Seance on a Wet Afternoon

In an Oscar-nominated role, Kim Stanley turns in a quietly riveting performance as Myra Savage, a middle-aged woman whose sad, mildly bonkers relationship with her milquetoast but supportive husband Billy (the great Sir Richard Attenborough) revolves around the unspoken (and unaccepted on Myra's part) long ago loss of their only child--a stillborn son named Arthur. Like the psychological equivalent of peeling an onion, the peculiar symbiotic relationship between the Savages is only gradually revealed in Bryan Forbes' 1964 thriller, in which Myra, a self-professed and unquestionably sincere psychic who holds weekly meetings for lost and grieving London locals, convinces Billy to kidnap the young daughter of a wealthy couple for a sizable ransom. The twist (or at least one of them): Myra hopes to prove her psychic abilities by "finding" the child. Although somewhat dated, Séance on a Wet Afternoon still offers reasonable chills, especially from the frisson created by poor Billy's dilemma, caught as he is between the prospect of committing a crime (for which he would do hard time) and respecting the wishes of a woman whom he deeply loves, regardless of her questionable mental state. Unfortunately, the disc sports an average transfer, at best, with occasional dirt and scratches and some halo effects, and contains no extras. Still, this is a solid cerebral chiller that is recommended for larger collections. (R. Pitman)