An einem trüben Nachmittag

Forbes also wrote this one (as he often did). It's hard to find any fault with this movie. You can't get much better than a film, not only written and directed by Forbes, but starring an unforgettable pairing in Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough. Ms. Stanley didn't make too many movies, but this one is enough to show why she's often thought of as the best stage actress of the 20th century.

Just to tell a small bit of the story, it's about a woman and her husband who earn some money giving séances for people. It's unclear whether the husband, played by Attenborough, actually believes anything supernatural is going on, because as the story progresses, what does become clear is that his wife, played by Stanley, is having, or has already had, a serious break with reality.

A word of warning to those thinking this is a movie about the supernatural given the film's title—it is not, although some may see something of the supernatural in the wife's delusional mode of existence. The film is actually about something entirely different—the kidnapping of a young girl. Very suspensefully done from beginning to end.

One of the best British films of the 1960's, "Seance on a Wet Afternoon" is now available on DVD through general distribution. This should help the film to gain the wider appeal that it deserves.

This succeeds on all levels - extraordinary direction with riveting tracking shots, evocative cinematography, great set pieces, a winding plot, and amazing acting from the two leads. The showy yet introspective role of Myra Savage might be one to elicit histrionics and stern looks in the wrong hands, but the character is immensely deepened and supplemented by Kim Stanley's superbly rich "Method" performance. Stanley is matched by Richard Attenborough's Bill Savage, attenuated and subordinated by his wife's unstable, grasping personality.

Much has been said about Stanley's performance as a deserving Academy Award winner. This is difficult to judge. Most of the awards presented in 1965 were for lighter films, and it is difficult to find fault with Julie Andrew's now legendary performance as "Mary Poppins". Deeper inspection of past Awards shows a predilection toward films of an escapist nature during certain times, such as "Going My Way" during the dark, uncertain days of World War II 1943/1944. Could the same be said of the tumultuous aftermath of Kennedy's assassination and other upheavals? Under any circumstance, this film is a masterpiece with no small debt to the acting of Stanley and Attenborough. Seek this out and you will be richly rewarded - 10 out of 10.

One Saturday afternoon (not a wet one!) my mother happened to flick over from the sports on one channel to uncover an absolute gem of BRITISH Cinema from the 1960's. A little later I happened to come from my 'office', from where I run my home-based business, into the living room and was utterly transfixed by some of the greatest acting of all time in a British picture, together with a masterpiece of investigating the cinematic possibilities of the British city- and landscape. It's such a shame that the film wasn't a commercial success and that the independent production company behind it folded not long after the film's release. Both Mum and myself were amazed that we'd never even heard of Kim Stanley, who apparently was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in 'Seance...'. She should have been in more films than she was, but then again that was her choice to go more for theatrical work. I'd recommend this film to anybody and give it top rating.

An unsuccessful psychic and spiritualist has grown frustrated with her lack of celebrity--and so devises a plan to bring herself the fame she craves. She and her husband will kidnap a child. When the police are baffled and press coverage has reached a fevered pitch, she will have a "vision" that will lead to the child's recovery and the reap the rewards of publicity. But no sooner is the plan underway than there are complications--and in this instance the complications are the characters themselves.

Everything about Brian Forbes' SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON is understated yet oddly moody. The story, although unusual, is told in a direct sort of way; although it offers an occasional twist, the plot avoids tricky devices. The script is very natural sounding, the black and white cinematography avoids undue cleverness, and the background music is discreet. This throws all attention on the characters--and Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough offer amazing performances, with Stanley the very personification of rising madness and Attenborough painfully accurate as her emotionally dependent husband.

The interplay between Stanley and Attenborough is justly famous, and the two stars are well supported, most particularly by Judith Donner as the kidnapped child and Nanette Newman as her distracted mother. The film has a dreamy, claustrophobic quality that many will find fascinating; some, however, may consider it a bit talky and its conclusion an anticlimax. But if you are in the mood for a psychological thriller that really is psychological, you couldn't pick a better choice for rainy day viewing. Recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I remember seeing Seance on a Wet Afternoon, before I was teenager. And then seeing it again five or six years later. It still had the same impact watching the movie as I was young child. If this playing on TV tomorrow, I would watch Seance before any TV show. It is an excellent study of characters in story. This is one the movies made me interested in older films. I did not care if the movie was in black and white or color as long as the film is made well. I enjoy for the mysterious atmosphere the movie is set and creativity that the actors bring to their roles. The plot had been copied many of times on film and TV but never can duplicated. Kim Stanley plays the strong controlling wife who does the seances and Richard Attenborough as her weak husband. If like the Others and Sixth Sense, you might like this film.