By Don L. Stradley
One forgets how busy Leonard Nimoy was during the early
and mid ‘70s. There’s a tendency to think he vanished once his three year hitch
as Mister Spock on NBC’s Star Trek was over, but he was everywhere for a while,
acting in Mission: Impossible,
lending his voice to the classic show In
Search Of…, writing books of poetry, and even recording albums. Granted, his demonic eyebrows and somber
voice limited him to some degree – he would always seem otherworldly - but he
had an undeniable star quality.
In late January of 1973, Nimoy starred in Baffled!, an NBC Tuesday Night Movie of the Week. It was projected as a
possible TV series, where Nimoy would play Tom Kovack, a race car driver who
survives a crash but returns from his near death experience with the ability to
see visions of the future. Unfortunately,
the idea didn’t take off. By the year’s end, Nimoy was supplying the voice of
Spock for a Star Trek animated
series. He never quite escaped the role
that made him famous, but in Baffled!,
he appeared to be trying very hard to create a new character. Now available on
DVD from Scorpion Releasing, viewers can judge Baffled! for themselves and decide whether Nimoy could’ve succeeded
in another series.
The movie starts with the crash. Kovack is roaring around a speedway when he
begins hallucinating that a Victorian manor has popped up in the middle of the
track. His car spins out; he goes flying through the air, and the next thing we
know he’s being interviewed on a talk show. He discusses his visions, but stops
short of saying he has ESP. Meanwhile, a paranormal expert named Michelle Brent
(Susan Hampshire) contacts him, believing Kovack is blessed with special powers.
Soon, Kovack and Brent are in England, investigating a complicated case
involving a weird family, a mansion that may or may not be haunted, and some
sort of curse involving a wolf’s head insignia.
At its best, Baffled!
feels a bit like other ‘70s shows such as Night
Gallery and The Sixth Sense. It
even owes a bit to The Avengers, minus
the cheeky, swingin’ London vibe. At its
worst, Baffled! is a bit dry and takes
too long to get from one point to the next. It was directed by Phiip Leacock, a television
veteran who specialized in one-hour shows like The Waltons. At times, Baffled!
feels like an hour show padded out to make a feature length piece. One wonders if NBC opted out of the series
because of the slowness of the movie, rather than looking at Nimoy’s
potential.
The flaws of the movie aside, Nimoy is fun to watch
here. He tries to be the kind of
wise-cracking leading man that series television required in those days, and
even pulls off a few action scenes. NBC may have missed a good bet when they
didn’t pick this one up 40 years ago. With some care, it could’ve worked.
The Scorpion Releasing DVD includes the UK version of Baffled!, which is 89 minutes long (The
US version is 99 minutes). It’s presented in full screen for, after all, it was
a TV show. There are also some trailers for other Scorpion DVD releases,
including a nice clip of Peter Bogdanovich’s Saint Jack. If for no other
reason, the disc is worth a look to see Nimoy battling his way out of Spock’s
shadow.
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