The
first exposure I remember having to actress Kim Stanley was when she played the
self-serving and dominating mother to Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange) in the
1982 movie, Frances. She marvelously
pivoted between helping Frances and simultaneously destroying her. It was a bold performance, one that earned
her an Oscar nomination.
That was not Kim Stanley’s only Oscar nomination. She was previously nominated for her leading
role as Myra Savage, a psychic medium, in the often overlooked 1964 British crime thriller, Séance
on a Wet Afternoon. Séance
is an excellently paced and rewarding work that keeps you guessing from
beginning to end.
