Seance on a Wet Afternoon **** (1964, Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Nanette Newman, Patrick Magee, Margaret Lacey) – Classic Movie Review 2425

Writer-director-co-producer Bryan Forbes directed this extraordinary, spine-tingling psychological thriller about a near insane medium. Seance on a Wet Afternoon is an exciting work of a gifted British film-maker in his creative prime in 1964.

Kim Stanley stars as Myra Savage, frustrated because she has received little professional recognition, who conceives a shocking scheme to win acclaim for her psychic powers. But her real trouble is that she is also dominated by her relationship with the spirit of her son Arthur, who died at birth, the cause of her mentally instability.

Richard Attenborough also stars as her weak, unemployed but devoted husband Billy, whom she involves in a plot to kidnap Amanda Clayton, the adolescent daughter of a wealthy couple, so that she can appear to trace the girl through her psychic powers.

Myra and Billy intend to return the £25,000 ransom money along with the girl after Myra has become famous for helping to find her.

Judith Donner plays the kidnapped child and Nanette Newman is her distracted mother, with Mark Eden as Mr Clayton. 

The formidable acting makes the most of a first-rate, literate, if dialogue-heavy script from Forbes, who adapted Mark McShane’s 1961 novel and co-produced the film with Attenborough. Stanley and Attenborough kick up quite an emotional storm and Forbes’s handling is extremely tense, moody and creepily atmospheric.

Also in the cast are Patrick Magee as Superintendent Walsh, Gerald Sim as Detective Sergeant Beedle, Margaret Lacey as woman at first séance, Marie Burke as woman at first séance, Maria Kazan as woman at first séance, Margaret McGrath as woman at first séance, Lionel Gamlin as man at séances, Godfrey James as Mrs. Clayton’s Chauffeur, Ronald Hines as Policeman outside Clayton’s, Hajni Biro as Maid at Clayton’s, Diana Lambert as Mr Clayton’s Secretary, Frank Singuineau as Bus Conductor, Marian Spencer, and Stanley Morgan as Man in Trilby.

Shelley Winters claimed she rejected the role of Myra. However, it has been reported that Deborah Kerr and Simone Signoret were approached for the part, but turned it down.

Attenborough later claimed American theatre and TV actress Stanley was the best choice, saying the ‘complexity of dramatic impression vital to the credibility of Myra was hard to find. Also an intellectual ability to follow and understand the character. I didn’t believe Simone (Signoret) could convey, as Kim did, the otherworldliness which this woman inhabited in her private fantasies.’ Film-wise, Stanley had previously only starred in the 1958 movie The Goddess.

It is shot at Pinewood Studios and at locations around London, including Trafalgar Square, Wimbledon, several London Underground stations and the derelict Staines Greyhound Stadium.

The sets are designed by Ray Simm.

It was made for £139,000, but it was a box office failure, and its losses – along with those of Life for Ruth (1962) – caused the demise of the Allied Film Makers company, formed by Basil Dearden, Michael Relph, Jack Hawkins, Richard Attenborough and Bryan Forbes. Whistle Down the Wind (1961) was a hit for the company.

Allied Film Makers films: The League of Gentlemen (1960), Man in the Moon (1960), Whistle Down the Wind (1961), Victim (1961), Life for Ruth (1962) and Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964).

Marlon Brando on Kim Stanley: ‘Nothing like the honesty and intense emotional gambling in which she engages in The Goddess and Seance on a Wet Afternoon had been attempted before: It was dangerous acting, and she was remarkable. Any deficiencies I confidently bestow upon her directors, neither of whom knew how to handle her or appreciate her or amplify her.’

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2425

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