Seance on a Wet Afternoon
| Séance on a Wet Afternoon | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
1964 lobby card
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| Directed by | Bryan Forbes |
| Produced by |
Richard Attenborough Bryan Forbes |
| Written by | Bryan Forbes from a novel by Mark McShane |
| Starring |
Kim Stanley Richard Attenborough Nanette Newman Mark Eden Patrick Magee |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Gerry Turpin |
| Edited by | Derek York |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Rank Organisation (UK) Artixo Productions (US) |
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Release date
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20 June 1964 (UK) 5 November 1964 (US) |
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Running time
|
115 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £139,000 |
| Box office | £195,688 (by 1971) |
Séance on a Wet Afternoon is a 1964 British film directed by Bryan Forbes, based on the novel by Mark McShane, in which an unstable medium convinces her husband to kidnap a child so she can help the police solve the crime and achieve renown for her abilities. The film stars Richard Attenborough (who was also the film's co-producer), Kim Stanley, Nanette Newman, Mark Eden and Patrick Magee.
Myra Savage (Kim Stanley) is a medium who holds séances in her home. Her husband Billy (Richard Attenborough), unable to work because of asthma and cowed by Myra's domineering personality, assists in her séances. Myra's life and psychic work are dominated by her relationship with the spirit of her son Arthur, who died at birth.
At Myra’s insistence, Billy kidnaps the young daughter (Judith Donner) of a wealthy couple (Mark Eden and Nanette Newman), confining her in a room in the Savage home dressed as a hospital ward. Myra impersonates a nurse to deceive the girl into believing she is hospitalised. Myra insists she is "borrowing" the girl to demonstrate her psychic abilities to the police in helping them find her. Although they ask for a £25,000 ransom, they plan to return the money with the girl after Myra has become famous for helping find her.
Myra's plan goes awry as her unsteady mental health begins to fray. She tells Billy to kill the girl, and he takes her into the woods and leaves her body under a tree.
When the police ask Myra to conduct a séance to help them find the missing girl – as she had hoped they would – she breaks down during the séance and reveals, as if in a psychic trance, what she and Billy have done. Billy tells the police where he hid the ransom money and reveals that he did not kill the girl, but left her unconscious where she would be found by scouts camping nearby.
According to Jon Krampner's biography Female Brando: The Legend of Kim Stanley, Forbes and Attenborough had initially encountered difficulty in casting the role of Myra. Deborah Kerr and Simone Signoret were originally approached for the part, but both actresses turned down the role.
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Wikipedia