''Baffled!'' is a 1973 British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

mystery film A mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means ...

. The story is part of the

occult detective Occult detective fiction is a subgenre of detective fiction that combines the tropes of the main genre with those of supernatural, fantasy and/or horror fiction. Unlike the traditional detective who investigates murder and other common crimes, ...

subgenre and starred

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ...

Susan Hampshire Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, (born 12 May 1937) is an English actress known for her many television and film roles. A three-time Emmy Award winner, she won for ''The Forsyte Saga (1967 series), The Forsyte Saga'' in 1970, ''The First Churc ...

, and

Vera Miles Vera June Miles (née Ralston, born August 23, 1929) is an American retired actress who worked closely with Alfred Hitchcock, most notably as Lila Crane in the classic 1960 film ''Psycho'', reprising the role in the 1983 sequel '' Psycho II''. ...

. ''Baffled!'' was intended as a pilot for a television series but when no network showed interest it was released in British theatres and later released as a television film in America on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

. The British version runs ten minutes longer than the American.

Plot

Race car driver Tom Kovack (played by

) suddenly begins to experience

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...

visions. He meets Michelle Brent (played by

), an expert on the

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. No ...

, and the two form an unlikely partnership. Kovack's visions draw them into an occult-themed mystery at a remote inn on the English coast.

Cast

as Tom Kovack *

as Michele Brent * Rachel Roberts as Mrs. Farraday *

as Andrea Glenn * Jewel Blanch as Jennifer Glenn * Valerie Taylor as Louise Sanford * Ray Brooks as George Tracewell *

Angharad Rees Angharad Mary Rees, The Hon. Mrs David McAlpine, CBE (16 July 1944 – 21 July 2012) was a British actress, best known for her British television roles during the 1970s and in particular her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC TV costume ...

as Peggy Tracewell * Christopher Benjamin as Verelli

Home release

Scorpion Releasing, in conjunction with ITV, released a DVD of ''Baffled!'' in 2014. The DVD included both the UK version and U.S versions of the film.

References

External links

* 1973 television films 1973 films 1970s science fiction thriller films British thriller television films Occult detective fiction British science fiction thriller films NBC network original films Films directed by Philip Leacock Films shot at Pinewood Studios Television films as pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series Television series by ITC Entertainment 1970s English-language films 1970s British films {{Sf-thriller-film-stub