we almost never got to see... : )

All 'n' all I truly felt it was a fun, entertaining movie. If you have the right mindset for the time and what kind of production it is, and you are not expecting too much, then you may very well find some enjoyment here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ MY PARTICULAR WAY OF RATING:

5 - Flawed, but with some entertainment value.

6. A decently passable story maybe worth a watch.

7. A solid film, well made, effective, and entertaining.

And, obviously, you can probably figure out what above and below these would mean... : )

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.

A race car driver suddenly develops a strange psychic ability to detect impending danger. He has a vision involving a woman in peril; a parapsychologist implores him to find her and try to avert whatever danger she is in. He winds up at an English manor house – the one he saw in his vision – where he encounters the woman and a host of other untrustworthy characters.

Leonard Nimoy seems to have been enjoying himself in the title role of this entertaining TV movie. Like others have said, it does have the whiff of a pilot for a TV series about it. It would be quite easy to imagine a male/female psychic/parapsychologist team going around and saving innocent people from bad guys every week. But alas no, there was no series of this. However, that doesn't change the fact that Baffled! is a fair amount of fun. It has a pretty compelling mystery plot to it that combines ESP with the occult. The acting from everyone is good while the production values have that solid made for TV cosiness about them. If I had to make a complaint, it would be a minor one, but it would be that despite the great build it has a slightly overly silly denouncement that would not have looked out of place in a Scooby Doo cartoon. But, no matter, this one is still a lot of fun.