Seance on a Wet Afternoon ( Séance on a Wet Afternoon ) Review

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(More customer reviews)Stunning film of the staged kidnapping of a child by a demented medium and her cuckolded, guilt-ridden husband. Beautifully photographed in b&W, the film has a grey, somber feel to it that illustrates the emptiness of the childless couple's lives. The plan is to kidnap the child then stage a seance to help "find" the child to further enhance the medium's reputation and career. The husband trembles with fright and guilt while the medium is convinced that this is the "answer". She is "guided" by Arthur---her "spirit" guide---that is actually the child they lost at birth as stillborn. ASTOUNDING performances by stage actress Kim Stanley and Richard Attenborough as the couple carry this film brilliantly to it's gripping conclusion. The subject matter is sensitive (especially today) but the film is a powerful masterwork of mood and psychological character study. I strongly recommend this for true cinema explorers. The DVD transfer is nice and crisp and the sound is clear. It's not for everyone---especially sensitive types---but it's still a must see for those who like engrossing and fascinating films that just don't come along that often. Filmed in 1964, it's as fresh and riveting now as it MUST have been back then. A true classic.

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History -- Wild West Tech : Gunslingers, The Review

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(More customer reviews)The gun clearly was the most important piece of Wild West technology. "The Gunslingers" takes viewers through a review of each major gun development, illustrating its use in an important fight.
The first product illustrated was the ball and cap pistol, favored by Abilene, KS Marshall Wild Bill Hickok, who reloaded it every day because evening moisture and coolness could shrink the powder, causing a misfire. Unfortunately, immediately after a face-to-face gunfight (rare - usually shootings were by surprise), Hickok heard footsteps behind him, and turned and fired - killing his own deputy en route to help. Hickok lost his job, and was killed five years later in Deadwood, S.D.
Repeating firearms were a major advance, with the Colt pistol and Henry rifle, using self-contained cartridges offering major improvements in offense. The DVD illustrates the advantage of repeating weapons in two conflicts with Indians.
Holsters also evolved, though their role in Western towns was somewhat limited because carrying guns was illegal in most locales. (Violation of this ordinance led to the famous OK Corral shootout in Tombstone.)
Any discussion of gunslingers would be incomplete without reference to former ace marksmen. John Wesley Hardin, son of a preacher, practiced regularly and killed his 40th man on his 21st birthday. In one gunfight he killed his opponent with a shot through the heart at 75 yards. Jailed for 17 years in El Paso, he studied law, then became an attorney - only to be shot in the back of the head.
While pistols were easier to use, rifles were more accurate at a distance. The Northfield, MN. attempted bank robbery by Jesse James and Cole Younger's gang was foiled by alerted townspeople attacking with rifles from a distance that made pistols relatively ineffective.
"The Gunslingers" final vignette briefly covers the introduction of shotguns, and Billy the Kid's use of one in his 1881 jailbreak from a Lincoln, N.M. jail.

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History -- Mountain Men Review

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I ordered a copy of this DVD (AAE-71149) several years back, my version is from 1999. The show is mostly in color with some black and white, several historians give dialogue throughout the program with most of the notable mountain men discussed.....Hugh Glass, Jim Bridger, Joseph Walker, John Colter, Kit Carson, Peg Leg Smith, Liver Eat'n Johnston, William Ashley, Broken Hand Fitzpatrick, and Jedediah Smith, among others, are portrayed.
The basis of the History Channel program is the book A LIFE WILD AND PERILOUS by noted author Robert M. Utley, with Mr. Utley giving dialogue as the program moves through its 100 minutes or so. A digital DVD of remarkable color, the times of the mountain men from 1807 through the late 1830s is offered. One of the longer and more interesting segments of the program concern the annual rendezvous, a two-week coming together of these men during summer months preceeding the coming fall trapping season.
For anyone having interest in the American West of the mountain man era, this DVD is almost something not to be done without. I've been interested in this topic most of my life, and offer an excellent rating for its work. Even the most seasoned and knowledgeable person will experience the wonderful high country scenery that accompanies the DVD.
Semper Fi.

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