MovieChat Forums > The Possession of Joel Delaney (1972) Discussion > Shirley Mclaine's response in the seance

Shirley Mclaine's response in the seance

posted 10 years ago by daniel4242
3 replies | jump to latest

I just saw this film, and I have to say her response the seance portion looks like she is truly terrified!!I don't say this as a compliment, but I'm also not trying to demean here (she was perfect in The Apartment).

I only watched this for the comparison to The Exorcist. THAT WAS A SCARY FILM. I'm an atheist and it scared the fuxx out of me.

Anyway, I know she is into reincarnation and would easily be manipulated by anything superstitious or "occult like" so I thought about that while watching the film.

Anyway, agree? Does she look terrified in that scene?

[–] elgallo76 10 years ago

Indeed, she looks quite terrified in that scene. Good acting on her part,I think, as she was not yet a "believer" at the time:

"I was playing the title lead in a feature film opposite Shirley MacLaine, who was just glorious. This is long before she had come to the beliefs that she had, about other lives and various spiritual viewpoints. She was a great rationalist, I think, and not somebody who believed in other lives and spirits and I think that film had a lot to do with her opening her mind up to that." (Perry King)

(http://www.popentertainment.com/perryking.htm )

[–] daniel4242 10 years ago

Excellent quote!

When watching it, I truly thought, "this is where she snapped". I do think you and Perry King are wrong on one part, though, it was THAT scene that did it, not some sort of contemplation on "other lives and spirts". That reaction, is what caused her to turn to the Hollywood version (Kabala, Scientology, Reincarnation etc) of Christianity. (You can never really be a traditional Christian in Hollywood, you've got to find something more trendy).

There are certain scenes in certain movies where you just KNOW this is affecting them and they are not acting.It can be anywhere from "G" rated to something that happens in an "XXX" film that you know is not being faked. This, to me, was one of those scenes.

[–] ElectricWarlock 9 years ago

Here is a video of an interview she did to promote the film at the time of it's release. She seems skeptical about the supernatural to me. She mentions the possibility that what we think of as possession is really schizophrenia and we use possession as a scapegoat to explain despicable human behavior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WluVN1kKd0