''Baffled!'' is a 1973 American-British

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

supernatural Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...

mystery film A mystery film is a 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 of clues, ...

directed by

Philip Leacock Philip David Charles Leacock (8 October 1917 – 14 July 1990) was an English television and film director and producer. His brother was documentary filmmaker Richard Leacock. Career Born in London, England, Leacock spent his childhood in the ...

. The story is part of the occult detective subgenre and stars

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...

, Susan Hampshire, and Vera Miles. ''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 British version runs ten minutes longer than the American.

Plot

Race car driver Tom Kovack suddenly begins to experience

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use powers rooted in parapsychology, such as extrasensory perception (ESP), to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance; or who performs acts that a ...

visions. He meets Michelle Brent, 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. Not ...

, 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 * Susan Hampshire as Michele Brent * Rachel Roberts as Mrs. Farraday * Vera Miles as Andrea Glenn * Jewel Blanch as Jennifer Glenn * Valerie Taylor as Louise Sanford * Ray Brooks as George Tracewell * Angharad Rees 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 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 English-language science fiction thriller films 1973 science fiction films {{Sf-thriller-film-stub