Crystal Balls in Film: Difference between revisions

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When considering how the subject of fortune telling is handled in cinema, one is immediately hit with the typical screenwriters' generally agnostic or atheistic attitude toward any form of spirituality or folk belief beyond extreme deference to Christianity (often in the form of Catholic devotionalism). Once the self-imposed set of film industry guidelines known as the Hays Code was instituted in 1934, not only was sexuality suppressed in cinema, but, with a few exceptions, actors from all ethnic minority cultures -- Jews, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans -- were mostly eliminated from leading roles and reduced to small comedy bits or set pieces as villains or victims. Fortune tellers underwent the same deprecation, and in very few post-Code films are the psychics truly psychic.




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During the Hays Code era, from 1934 to 1968, fortune tellers were generally portrayed as comedic bumblers, scamming fraudsters, or wicked villains -- or a combination thereof. One favoured trope was the fraudulent fortune teller who is surprised when a prediction actually comes true. Another stereotype was the fraudulent fortune teller who reforms in order to find love, or dies in the attempt. A third styling featured the evil "exotic" fortune teller, often Romani or Asian, who manipulates clients for monetary gain. A fourth concept was the wise elder who dons a costume and poses as a fortune teller in order to convey information to younger people in order to improve their lives.


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In addition to the cultural biases against fortune telling that permeated early to mid 20th century cinema, the portrayal of psychic readers faced another considerable barrier as a subject for film -- one that is a ludicrous byproduct of the filmic art itself: The tools of fortune telling are too small to film well! This sounds so silly, but think about it: [[:Category:Cartomancy|cartomancy]], [[:Category:Palmistry|palmistry]], [[:Category:Astrology|horoscopy]], [[:Category:Tasseomancy|tasseomancy]], [[:Category:Dice Reading|dice reading]], [[:Category:Domino Reading|domino reading]], and [[:Category:Crystal Gazing|crystal gazing]] are table-top activities, and their tools generally fill a space from two inches square, for a small crystal ball, to the size of a sheet of letter or legal paper, for a horoscope.


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What this means in terms of cinematic staging is that a wide view of a room will not disclose the presence of these divination tools, and only in a close-up will the audience perceive them. But even then, how will uninformed viewers interpret the images? Will a tarot card of the Page of Pentacles be meaningful? How about the lines on the palm of an actor's hand (and what if the actor's palm lines do not correspond to the nature of the character he is playing)? Can the roll of three dice, even in close-up, be emotionally significant to a film-goer who knows nothing about [:Category:Dice Reading|dice-reading]]? The answer is "No." Of all the popular methods of divining, only [:Category:Astrology|astrology]] looks good when blown up to the size of a wall chart, even though a horoscope is little more than window-dressing to anyone but an [:Category:Astrology|astrologer]]. As for crystal balls -- they are simply too small, too reflective, and too clear to make an impact.


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These problems were solved in various ways for various forms of fortune telling in cinema -- but for crystal balls, one solution was obvious: BIGGER BALLS.


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In an earlier episode on Crystal Balls in Art, which i titled [[Lovely Ladies and Their Little Balls]], i presented gallery and commercial art that featured women holding small crystal spheres, ranging in size from 2" finger balls to 3" palm balls. Although small balls sometimes appear in film, they are more likely to be placed on a stalk-like stand than to be held in the hand. Far more common in cinema, however, are 4" and 5" table balls, placed in carved wooden stands.


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But, as the Nobel-Prize-winning ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen demonstrated, we are all influenced why what T. N. C. Vidya calls "the curious phenomenon of exaggerated responses to supernormal stimuli in animals."  Briefly put, in the mid-20th century, Tinbergen discovered a previously unexamined feature common to virtually all animal species, namely,the preference for "supernormal stimuli," that is, objects that are larger, more vividly coloured, more highly flavoured, or more strongly scented than the natural counterparts with which the animals have had a millennias-old co-evolutionary relationship. In birds, such as the Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls that Tinbergen studied, this preference led to the females abandoning their own fertilized eggs in favour of larger artificial eggs with distinct speckling. After abandoning their own smaller and drabber eggs, they would attempt to sit upon artificial eggs so large they could not brood them, wasting an entire nesting season trying to hatch the supernormal eggs, resulting in no babies at all. It is this same preference for the supernormal that leads humans to prefer highly seasoned and super-sized fast food, and to prefer plastic-surgery-enhanced porn models to natural mates.
           
                     
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Returning to crystal balls: Hollywood, the ever-ready provider of tall men, big-busted women, and extra-large cartons of popcorn, could not resist super-sizing the crystal balls in the movies. 5" optical glass balls were used for table-top scenes featuring an intimate couple or a reader-client pairing, but more highly favoured were hollow glass spheres filled with swirling smoke. The smoke mechanism was placed under the table upon which the faux crystal ball rested on a circular wooden base, and a light bulb shone from below to highlight the smoke trails and cast eerie up-lighting on the fortune teller.




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But of course, like Tinbergen's Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls, there was always a larger crystal ball to be had -- and by 1932's "The Mask of Fu Manchu," starring Boris Karloff, the supersized hollow sphere made its debut. 1934 brought us "The Return of Chandu," starring Bela Lugosi, and a series of balls ever larger, until one of them becomes part of a complex machine that dwarfs its creator.


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The apotheosis of the ginormous crystal ball came in 1939, with "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale and Frank Morgan in the title role as both Professor Marvel and the Wizard. Beginning his journey in Kansas, the Professor has a very nice table-top crystal, but once the Land of Oz is entered, the crystal becomes a smoke--filled light-source, and is then put to double use as the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton, uses it to spy on Dorothy, while Dorothy uses it to cast a nostalgic glance at her Aunt Em, played by Clara Blandick. Remarkably, this prop, long thought lost, was found in a Hollywood junkyard and is now a treasured relic reminding us of the days when crystal balls were almost as large as the hot air balloon that The Wizard uses to return to Kansas, where he resumes his workaday life as Professor Marvel, who will "Read Your Past - Present and Future in His Crystal."


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Why would anyone spend 20 years collecting digital images of crystal balls in film, anyway?


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Good question, but as you can see, this has been one of my eccentric passions for quite a while. Here we are, at Part 3, and the images have not all been uploaded yet -- and as much as i hate to admit it, there are probably dozens of movies featuring crystal gazers that have eluded my knowledge.


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One reason i know that there are more films about crystallomancy out there for me to find is that i have a couple dozen still photos of movie stars posing with crystal balls -- but i cannot link them to a film. Perhaps they were just publicity shots, but the costuming is such that i think there must be a film behind each one, somewhere.


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And that's where you can help! If we've missed one of your favourites, or made a mistake along the way, drop us a line at the Lucky Mojo Forum (no email or social media messages, please) and let us know about it.


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This showcase list of crystallomantic films is chronological, as were previous gallery collections. Once every photo is cleaned and uploaded, the entire pile will be compiled, and one year after that, it will open to the public. In the meantime, you can say that you saw them here first.


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Having talked about Hollywood's preference for glowing, smoke-filled balls, or balls so large that they can serve as small television units, it's time to address the issue of Hollywood's preferred styles of crystal gazer. These types have changed over the years, but not as much as one might think.


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'''The Man in the Turban:''' This cinematic stereotype is based almost entirely of the dramatic and very influential stage presentations of Claude Alexander Conlin. As Alexander, the Man Who Knows, he and his troupe of dancing girls (one of whom was his wife) and stage hands (one of whom was his poster artist) travelled from theater to theater by rail, towing an entire box car filled with their elaborate stage props, posters, costumes, and booklets to sell at the back of the room. Alexander wore a turban as part of his act, and dressed in amazing finery imported from India and designed to lend him an air of mystery. If you are unfamiliar with him, look no farther than the book "Secrets of the Crystal Silence League," which contains not only the text of two of his instructional booklets from 1919 and 1923, but is also filled with art used to promote him, and those who assiduously, even slavishly, copied both his stage act and his sartorial style. Actors who donned the turban include Warren William, Will Rogers, Henry Kolker, and Frank Morgan.


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File:wizard-of-oz-wicked-witch-crystal-ball-Cornell-University.jpg|1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, and a cast of thousands. Once recovered from the discard pile in the prop house maintained by its creator, Kenneth Strickfaden, the Wicked Witch's iconic 25-inch orb was outfitted with an elaborate stand that replicated the lost original, and a new working projector was installed inside it in 2018. <br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:wizard-of-oz-wicked-witch-crystal-ball-Cornell-University.jpg|1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, and a cast of thousands. Once recovered from the discard pile in the prop house maintained by its creator, Kenneth Strickfaden, the Wicked Witch's iconic 25-inch orb was outfitted with an elaborate stand that replicated the lost original, and a new working projector was installed inside it in 2018. <br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Charlie-Chan-at-Treasure-Island-Dr-Zodiac-Gerald-Mohr-1939.jpg|1939: "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island," starring Sidney Toler, Cesar Romero, and Victor Sen Yung, and featuring Gerald Mohr as Dr. Zodiac in a wild costume with a yoke that depicts all of the Sun Signs. Charlie's investigation of a phony psychic during the 1939 World Exposition on San Francisco's Treasure Island leads him to expose a suicide as murder. <br>Black and white publicity still.<br>Genre: Mystery.


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'''The Man in the Black Suit:''' The suave male crystal gazer who does not wear a turban is best exemplified by Turhan Bey and Alan Dinehart. This character too draws his formal style from that of a stage magician, but his look is more akin to a prestidigitator than a swami.


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File:Charlie-Chan-at-Treasure-Island-Dr-Zodiac-Gerald-Mohr-1939.jpg|1939: "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island," starring Sidney Toler, Cesar Romero, and Victor Sen Yung, and featuring Gerald Mohr as Dr. Zodiac in a wild costume with a yoke that depicts all of the Sun Signs. Charlie's investigation of a phony psychic during the 1939 World Exposition on San Francisco's Treasure Island leads him to expose a suicide as murder. <br>Black and white publicity still.<br>Genre: Mystery.


File:Charlie-Chan-at-Treasure-Island-Sidney-Toler-Cesar-Romero-movie-poster-01-1939.jpg|1939: "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island," starring Sidney Toler and Cesar Romero, and featuring Gerald Mohr as the sinister Dr. Zodiac. <br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Mystery.
File:Charlie-Chan-at-Treasure-Island-Sidney-Toler-Cesar-Romero-movie-poster-01-1939.jpg|1939: "Charlie Chan at Treasure Island," starring Sidney Toler and Cesar Romero, and featuring Gerald Mohr as the sinister Dr. Zodiac. <br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Mystery.
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'''The Exotic Spooky Woman:'''  These women are dressed in expensive finery, their bosoms are well endowed, their hair is coifed, and very often they are surrounded by stunning Arabic brassware and yards of Chinese draperies. Pauline Frederick and Theda Bara exemplify this type to a "T."




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=FORTIES=
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'''The Mesmerized Woman:''' Women who stare into crystal balls until their minds become unhinged are an interesting lot. They may start out not believing in the supernatural, but the lure of the crystal is hypnotic and they end up glazed-over, drugged, or just plain weird as they stare into its depths. Jean Sothern, Ann Doran, and Carol Lombard should get Oscars for portraying this type, with Clara Bow a runner-up and Judy Garland given an honourable mention.


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'''The Ditzy Crystal Dame:''' The middle-aged comedic character actress whose crystal ball never seems to tell the truth, and who is completely flustered if it does, is a special sort of Hollywood type. Marion Lorne, Emma Thomson  and Erica Yohn are stand-outs in this genre.


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'''The Fake Crystal Gazer:''' The carnival cheat and the private reading swindler provide the moral basis for Hollywood's notorious anti-occult stance. Some, like Warren William and Frank Morgan, also wear the turban, some, like Turhan Bey and Alan Dinehart, are suave and classy in contemporary street clothes. A bit more unusual is the nice-girl-roped-into-carny-life, portrayed by Paulette Goddard.
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File:Black-Magic-lobby-card-1944.jpg|1944: "Black Magic," starring Sidney Toler as the Honolulu police detective Charlie Chan, Frances Chan as Frances Chan, Dick Gordon as William Bonner, Geraldine Wall as Harriet Green, Frank Jaquet as Paul Hamlin, Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown, and Claudia Dell as Vera Starkey. Toler was the second  European-American actor to play the Chinese-American Charlie Chan on screen, and he starred in 22 Charlie Chan movies made between 1938 and 1946.<br>Colour lobby card.<br>Genre: Mystery.


File:Ann-Sheridan-with-Crystal-Ball-black-and-white-still.jpg|1940s: Ann Sheridan holding a crystal ball. Here is one of our mystery photos. Is this just a cute publicity photo or does it relate to a film in which the actress-singer Ann Sheridan actually appeared? <br>Black and white publicity still.
File:Ann-Sheridan-with-Crystal-Ball-black-and-white-still.jpg|1940s: Ann Sheridan holding a crystal ball. Here is one of our mystery photos. Is this just a cute publicity photo or does it relate to a film in which the actress-singer Ann Sheridan actually appeared? <br>Black and white publicity still.
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'''The Witch:''' Witches who read crystal balls are featured in fantasy settings. Marion Lorne is both a witch and a ditzy dame, and Emma Thompson is a half-blood witch, but when it comes to pure, unadulterated wicked witchcraft, Margaret Hamilton reigns supreme.


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File:Black-Magic-Sidney-Toler-as-Charlie-Chan-colour-movie-poster-1944.jpg|1944: "Black Magic," starring Sydney Toler as the Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan and Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown. Charlie searches for a murderer amidst numerous ghosts conjured up by a strange variety of spiritualists and occultists.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Mystery.
File:Black-Magic-Sidney-Toler-as-Charlie-Chan-colour-movie-poster-1944.jpg|1944: "Black Magic," starring Sydney Toler as the Chinese-American detective Charlie Chan and Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown. Charlie searches for a murderer amidst numerous ghosts conjured up by a strange variety of spiritualists and occultists.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Mystery.
File:Black-Magic-lobby-card-1944.jpg|1944: "Black Magic," starring Sidney Toler as the Honolulu police detective Charlie Chan, Frances Chan as Frances Chan, Dick Gordon as William Bonner, Geraldine Wall as Harriet Green, Frank Jaquet as Paul Hamlin, Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown, and Claudia Dell as Vera Starkey. Toler was the second  European-American actor to play the Chinese-American Charlie Chan on screen, and he starred in 22 Charlie Chan movies made between 1938 and 1946.<br>Colour lobby card.<br>Genre: Mystery.


File:Black-Magic-Dick-Gordon-as-William-Bonner-1944.jpg|1944: "Black Magic," starring Sydney Toler as  Charlie Chan, Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown, Joseph Crehan as Sgt. Matthews, Jacqueline deWit as Justine Bonner, and featuring Dick Gordon as William Bonner, with his sinister crystal ball.<br>Black and white still.<br>Genre: Mystery.
File:Black-Magic-Dick-Gordon-as-William-Bonner-1944.jpg|1944: "Black Magic," starring Sydney Toler as  Charlie Chan, Mantan Moreland as Birmingham Brown, Joseph Crehan as Sgt. Matthews, Jacqueline deWit as Justine Bonner, and featuring Dick Gordon as William Bonner, with his sinister crystal ball.<br>Black and white still.<br>Genre: Mystery.
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'''The Wizard:''' Another character from fantasy films is the wizard with a crystal. Rarely a helper, he usually is a supernormal villain. Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, and David Bowie are examples of this type.
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One of the best parts of collecting images of crystal balls in cinema is the prospect of locating the film and watching it. Whether sincere, hokey, spooky, or corny, every one of these movies tells us something about how crystal gazing was seen by the screen writers and directors of the past 125 years, and also how the prop masters and actors dealt with the crystal sphere as an artifact.


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File:Her-Lucky-Night-1945-Noah-Beery-Jr-Martha-O-Driscoll.jpg|1945" "Her Lucky Night," starring the Andrews Sisters, Martha O'Driscoll, and Noah Beery, Jr. Here Martha O'Driscoll gets her fortune told by a crystal gazer. <br> Black and white lobby card. <br> Genre: Comedy, Music, Musical.
File:Her-Lucky-Night-1945-Noah-Beery-Jr-Martha-O-Driscoll.jpg|1945" "Her Lucky Night," starring the Andrews Sisters, Martha O'Driscoll, and Noah Beery, Jr. Here Martha O'Driscoll gets her fortune told by a crystal gazer. <br> Black and white lobby card. <br> Genre: Comedy, Music, Musical.
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We can learn about how fortune telling, prophesy, divination, and the occult have been perceived over the years when we see the role played by the crystal gazer in a fictional story. And because crystals are so flashy, they serve as stand-ins for all means of fortune telling. Prop and character are always linked: There are movies in which we can see horoscopes and astrologers, hands and palm readers, cards and cartomancers, and just flat out clairvoyant seers — but when the sets are dressed, many of those readers end up with a crystal ball somewhere in range of the camera's eye. They are simply too attractive to leave out of the picture.




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On the other hand, one of the most frustrating parts of collecting images of crystal balls in cinema is the issue of "lost films." It is shocking how many movies, both silent and sound, simply do not exist anymore. For some of these, we have a few publicity stills, newspaper advertisements, and lobby cards, but for others all that may remain are the notices in theatrical news magazines announcing the commencement or the wrap of shooting, or a review in some hick paper in Indiana that praised the show to the skies, thus adding to our frustration because we will never be able to see it.


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File:The-Amazing-Mr.-X-The-Spiritualist-1948-1-Turhan-Bey-Lynn-Bari-crystal-ball-colour-poster.jpg|1948: "The Amazing Mr. X," also released as "The Spiritualist," starring Turhan Bey as the lead character, with Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell. <br> Colour poster. <br> Genre: Thriller.  
File:The-Amazing-Mr.-X-The-Spiritualist-1948-1-Turhan-Bey-Lynn-Bari-crystal-ball-colour-poster.jpg|1948: "The Amazing Mr. X," also released as "The Spiritualist," starring Turhan Bey as the lead character, with Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell. <br> Colour poster. <br> Genre: Thriller.  
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Among the most frustrating of these lost films is "The Crystal Ball" of 1914. All that remains is a poster (with a crystal ball), a lantern slide advertisement (of a Hindu swami with a crystal ball), and a plot synopsis from "Moving Picture World" — yet this is the very first movie ever to feature a crystal ball. Also elusive -- although portions of it, and a complete novelization, remain -- is "The Mysteries of Myra," written by the enormously influential paranormal researcher and occult author Hereward Carrington, and featuring no less a personage than the occultist Aleister Crowley (at least according to some researchers). A dedicated group of film historians known as the Serial Squadron has restored and compiled the three episodes that remain, and, working from the contemporary novelization and script, have assembled publicity stills in their proper order to fill in as many blanks as possible -- but we will never see this movie the way it was shown in theaters when it was a weekly chapter-play that thrilled the nation.


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Another area of frustration involves my collection of publicity stills featuring actors and actresses (mostly actresses, if the truth be told) holding or gazing into crystal balls -- with no indication as to the date the photo was made or the name of the film  — if there was one —  to which it can be attached. Sometimes a search through the performer's filmography pays off and the image can be tagged to the right film. But quite a few remain loose and undated.


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Then there's the problem that arises when we have seen a film once or even several times, or have read its synopsis, and we know for sure that there is a crystal ball scene in it, but no matter where we search, we cannot find a poster, publicity still, or lobby card of the scene in which the crystal ball appears.


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This is especially galling when we use the IMDb database to search for films with the keywords "crystal ball," and neither IMDb's image cache, nor a wider search engine exploration produces a single image, and we do not have the film in our own rather extensive collection. (Okay, frankly, we have thousands of films on DVD; but we are cheap and won't pay more than ten bucks each for them!)




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File:The-Wizard-of-Baghdad-2-1960.jpg|1960: "The Wizard of Baghdad," starring Dick Shawn as Genii Ali Mahmud. I have no idea what country this poster came from or what language it is in, but i am guessing it is Turkish. In any case, the movie seems to have gotten around.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Comedy.
File:The-Wizard-of-Baghdad-2-1960.jpg|1960: "The Wizard of Baghdad," starring Dick Shawn as Genii Ali Mahmud. I have no idea what country this poster came from or what language it is in, but i am guessing it is Turkish. In any case, the movie seems to have gotten around.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Comedy.
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File:The-Wizard-of-Baghdad-Dick-Shawn-1960.jpg|1961: "The Wizard of Baghdad" starring Dick Shawn as Genii Ali Mahmud, who has been turned into a mortal after his many failures and is sent to Baghdad, where he is given one last chance to prove himself worthy by helping a prince and princess fulfill a prophecy. Kind of like if Clarence the Angel Second Class from "It's a Wonderful Life" was a Djinn.<br>Colour publicity still. <br>Genre: Comedy.
File:The-Wizard-of-Baghdad-Dick-Shawn-1960.jpg|1961: "The Wizard of Baghdad" starring Dick Shawn as Genii Ali Mahmud, who has been turned into a mortal after his many failures and is sent to Baghdad, where he is given one last chance to prove himself worthy by helping a prince and princess fulfill a prophecy. Kind of like if Clarence the Angel Second Class from "It's a Wonderful Life" was a Djinn.<br>Colour publicity still. <br>Genre: Comedy.
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Sometimes we can rent or purchase a purported crystal ball film and make a screen-grab of the crystal ball scene — if the quality of the print is clear. Other times we know the film is not lost, but we cannot locate a copy anywhere.  Or, sad to say, we lacked the time to make the screen grab this year, and are putting it off until ... whenever.


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With all of that in mind, we have arrived at a plan to make this collection bigger, better, and more eccentric than ever: crowd-sourcing. What follows is a list of films that have crystal balls in them, according to the IMDb keyword database, which is itself crowd-sourced, and thus prone to error.


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Still, despite the possibility of crowd-sourcing errors, these  are films we have not seen yet — and they are the films from which we want crystal ball screen grabs. If, during a search at IMDb or elsewhere online we have found a publicity still, poster, or lobby card of a man in a turban, we presume that he is a "Swami" or crystal gazer character in the film, and we offer both the character name and the actor's name.


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File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Poster-1.jpg|1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Poster-1.jpg|1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Poster-4.jpg||1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King, and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah.<br>Colour publicity still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Poster-4.jpg||1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King, and Jennifer Connelly as Sarah.<br>Colour publicity still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.


File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Looking-Into-Crystal-Ball-2.jpg|1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. Bowie, as Jareth, the Goblin King, forces Sarah to rescue her infant half-brother from a large maze. <br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Looking-Into-Crystal-Ball-2.jpg|1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly. Bowie, as Jareth, the Goblin King, forces Sarah to rescue her infant half-brother from a large maze. <br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Poster-2.jpg|1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Labyrinth-1986-David-Bowie-Poster-2.jpg|1986: "Labyrinth," starring David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.<br>Colour movie poster.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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=NINETIES=
Can you help by supplying a screen shot of a crystal ball scene in any of these movies?


=NINETIES=
* 1918: "Betta, the Gipsy" 
** In Wales, a gypsy queen changes her sister's dead baby for one by the same father. The child grows up to marry her daughter.
** Director: Charles Raymond | Stars: Marga Rubia Levy, Malvina Longfellow, George Foley, Edward Combermere


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=OUGHTS=
=OUGHTS=


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File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Fellowship of-the-Ring-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2001.jpg|2001: "The Fellowship of the Ring,"  starring Elijah Wood as Frodo and Ian McKellen as Gandalf.<br>Colour publicity still of the Palantir, a large gazing ball.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
* 1922: "Haxan," a.k.a. "Witchcraft Through the Ages" 
** Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.  
** Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
* 1924: "The Thief of Bagdad"
** A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
** Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher


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File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Fellowship of-the-Ring-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2001.jpg|2001: "The Fellowship of the Ring,"  starring Elijah Wood as Frodo and Ian McKellen as Gandalf.<br>Colour publicity still of the Palantir, a large gazing ball.<br>Genre: Fantasy.


File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Fellowship-of-the-Ring-Christopher-Lee-Saruman-and-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2001.jpg|2001: "The Fellowship of the Ring," featuring Christopher Lee as the White Wizard Saruman.<br>Colour publicity still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Fellowship-of-the-Ring-Christopher-Lee-Saruman-and-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2001.jpg|2001: "The Fellowship of the Ring," featuring Christopher Lee as the White Wizard Saruman.<br>Colour publicity still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Return-of-the-King-Christopher-Lee-Saruman-and-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2003-C.jpg|2002: "The Two Towers," featuring Christopher Lee as Saruman the White Wizard.<br>Colour movie advertisement.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Return-of-the-King-Christopher-Lee-Saruman-and-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2003-C.jpg|2002: "The Two Towers," featuring Christopher Lee as Saruman the White Wizard.<br>Colour movie advertisement.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Return-of-the-King-Viggo-Mortensen-Aragorn-and-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2-2003.jpg|2003: "Return of the King (Lord of the Rings)," starring Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Aragorn seizes the palantir.<br>Black and white still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Lord-of-the-Rings-Return-of-the-King-Viggo-Mortensen-Aragorn-and-Palantir-Crystal-Ball-2-2003.jpg|2003: "Return of the King (Lord of the Rings)," starring Viggo Mortensen as Aragorn. Aragorn seizes the palantir.<br>Black and white still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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File:Harry-Potter-Prisoner-of-Azkaban-Sitara-Shah-Parvati-Patil-Afshan-Azad-Padma-Patil-2004.jpg|2004: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," featuring Sitara Shah as Parvati Patil and Afshan Azad as Padma Patil. This series featured naturalistic crystal balls instead of huge props, and the director made a point of bringing the camera down to table-top level so that the crystal was visible. <br>Colour movie still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Harry-Potter-Prisoner-of-Azkaban-Daniel-Radcliffe-Rupert-Grint-Crystal-Gazing-2004.jpg|2004: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. Here is another table-top-level view of a natural-sized crystal sphere, although its smoky-milky interior owes a lot to the old "light bulb in a goldfish bowl" crystal balls of the 1930s and '40s. <br>Colour movie still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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File:Harry-Potter-and-the-Order-of-the-Phoenix-Emma-Thompson-Sibyl-Trelawney-2007.jpg|2007: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," featuring Emma Thompson as Sibyl Trelawney.<br>Colour publicity still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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=TEXT STORAGE=
When considering how the subject of fortune telling is handled in cinema, one is immediately hit with the typical screenwriters' generally agnostic or atheistic attitude toward any form of spirituality or folk belief beyond extreme deference to Christianity (often in the form of Catholic devotionalism). Once the self-imposed set of film industry guidelines known as the Hays Code was instituted in 1934, not only was sexuality suppressed in cinema, but, with a few exceptions, actors from all ethnic minority cultures -- Jews, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans -- were mostly eliminated from leading roles and reduced to small comedy bits or set pieces as villains or victims. Fortune tellers underwent the same deprecation, and in very few post-Code films are the psychics truly psychic.
== Crystal Balls in Film Part Two==
[[File:2024-03-28-Release-YWAF-Crystal-Balls-in-Film.jpg|right| thumb| 300px|More Crystal Balls in Film!]]
When considering how the subject of fortune telling is handled in cinema, one is immediately hit with the typical screenwriters' generally agnostic or atheistic attitude toward any form of spirituality or folk belief beyond extreme deference to Christianity (often in the form of Catholic devotionalism). Once the self-imposed set of film industry guidelines known as the Hays Code was instituted in 1934, not only was sexuality suppressed in cinema, but, with a few exceptions, actors from all ethnic minority cultures -- Jews, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans -- were mostly eliminated from leading roles and reduced to small comedy bits or set pieces as villains or victims. Fortune tellers underwent the same deprecation, and in very few post-Code films are the psychics truly psychic.
During the Hays Code era, from 1934 to 1968, fortune tellers were generally portrayed as comedic bumblers, scamming fraudsters, or wicked villains -- or a combination thereof. One favoured trope was the fraudulent fortune teller who is surprised when a prediction actually comes true. Another stereotype was the fraudulent fortune teller who reforms in order to find love, or dies in the attempt. A third styling featured the evil "exotic" fortune teller, often Romani or Asian, who manipulates clients for monetary gain. A fourth concept was the wise elder who dons a costume and poses as a fortune teller in order to convey information to younger people in order to improve their lives.
In addition to the cultural biases against fortune telling that permeated early to mid 20th century cinema, the portrayal of psychic readers faced another considerable barrier as a subject for film -- one that is a ludicrous byproduct of the filmic art itself: The tools of fortune telling are too small to film well! This sounds so silly, but think about it: [[:Category:Cartomancy|cartomancy]], [[:Category:Palmistry|palmistry]], [[:Category:Astrology|horoscopy]], [[:Category:Tasseomancy|tasseomancy]], [[:Category:Dice Reading|dice reading]], [[:Category:Domino Reading|domino reading]], and [[:Category:Crystal Gazing|crystal gazing]] are table-top activities, and their tools generally fill a space from two inches square, for a small crystal ball, to the size of a sheet of letter or legal paper, for a horoscope.
What this means in terms of cinematic staging is that a wide view of a room will not disclose the presence of these divination tools, and only in a close-up will the audience perceive them. But even then, how will uninformed viewers interpret the images? Will a tarot card of the Page of Pentacles be meaningful? How about the lines on the palm of an actor's hand (and what if the actor's palm lines do not correspond to the nature of the character he is playing)? Can the roll of three dice, even in close-up, be emotionally significant to a film-goer who knows nothing about [:Category:Dice Reading|dice-reading]]? The answer is "No." Of all the popular methods of divining, only [:Category:Astrology|astrology]] looks good when blown up to the size of a wall chart, even though a horoscope is little more than window-dressing to anyone but an [:Category:Astrology|astrologer]]. As for crystal balls -- they are simply too small, too reflective, and too clear to make an impact.


These problems were solved in various ways for various forms of fortune telling in cinema -- but for crystal balls, one solution was obvious: BIGGER BALLS.
In an earlier episode on Crystal Balls in Art, which i titled [[Lovely Ladies and Their Little Balls]], i presented gallery and commercial art that featured women holding small crystal spheres, ranging in size from 2" finger balls to 3" palm balls. Although small balls sometimes appear in film, they are more likely to be placed on a stalk-like stand than to be held in the hand. Far more common in cinema, however, are 4" and 5" table balls, placed in carved wooden stands.
But, as the Nobel-Prize-winning ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen demonstrated, we are all influenced why what T. N. C. Vidya calls "the curious phenomenon of exaggerated responses to supernormal stimuli in animals."  Briefly put, in the mid-20th century, Tinbergen discovered a previously unexamined feature common to virtually all animal species, namely,the preference for "supernormal stimuli," that is, objects that are larger, more vividly coloured, more highly flavoured, or more strongly scented than the natural counterparts with which the animals have had a millennias-old co-evolutionary relationship. In birds, such as the Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls that Tinbergen studied, this preference led to the females abandoning their own fertilized eggs in favour of larger artificial eggs with distinct speckling. After abandoning their own smaller and drabber eggs, they would attempt to sit upon artificial eggs so large they could not brood them, wasting an entire nesting season trying to hatch the supernormal eggs, resulting in no babies at all. It is this same preference for the supernormal that leads humans to prefer highly seasoned and super-sized fast food, and to prefer plastic-surgery-enhanced porn models to natural mates.
           
                     
Returning to crystal balls: Hollywood, the ever-ready provider of tall men, big-busted women, and extra-large cartons of popcorn, could not resist super-sizing the crystal balls in the movies. 5" optical glass balls were used for table-top scenes featuring an intimate couple or a reader-client pairing, but more highly favoured were hollow glass spheres filled with swirling smoke. The smoke mechanism was placed under the table upon which the faux crystal ball rested on a circular wooden base, and a light bulb shone from below to highlight the smoke trails and cast eerie up-lighting on the fortune teller.
Of course, as with Tinbergen's Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls, there was always a larger crystal ball to be had -- and by 1932's "The Mask of Fu Manchu," starring Boris Karloff, the supersized hollow sphere made its debut. 1934 brought us "The Return of Chandu," starring Bela Lugosi, and a series of balls ever larger, until one of them becomes part of a complex machine that dwarfs its creator.
The apotheosis of the ginormous crystal ball came in 1939, with "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale and Frank Morgan in the title role as both Professor Marvel and the Wizard. Beginning his journey in Kansas, the Professor has a very nice table-top crystal, but once the Land of Oz is entered, the crystal becomes a smoke--filled light-source, and is then put to double use as the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton, uses it to spy on Dorothy, while Dorothy uses it to cast a nostalgic glance at her Aunt Em, played by Clara Blandick. Remarkably, this prop, long thought lost, was found in a Hollywood junkyard and is now a treasured relic reminding us of the days when crystal balls were almost as large as the hot air balloon that The Wizard uses to return to Kansas, where he resumes his workaday life as Professor Marvel, who will "Read Your Past - Present and Future in His Crystal."
== Crystal Balls in Film, Part Three==
[[File:2024-04-07-Release-YWAF-Crystal-Balls-in-Film3.jpg|right| thumb| 300px|Further Crystal Balls in Film!]]
Why would anyone spend 20 years collecting digital images of crystal balls in film, anyway?
Good question, but as you can see, this has been one of my eccentric passions for quite a while. Here we are, at Part 3, and the images have not all been uploaded yet -- and as much as i hate to admit it, there are probably dozens of movies featuring crystal gazers that have eluded my knowledge.
One reason i know that there are more films about crystallomancy out there for me to find is that i have a couple dozen still photos of movie stars posing with crystal balls -- but i cannot link them to a film. Perhaps they were just publicity shots, but the costuming is such that i think there must be a film behind each one, somewhere.
And that's where you can help! If we've missed one of your favourites, or made a mistake along the way, drop us a line at the Lucky Mojo Forum (no email or social media messages, please) and let us know about it.
This showcase list of crystallomantic films is chronological, as were previous gallery collections. Once every photo is cleaned and uploaded, the entire pile will be compiled, and one year after that, it will open to the public. In the meantime, you can say that you saw them here first.
Having talked about Hollywood's preference for glowing, smoke-filled balls, or balls so large that they can serve as small television units, it's time to address the issue of Hollywood's preferred styles of crystal gazer. These types have changed over the years, but not as much as one might think.
'''The Man in the Turban:''' This cinematic stereotype is based almost entirely of the dramatic and very influential stage presentations of Claude Alexander Conlin. As Alexander, the Man Who Knows, he and his troupe of dancing girls (one of whom was his wife) and stage hands (one of whom was his poster artist) travelled from theater to theater by rail, towing an entire box car filled with their elaborate stage props, posters, costumes, and booklets to sell at the back of the room. Alexander wore a turban as part of his act, and dressed in amazing finery imported from India and designed to lend him an air of mystery. If you are unfamiliar with him, look no farther than the book "Secrets of the Crystal Silence League," which contains not only the text of two of his instructional booklets from 1919 and 1923, but is also filled with art used to promote him, and those who assiduously, even slavishly, copied both his stage act and his sartorial style. Actors who donned the turban include Warren William, Will Rogers, Henry Kolker, and Frank Morgan.
'''The Man in the Black Suit:''' The suave male crystal gazer who does not wear a turban is best exemplified by Turhan Bey and Alan Dinehart. This character too draws his formal style from that of a stage magician, but his look is more akin to a prestidigitator than a swami.
'''The Exotic Spooky Woman:'''  These women are dressed in expensive finery, their bosoms are well endowed, their hair is coifed, and very often they are surrounded by stunning Arabic brassware and yards of Chinese draperies. Pauline Frederick and Theda Bara exemplify this type to a "T."
'''The Mesmerized Woman:''' Women who stare into crystal balls until their minds become unhinged are an interesting lot. They may start out not believing in the supernatural, but the lure of the crystal is hypnotic and they end up glazed-over, drugged, or just plain weird as they stare into its depths. Jean Sothern, Ann Doran, and Carol Lombard should get Oscars for portraying this type, with Clara Bow a runner-up and Judy Garland given an honourable mention.
'''The Ditzy Crystal Dame:''' The middle-aged comedic character actress whose crystal ball never seems to tell the truth, and who is completely flustered if it does, is a special sort of Hollywood type. Marion Lorne, Emma Thomson  and Erica Yohn are stand-outs in this genre.
'''The Fake Crystal Gazer:''' The carnival cheat and the private reading swindler provide the moral basis for Hollywood's notorious anti-occult stance. Some, like Warren William and Frank Morgan, also wear the turban, some, like Turhan Bey and Alan Dinehart, are suave and classy in contemporary street clothes. A bit more unusual is the nice-girl-roped-into-carny-life, portrayed by Paulette Goddard.
'''The Witch:''' Witches who read crystal balls are featured in fantasy settings. Marion Lorne is both a witch and a ditzy dame, and Emma Thompson is a half-blood witch, but when it comes to pure, unadulterated wicked witchcraft, Margaret Hamilton reigns supreme.
'''The Wizard:''' Another character from fantasy films is the wizard with a crystal. Rarely a helper, he usually is a supernormal villain. Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, and David Bowie are examples of this type.
== Crystal Balls in Film, Part Four==
[[File:2024-04-14-Release-YWAF-Crystal-Balls-in-Film4.jpg|right| thumb| 300px|Crystal Balls in Film Galore!]]
One of the best parts of collecting images of crystal balls in cinema is the prospect of locating the film and watching it. Whether sincere, hokey, spooky, or corny, every one of these movies tells us something about how crystal gazing was seen by the screen writers and directors of the past 125 years, and also how the prop masters and actors dealt with the crystal sphere as an artifact.
We can learn about how fortune telling, prophesy, divination, and the occult have been perceived over the years when we see the role played by the crystal gazer in a fictional story. And because crystals are so flashy, they serve as stand-ins for all means of fortune telling. Prop and character are always linked: There are movies in which we can see horoscopes and astrologers, hands and palm readers, cards and cartomancers, and just flat out clairvoyant seers — but when the sets are dressed, many of those readers end up with a crystal ball somewhere in range of the camera's eye. They are simply too attractive to leave out of the picture.
On the other hand, one of the most frustrating parts of collecting images of crystal balls in cinema is the issue of "lost films." It is shocking how many movies, both silent and sound, simply do not exist anymore. For some of these, we have a few publicity stills, newspaper advertisements, and lobby cards, but for others all that may remain are the notices in theatrical news magazines announcing the commencement or the wrap of shooting, or a review in some hick paper in Indiana that praised the show to the skies, thus adding to our frustration because we will never be able to see it.
Among the most frustrating of these lost films is "The Crystal Ball" of 1914. All that remains is a poster (with a crystal ball), a lantern slide advertisement (of a Hindu swami with a crystal ball), and a plot synopsis from "Moving Picture World" — yet this is the very first movie ever to feature a crystal ball. Also elusive -- although portions of it, and a complete novelization, remain -- is "The Mysteries of Myra," written by the enormously influential paranormal researcher and occult author Hereward Carrington, and featuring no less a personage than the occultist Aleister Crowley (at least according to some researchers). A dedicated group of film historians known as the Serial Squadron has restored and compiled the three episodes that remain, and, working from the contemporary novelization and script, have assembled publicity stills in their proper order to fill in as many blanks as possible -- but we will never see this movie the way it was shown in theaters when it was a weekly chapter-play that thrilled the nation.
Another area of frustration involves my collection of publicity stills featuring actors and actresses (mostly actresses, if the truth be told) holding or gazing into crystal balls -- with no indication as to the date the photo was made or the name of the film  — if there was one —  to which it can be attached. Sometimes a search through the performer's filmography pays off and the image can be tagged to the right film. But quite a few remain loose and undated.
Then there's the problem that arises when we have seen a film once or even several times, or have read its synopsis, and we know for sure that there is a crystal ball scene in it, but no matter where we search, we cannot find a poster, publicity still, or lobby card of the scene in which the crystal ball appears.
This is especially galling when we use the IMDb database to search for films with the keywords "crystal ball," and neither IMDb's image cache, nor a wider search engine exploration produces a single image, and we do not have the film in our own rather extensive collection. (Okay, frankly, we have thousands of films on DVD; but we are cheap and won't pay more than ten bucks each for them!)
Sometimes we can rent or purchase a purported crystal ball film and make a screen-grab of the crystal ball scene — if the quality of the print is clear. Other times we know the film is not lost, but we cannot locate a copy anywhere.  Or, sad to say, we lacked the time to make the screen grab this year, and are putting it off until ... whenever.
With all of that in mind, we have arrived at a plan to make this collection bigger, better, and more eccentric than ever: crowd-sourcing. What follows is a list of films that have crystal balls in them, according to the IMDb keyword database, which is itself crowd-sourced, and thus prone to error.
Still, despite the possibility of crowd-sourcing errors, these  are films we have not seen yet — and they are the films from which we want crystal ball screen grabs. If, during a search at IMDb or elsewhere online we have found a publicity still, poster, or lobby card of a man in a turban, we presume that he is a "Swami" or crystal gazer character in the film, and we offer both the character name and the actor's name.
Can you help by supplying a screen shot of a crystal ball scene in any of these movies?
* 1918: "Betta, the Gipsy" 
** In Wales, a gypsy queen changes her sister's dead baby for one by the same father. The child grows up to marry her daughter.
** Director: Charles Raymond | Stars: Marga Rubia Levy, Malvina Longfellow, George Foley, Edward Combermere
* 1922: "Haxan," a.k.a. "Witchcraft Through the Ages" 
** Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
** Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
* 1924: "The Thief of Bagdad"
** A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
** Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher


* 1930: "Honeymoon Zeppelin"  
* 1930: "Honeymoon Zeppelin"  
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** Bumbling talent agent Danny Webb tries to help a struggling actress get work.
** Bumbling talent agent Danny Webb tries to help a struggling actress get work.
** Director: Del Lord | Stars: Danny Webb, Mary Treen, Ethelreda Leopold, Eugene Anderson Jr.
** Director: Del Lord | Stars: Danny Webb, Mary Treen, Ethelreda Leopold, Eugene Anderson Jr.
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File:Harry-Potter-Prisoner-of-Azkaban-Sitara-Shah-Parvati-Patil-Afshan-Azad-Padma-Patil-2004.jpg|2004: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," featuring Sitara Shah as Parvati Patil and Afshan Azad as Padma Patil. This series featured naturalistic crystal balls instead of huge props, and the director made a point of bringing the camera down to table-top level so that the crystal was visible. <br>Colour movie still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
File:Harry-Potter-Prisoner-of-Azkaban-Daniel-Radcliffe-Rupert-Grint-Crystal-Gazing-2004.jpg|2004: "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," starring Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter and Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley. Here is another table-top-level view of a natural-sized crystal sphere, although its smoky-milky interior owes a lot to the old "light bulb in a goldfish bowl" crystal balls of the 1930s and '40s. <br>Colour movie still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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* 1941: "Playmates"
* 1941: "Playmates"
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** In a village in Brittany, a worried young maid asks for help from a mysterious old man and his magical crystal ball in order to calm down the rough seas.
** In a village in Brittany, a worried young maid asks for help from a mysterious old man and his magical crystal ball in order to calm down the rough seas.
** Director: Jean Epstein
** Director: Jean Epstein
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File:Harry-Potter-and-the-Order-of-the-Phoenix-Emma-Thompson-Sibyl-Trelawney-2007.jpg|2007: "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," featuring Emma Thompson as Sibyl Trelawney.<br>Colour publicity still.<br>Genre: Fantasy.
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* 1955: "Black Cats and Broomsticks"
* 1955: "Black Cats and Broomsticks"
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** Directors: Ján Rohác, Vladimír Svitácek | Stars: Milos Kopecký, Frantisek Filipovský, Jirina Bohdalová, Vladimír Mensík
** Directors: Ján Rohác, Vladimír Svitácek | Stars: Milos Kopecký, Frantisek Filipovský, Jirina Bohdalová, Vladimír Mensík


== Crystal Balls in Film, Part Five==
=TEXT STORAGE=
 
[[File:2024-04-21-Release-YWAF-Crystal-Balls-in-Film5.jpg|right| thumb| 300px|Crystal Balls! Movie Magic! Portentous and puzzling!]]
 
Well, i thought last week would be the conclusion of the "Crystal Balls in Film" series, but that turned out to be a premature prediction. We are back again, with yet MORE of these fine, funny, fascinating, fantastic, and freakish films that present crystallomancy in various lights, from amusing to outrageous and from occult to outré..




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The more of these vintage movie stills, lobby cards, and posters i see, the more of a critic of the prop departments of various studios i become. I can spot a real crystal, whether quartz (unlikely) or solid glass, and easily tell it from a hollow blown-glass sphere. I can tell an upside-down goldfish bowl, painted milky-white inside and lit up by a lamp, from a Murano glass sphere with swirls of encased air bubbles. It always looks a little tacky to see a character emoting over a hollow sphere. I want my crystal balls to have some weight to them, some gravitas.  
The more of these vintage movie stills, lobby cards, and posters i see, the more of a critic of the prop departments of various studios i become. I can spot a real crystal, whether quartz (unlikely) or solid glass, and easily tell it from a hollow blown-glass sphere. I can tell an upside-down goldfish bowl, painted milky-white inside and lit up by a lamp, from a Murano glass sphere with swirls of encased air bubbles. It always looks a little tacky to see a character emoting over a hollow sphere. I want my crystal balls to have some weight to them, some gravitas.  
xxx




I am also becoming aware of the wonders — and the failings — of various costume and set design departments at major, minor, independent, and poverty row film studios. A good swami outfit did not require a big budget back then. Asian brocades, Turkish rugs, and few feathers worked wonders. Nylon satin did not. What is most interesting is that the "exotic" costumes, fabrics, furnishings, and decor of the silent, pre-Code, and pre-War period were so much more authentic-looking than the shiny satin and bulky bathrobes of the Mid-Century years. Examining a still from even a cheap little silent production like "Rough House Rosie," starring Clara Bow, reveals rich details of imported Asian and Middle Eastern textiles, metal craft, and woodworking history that are virtually archival in their authenticity.  
I am also becoming aware of the wonders — and the failings — of various costume and set design departments at major, minor, independent, and poverty row film studios. A good swami outfit did not require a big budget back then. Asian brocades, Turkish rugs, and few feathers worked wonders. Nylon satin did not. What is most interesting is that the "exotic" costumes, fabrics, furnishings, and decor of the silent, pre-Code, and pre-War period were so much more authentic-looking than the shiny satin and bulky bathrobes of the Mid-Century years. Examining a still from even a cheap little silent production like "Rough House Rosie," starring Clara Bow, reveals rich details of imported Asian and Middle Eastern textiles, metal craft, and woodworking history that are virtually archival in their authenticity.  




From the start of the Hayes Code era until well into the hippie era, few movies except for "The Wizard of Oz" (which was based on a book from 1900) treated crystal gazing as anything but a scam. Low budget documentary-exposure-exploitation films that propagandized against crystallomancy took off after Mischa Auer played Swami Yomurda twice in the 1930s and Turhan Bey played two phony crystal gazers in the 1940s. Swami racketeers were in a comfortable rut in Hollywood by the early 1950s, when films like "Bunco Squad," told the story of how the Los Angeles Police Department had created an entire department assigned to investigating and arresting fortune tellers, palm readers, psychics, clairvoyants, and phony occultists.  
From the start of the Hayes Code era until well into the hippie era, few movies except for "The Wizard of Oz" (which was based on a book from 1900) treated crystal gazing as anything but a scam. Low budget documentary-exposure-exploitation films that propagandized against crystallomancy took off after Mischa Auer played Swami Yomurda twice in the 1930s and Turhan Bey played two phony crystal gazers in the 1940s. Swami racketeers were in a comfortable rut in Hollywood by the early 1950s, when films like "Bunco Squad," told the story of how the Los Angeles Police Department had created an entire department assigned to investigating and arresting fortune tellers, palm readers, psychics, clairvoyants, and phony occultists.  





Latest revision as of 06:16, 24 April 2024

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Crystal Balls in Film

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Crystal Balls in Film

My entwined interests in folk magic, divination, and popular culture form the cutest braids when it comes to depictions of crystal gazing in film, art, and photography. The hokiness of the props, the inadvertently multicultural set decorations, the exotic costumes, the random weirdness of it all ... i can't explain it, but crystal balls in films are ridiculous, fun, and charming. They always make me smile. So, for no particular reason, here is the beginning of an annotated set of publicity stills, lobby cards, and posters featuring crystal balls in the movies!

The films are listed by year of release in order to provide a culturally informative context for how Hollywood has viewed crystal balls through the decades. This is but one of several pages, and when they are all released and compiled on one public page, the full range of crystallomantic cinema will be revealed.

TEENS


When considering how the subject of fortune telling is handled in cinema, one is immediately hit with the typical screenwriters' generally agnostic or atheistic attitude toward any form of spirituality or folk belief beyond extreme deference to Christianity (often in the form of Catholic devotionalism). Once the self-imposed set of film industry guidelines known as the Hays Code was instituted in 1934, not only was sexuality suppressed in cinema, but, with a few exceptions, actors from all ethnic minority cultures -- Jews, Blacks, Asians, Native Americans -- were mostly eliminated from leading roles and reduced to small comedy bits or set pieces as villains or victims. Fortune tellers underwent the same deprecation, and in very few post-Code films are the psychics truly psychic.



During the Hays Code era, from 1934 to 1968, fortune tellers were generally portrayed as comedic bumblers, scamming fraudsters, or wicked villains -- or a combination thereof. One favoured trope was the fraudulent fortune teller who is surprised when a prediction actually comes true. Another stereotype was the fraudulent fortune teller who reforms in order to find love, or dies in the attempt. A third styling featured the evil "exotic" fortune teller, often Romani or Asian, who manipulates clients for monetary gain. A fourth concept was the wise elder who dons a costume and poses as a fortune teller in order to convey information to younger people in order to improve their lives.



In addition to the cultural biases against fortune telling that permeated early to mid 20th century cinema, the portrayal of psychic readers faced another considerable barrier as a subject for film -- one that is a ludicrous byproduct of the filmic art itself: The tools of fortune telling are too small to film well! This sounds so silly, but think about it: cartomancy, palmistry, horoscopy, tasseomancy, dice reading, domino reading, and crystal gazing are table-top activities, and their tools generally fill a space from two inches square, for a small crystal ball, to the size of a sheet of letter or legal paper, for a horoscope.


TWENTIES


What this means in terms of cinematic staging is that a wide view of a room will not disclose the presence of these divination tools, and only in a close-up will the audience perceive them. But even then, how will uninformed viewers interpret the images? Will a tarot card of the Page of Pentacles be meaningful? How about the lines on the palm of an actor's hand (and what if the actor's palm lines do not correspond to the nature of the character he is playing)? Can the roll of three dice, even in close-up, be emotionally significant to a film-goer who knows nothing about [:Category:Dice Reading|dice-reading]]? The answer is "No." Of all the popular methods of divining, only [:Category:Astrology|astrology]] looks good when blown up to the size of a wall chart, even though a horoscope is little more than window-dressing to anyone but an [:Category:Astrology|astrologer]]. As for crystal balls -- they are simply too small, too reflective, and too clear to make an impact.



These problems were solved in various ways for various forms of fortune telling in cinema -- but for crystal balls, one solution was obvious: BIGGER BALLS.


THIRTIES


In an earlier episode on Crystal Balls in Art, which i titled Lovely Ladies and Their Little Balls, i presented gallery and commercial art that featured women holding small crystal spheres, ranging in size from 2" finger balls to 3" palm balls. Although small balls sometimes appear in film, they are more likely to be placed on a stalk-like stand than to be held in the hand. Far more common in cinema, however, are 4" and 5" table balls, placed in carved wooden stands.



But, as the Nobel-Prize-winning ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen demonstrated, we are all influenced why what T. N. C. Vidya calls "the curious phenomenon of exaggerated responses to supernormal stimuli in animals." Briefly put, in the mid-20th century, Tinbergen discovered a previously unexamined feature common to virtually all animal species, namely,the preference for "supernormal stimuli," that is, objects that are larger, more vividly coloured, more highly flavoured, or more strongly scented than the natural counterparts with which the animals have had a millennias-old co-evolutionary relationship. In birds, such as the Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls that Tinbergen studied, this preference led to the females abandoning their own fertilized eggs in favour of larger artificial eggs with distinct speckling. After abandoning their own smaller and drabber eggs, they would attempt to sit upon artificial eggs so large they could not brood them, wasting an entire nesting season trying to hatch the supernormal eggs, resulting in no babies at all. It is this same preference for the supernormal that leads humans to prefer highly seasoned and super-sized fast food, and to prefer plastic-surgery-enhanced porn models to natural mates.



Returning to crystal balls: Hollywood, the ever-ready provider of tall men, big-busted women, and extra-large cartons of popcorn, could not resist super-sizing the crystal balls in the movies. 5" optical glass balls were used for table-top scenes featuring an intimate couple or a reader-client pairing, but more highly favoured were hollow glass spheres filled with swirling smoke. The smoke mechanism was placed under the table upon which the faux crystal ball rested on a circular wooden base, and a light bulb shone from below to highlight the smoke trails and cast eerie up-lighting on the fortune teller.



But of course, like Tinbergen's Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls, there was always a larger crystal ball to be had -- and by 1932's "The Mask of Fu Manchu," starring Boris Karloff, the supersized hollow sphere made its debut. 1934 brought us "The Return of Chandu," starring Bela Lugosi, and a series of balls ever larger, until one of them becomes part of a complex machine that dwarfs its creator.



The apotheosis of the ginormous crystal ball came in 1939, with "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale and Frank Morgan in the title role as both Professor Marvel and the Wizard. Beginning his journey in Kansas, the Professor has a very nice table-top crystal, but once the Land of Oz is entered, the crystal becomes a smoke--filled light-source, and is then put to double use as the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Margaret Hamilton, uses it to spy on Dorothy, while Dorothy uses it to cast a nostalgic glance at her Aunt Em, played by Clara Blandick. Remarkably, this prop, long thought lost, was found in a Hollywood junkyard and is now a treasured relic reminding us of the days when crystal balls were almost as large as the hot air balloon that The Wizard uses to return to Kansas, where he resumes his workaday life as Professor Marvel, who will "Read Your Past - Present and Future in His Crystal."



Why would anyone spend 20 years collecting digital images of crystal balls in film, anyway?



Good question, but as you can see, this has been one of my eccentric passions for quite a while. Here we are, at Part 3, and the images have not all been uploaded yet -- and as much as i hate to admit it, there are probably dozens of movies featuring crystal gazers that have eluded my knowledge.



One reason i know that there are more films about crystallomancy out there for me to find is that i have a couple dozen still photos of movie stars posing with crystal balls -- but i cannot link them to a film. Perhaps they were just publicity shots, but the costuming is such that i think there must be a film behind each one, somewhere.



And that's where you can help! If we've missed one of your favourites, or made a mistake along the way, drop us a line at the Lucky Mojo Forum (no email or social media messages, please) and let us know about it.



This showcase list of crystallomantic films is chronological, as were previous gallery collections. Once every photo is cleaned and uploaded, the entire pile will be compiled, and one year after that, it will open to the public. In the meantime, you can say that you saw them here first.



Having talked about Hollywood's preference for glowing, smoke-filled balls, or balls so large that they can serve as small television units, it's time to address the issue of Hollywood's preferred styles of crystal gazer. These types have changed over the years, but not as much as one might think.



The Man in the Turban: This cinematic stereotype is based almost entirely of the dramatic and very influential stage presentations of Claude Alexander Conlin. As Alexander, the Man Who Knows, he and his troupe of dancing girls (one of whom was his wife) and stage hands (one of whom was his poster artist) travelled from theater to theater by rail, towing an entire box car filled with their elaborate stage props, posters, costumes, and booklets to sell at the back of the room. Alexander wore a turban as part of his act, and dressed in amazing finery imported from India and designed to lend him an air of mystery. If you are unfamiliar with him, look no farther than the book "Secrets of the Crystal Silence League," which contains not only the text of two of his instructional booklets from 1919 and 1923, but is also filled with art used to promote him, and those who assiduously, even slavishly, copied both his stage act and his sartorial style. Actors who donned the turban include Warren William, Will Rogers, Henry Kolker, and Frank Morgan.


The Man in the Black Suit: The suave male crystal gazer who does not wear a turban is best exemplified by Turhan Bey and Alan Dinehart. This character too draws his formal style from that of a stage magician, but his look is more akin to a prestidigitator than a swami.



The Exotic Spooky Woman: These women are dressed in expensive finery, their bosoms are well endowed, their hair is coifed, and very often they are surrounded by stunning Arabic brassware and yards of Chinese draperies. Pauline Frederick and Theda Bara exemplify this type to a "T."


FORTIES

The Mesmerized Woman: Women who stare into crystal balls until their minds become unhinged are an interesting lot. They may start out not believing in the supernatural, but the lure of the crystal is hypnotic and they end up glazed-over, drugged, or just plain weird as they stare into its depths. Jean Sothern, Ann Doran, and Carol Lombard should get Oscars for portraying this type, with Clara Bow a runner-up and Judy Garland given an honourable mention.



The Ditzy Crystal Dame: The middle-aged comedic character actress whose crystal ball never seems to tell the truth, and who is completely flustered if it does, is a special sort of Hollywood type. Marion Lorne, Emma Thomson and Erica Yohn are stand-outs in this genre.


The Fake Crystal Gazer: The carnival cheat and the private reading swindler provide the moral basis for Hollywood's notorious anti-occult stance. Some, like Warren William and Frank Morgan, also wear the turban, some, like Turhan Bey and Alan Dinehart, are suave and classy in contemporary street clothes. A bit more unusual is the nice-girl-roped-into-carny-life, portrayed by Paulette Goddard.



The Witch: Witches who read crystal balls are featured in fantasy settings. Marion Lorne is both a witch and a ditzy dame, and Emma Thompson is a half-blood witch, but when it comes to pure, unadulterated wicked witchcraft, Margaret Hamilton reigns supreme.



The Wizard: Another character from fantasy films is the wizard with a crystal. Rarely a helper, he usually is a supernormal villain. Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff, and David Bowie are examples of this type.



One of the best parts of collecting images of crystal balls in cinema is the prospect of locating the film and watching it. Whether sincere, hokey, spooky, or corny, every one of these movies tells us something about how crystal gazing was seen by the screen writers and directors of the past 125 years, and also how the prop masters and actors dealt with the crystal sphere as an artifact.



We can learn about how fortune telling, prophesy, divination, and the occult have been perceived over the years when we see the role played by the crystal gazer in a fictional story. And because crystals are so flashy, they serve as stand-ins for all means of fortune telling. Prop and character are always linked: There are movies in which we can see horoscopes and astrologers, hands and palm readers, cards and cartomancers, and just flat out clairvoyant seers — but when the sets are dressed, many of those readers end up with a crystal ball somewhere in range of the camera's eye. They are simply too attractive to leave out of the picture.



On the other hand, one of the most frustrating parts of collecting images of crystal balls in cinema is the issue of "lost films." It is shocking how many movies, both silent and sound, simply do not exist anymore. For some of these, we have a few publicity stills, newspaper advertisements, and lobby cards, but for others all that may remain are the notices in theatrical news magazines announcing the commencement or the wrap of shooting, or a review in some hick paper in Indiana that praised the show to the skies, thus adding to our frustration because we will never be able to see it.



Among the most frustrating of these lost films is "The Crystal Ball" of 1914. All that remains is a poster (with a crystal ball), a lantern slide advertisement (of a Hindu swami with a crystal ball), and a plot synopsis from "Moving Picture World" — yet this is the very first movie ever to feature a crystal ball. Also elusive -- although portions of it, and a complete novelization, remain -- is "The Mysteries of Myra," written by the enormously influential paranormal researcher and occult author Hereward Carrington, and featuring no less a personage than the occultist Aleister Crowley (at least according to some researchers). A dedicated group of film historians known as the Serial Squadron has restored and compiled the three episodes that remain, and, working from the contemporary novelization and script, have assembled publicity stills in their proper order to fill in as many blanks as possible -- but we will never see this movie the way it was shown in theaters when it was a weekly chapter-play that thrilled the nation.


FIFTIES

Another area of frustration involves my collection of publicity stills featuring actors and actresses (mostly actresses, if the truth be told) holding or gazing into crystal balls -- with no indication as to the date the photo was made or the name of the film — if there was one — to which it can be attached. Sometimes a search through the performer's filmography pays off and the image can be tagged to the right film. But quite a few remain loose and undated.



Then there's the problem that arises when we have seen a film once or even several times, or have read its synopsis, and we know for sure that there is a crystal ball scene in it, but no matter where we search, we cannot find a poster, publicity still, or lobby card of the scene in which the crystal ball appears.


SIXTIES

This is especially galling when we use the IMDb database to search for films with the keywords "crystal ball," and neither IMDb's image cache, nor a wider search engine exploration produces a single image, and we do not have the film in our own rather extensive collection. (Okay, frankly, we have thousands of films on DVD; but we are cheap and won't pay more than ten bucks each for them!)



Sometimes we can rent or purchase a purported crystal ball film and make a screen-grab of the crystal ball scene — if the quality of the print is clear. Other times we know the film is not lost, but we cannot locate a copy anywhere. Or, sad to say, we lacked the time to make the screen grab this year, and are putting it off until ... whenever.


SEVENTIES

EIGHTIES

With all of that in mind, we have arrived at a plan to make this collection bigger, better, and more eccentric than ever: crowd-sourcing. What follows is a list of films that have crystal balls in them, according to the IMDb keyword database, which is itself crowd-sourced, and thus prone to error.



Still, despite the possibility of crowd-sourcing errors, these are films we have not seen yet — and they are the films from which we want crystal ball screen grabs. If, during a search at IMDb or elsewhere online we have found a publicity still, poster, or lobby card of a man in a turban, we presume that he is a "Swami" or crystal gazer character in the film, and we offer both the character name and the actor's name.


NINETIES

Can you help by supplying a screen shot of a crystal ball scene in any of these movies?

  • 1918: "Betta, the Gipsy"
    • In Wales, a gypsy queen changes her sister's dead baby for one by the same father. The child grows up to marry her daughter.
    • Director: Charles Raymond | Stars: Marga Rubia Levy, Malvina Longfellow, George Foley, Edward Combermere

OUGHTS

  • 1922: "Haxan," a.k.a. "Witchcraft Through the Ages"
    • Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
    • Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
  • 1924: "The Thief of Bagdad"
    • A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
    • Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher



  • 1930: "Honeymoon Zeppelin"
    • A jealous fiancee returns her engagement ring and flies off with another man on a blimp bound for Havana. On the voyage, his rival proposes, so the jilted fiance rushes to intercept the zeppelin by seaplane.
    • Director: Mack Sennett | Stars: Nick Stuart, Marjorie Beebe, Daphne Pollard, Edward Earle
  • 1932: "Sinister Hands" — Swami Yomurda (Mischa Auer)
    • During a séance at an elderly millionaire's house, the millionaire is murdered and detectives realize that everyone who was at the séance had a motive for killing the man.
    • Director: Armand Schaefer | Stars: Jack Mulhall, Phyllis Barrington, Crauford Kent
  • 1934: "The Moonstone" — Yandoo (John Davidson)
    • A valuable gem from India is stolen in an old dark mansion and it is up to Scotland Yard to find out who took it.
    • Director: Reginald Barker | Stars: David Manners, Phyllis Barry, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Jameson Thomas
  • 1937: High Flyers
    • Two men running a carnival airplane ride are hired to fly to retrieve what they think are photos for a reporter; actually, they are retrieving stolen diamonds.
    • Director: Edward F. Cline | Stars: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Lupe Velez, Marjorie Lord
  • 1939: "A Star is Shorn"
    • Bumbling talent agent Danny Webb tries to help a struggling actress get work.
    • Director: Del Lord | Stars: Danny Webb, Mary Treen, Ethelreda Leopold, Eugene Anderson Jr.



  • 1941: "Playmates"
    • Lulu Monahan, the press agent for John Barrymore, is attempting to get a sponsor for a radio program.
    • Director: David Butler | Stars: Kay Kyser, John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, Ginny Simms
  • 1942: "The Falcon Takes Over"
    • The Falcon and reporter Ann Riordan try to solve a string of murders after an ex-wrestler, released from jail, goes looking for his girl friend.
    • Director: Irving Reis | Stars: George Sanders, Lynn Bari, James Gleason, Allen Jenkins
  • 1943: "No News Is Good News"
    • Robert Benchley ("The Answer Man") answers questions sent in by people.
    • Director: Will Jason | Stars: Robert Benchley, John B. Kennedy, Lon Poff
  • 1946: "Aladin"
    • A Filipino adaptation of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.
    • Director: Vicente Salumbides | Stars: Norma Blancaflor, Jaime de la Rosa, Naty Bernardo, Salvador Zaragoza
  • 1947: "Le tempestaire"
    • In a village in Brittany, a worried young maid asks for help from a mysterious old man and his magical crystal ball in order to calm down the rough seas.
    • Director: Jean Epstein
  • 1955: "Black Cats and Broomsticks"
    • An RKO-Pathe Screenliner short subject. Superstitions are examined in the context of mid-20th century America. Walking under ladders, spilt salt, stepping on cracks, haunted houses, voodoo dolls, and such illustrate the widespread belief in the supernatural.
    • Director: Larry O'Reilly | Star: Peter Roberts
  • 1955: "A Time to Kill"
    • In the grounds of a dark, deserted mansion, a blackmailer collects money from his victim.
    • Director: Larry O'Reilly | Star: Peter Roberts
  • 1957: "The End of the Fortune-Teller" ("Konec Jasnovidce")
    • Private clairvoyant Mathias Scibolini carries out his work with honesty and to the full satisfaction of his clients.
    • Directors: Ján Rohác, Vladimír Svitácek | Stars: Milos Kopecký, Frantisek Filipovský, Jirina Bohdalová, Vladimír Mensík

TEXT STORAGE

I am fannishly obsessing over "The Mysteries of Myra," the mostly-missing 1916 horror fantasy chapter play written by the famous occultist and Spiritualist Hereward Carrington. Another still has come to light, and i now have a list of all the chapters, one of which was never filmed and another of which was filmed but discarded by William Randolph Heart, whose motion picture company funded this eccentric project. After the chapters had covered every metaphysical topic from hypnotism and fairies to telepathically-induced suicide and thought-monsters, it seems that the "Voodoo" chapter was just too, too much for Hearst to release. It may be that i will just have to bite the bullet and purchase both the book about this movie and the DVD that compiles all of the remaining footage and working materials. It is not cheap. The Serial Squadron, who put this over-the-top project together represent the best of fandom -- but the cost is ... well, it's a luxury. Maybe next month ...


The mysterious crystal ball publicity shots of the 1930s and 1940s continue to stump me. These are well-costumed, well-posed, and well-lit photographs of well-known actors and well-endowed actresses gazing into well-made crystal balls -- but they don't seem to be linked to any movies. Perhaps posing with a crystal ball was just what was "done" by goofy Hollywood agents for their clients back then, or maybe these were test shots for roles that went to other actors. If you have a clue, please share it!


The more of these vintage movie stills, lobby cards, and posters i see, the more of a critic of the prop departments of various studios i become. I can spot a real crystal, whether quartz (unlikely) or solid glass, and easily tell it from a hollow blown-glass sphere. I can tell an upside-down goldfish bowl, painted milky-white inside and lit up by a lamp, from a Murano glass sphere with swirls of encased air bubbles. It always looks a little tacky to see a character emoting over a hollow sphere. I want my crystal balls to have some weight to them, some gravitas.


I am also becoming aware of the wonders — and the failings — of various costume and set design departments at major, minor, independent, and poverty row film studios. A good swami outfit did not require a big budget back then. Asian brocades, Turkish rugs, and few feathers worked wonders. Nylon satin did not. What is most interesting is that the "exotic" costumes, fabrics, furnishings, and decor of the silent, pre-Code, and pre-War period were so much more authentic-looking than the shiny satin and bulky bathrobes of the Mid-Century years. Examining a still from even a cheap little silent production like "Rough House Rosie," starring Clara Bow, reveals rich details of imported Asian and Middle Eastern textiles, metal craft, and woodworking history that are virtually archival in their authenticity.


From the start of the Hayes Code era until well into the hippie era, few movies except for "The Wizard of Oz" (which was based on a book from 1900) treated crystal gazing as anything but a scam. Low budget documentary-exposure-exploitation films that propagandized against crystallomancy took off after Mischa Auer played Swami Yomurda twice in the 1930s and Turhan Bey played two phony crystal gazers in the 1940s. Swami racketeers were in a comfortable rut in Hollywood by the early 1950s, when films like "Bunco Squad," told the story of how the Los Angeles Police Department had created an entire department assigned to investigating and arresting fortune tellers, palm readers, psychics, clairvoyants, and phony occultists.


The late 1950s was probably the low point for crystal gazing in film. Fraud was no longer the central plot-driver, but comedy had replaced mystery, and the days of intrigue and glorious costumes and elaborate props seemed to be gone forever. And then, suddenly, fantasy-themed films came back with a bang. From "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" and "Labyrinth" through "The Lord of the Rings" and the "Harry Potter " series, crystal balls were everywhere, and very rarely were they symbols of swindlers and fake yogis -- now they were the tools of authentic wizards and witches, both benevolent and sinister.


The Search Goes On

Here's a revised list of Missing Balls: These are films keyworded at IMDb as having Crystal Balls in them, but for which we have not yet located an image: Can you help us by supplying a screen shot of a crystal ball scene in any of these movies?

  • 1918: "Betta, the Gipsy"
    • In Wales, a gypsy queen changes her sister's dead baby for one by the same father. The child grows up to marry her daughter.
    • Director: Charles Raymond | Stars: Marga Rubia Levy, Malvina Longfellow, George Foley, Edward Combermere
  • 1922: "Haxan," a.k.a. "Witchcraft Through the Ages"
    • Fictionalized documentary showing the evolution of witchcraft, from its pagan roots to its confusion with hysteria in Eastern Europe.
    • Director: Benjamin Christensen | Stars: Benjamin Christensen, Elisabeth Christensen, Maren Pedersen, Clara Pontoppidan
  • 1924: "The Thief of Bagdad"
    • A recalcitrant thief vies with a duplicitous Mongol ruler for the hand of a beautiful princess.
    • Director: Raoul Walsh | Stars: Douglas Fairbanks, Julanne Johnston, Snitz Edwards, Charles Belcher
  • 1930: "Honeymoon Zeppelin"
    • A jealous fiancee returns her engagement ring and flies off with another man on a blimp bound for Havana. On the voyage, his rival proposes, so the jilted fiance rushes to intercept the zeppelin by seaplane.
    • Director: Mack Sennett | Stars: Nick Stuart, Marjorie Beebe, Daphne Pollard, Edward Earle
  • 1934: "The Moonstone" — Yandoo (John Davidson)
    • A valuable gem from India is stolen in an old dark mansion and it is up to Scotland Yard to find out who took it.
    • Director: Reginald Barker | Stars: David Manners, Phyllis Barry, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Jameson Thomas
  • 1937: High Flyers
    • Two men running a carnival airplane ride are hired to fly to retrieve what they think are photos for a reporter; actually, they are retrieving stolen diamonds.
    • Director: Edward F. Cline | Stars: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, Lupe Velez, Marjorie Lord
  • 1939: "A Star is Shorn"
    • Bumbling talent agent Danny Webb tries to help a struggling actress get work.
    • Director: Del Lord | Stars: Danny Webb, Mary Treen, Ethelreda Leopold, Eugene Anderson Jr.
  • 1941: "Playmates"
    • Lulu Monahan, the press agent for John Barrymore, is attempting to get a sponsor for a radio program.
    • Director: David Butler | Stars: Kay Kyser, John Barrymore, Lupe Velez, Ginny Simms
  • 1943: "No News Is Good News"
    • Robert Benchley ("The Answer Man") answers questions sent in by people.
    • Director: Will Jason | Stars: Robert Benchley, John B. Kennedy, Lon Poff
  • 1946: "Aladin"
    • A Filipino adaptation of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.
    • Director: Vicente Salumbides | Stars: Norma Blancaflor, Jaime de la Rosa, Naty Bernardo, Salvador Zaragoza
  • 1947: "Le Tempestaire"
    • In a village in Brittany, a worried young maid asks for help from a mysterious old man and his magical crystal ball in order to calm down the rough seas.
    • Director: Jean Epstein
  • 1955: "Black Cats and Broomsticks"
    • An RKO-Pathe Screenliner short subject. Superstitions are examined in the context of mid-20th century America. Walking under ladders, spilt salt, stepping on cracks, haunted houses, voodoo dolls, and such illustrate the widespread belief in the supernatural.
    • Director: Larry O'Reilly | Star: Peter Roberts
  • 1955: "A Time to Kill"
    • In the grounds of a dark, deserted mansion, a blackmailer collects money from his victim.
    • Director: Larry O'Reilly | Star: Peter Roberts
  • 1957: "The End of the Fortune-Teller" ("Konec Jasnovidce")
    • Private clairvoyant Mathias Scibolini carries out his work with honesty and to the full satisfaction of his clients.
    • Directors: Ján Rohác, Vladimír Svitácek | Stars: Milos Kopecký, Frantisek Filipovský, Jirina Bohdalová, Vladimír Mensík

See Also

Lovely Ladies and Their Little Balls

To Discuss This Patreon Page

This Patreon Bonus Page is part of the series titled "Your Wate and Fate." To discuss it with me and the Patreon community, please visit our Private Patreon Forum at

http://forum.luckymojo.com/your-wate-and-fate-t93995.html

Thank you.

catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
Your Wate and Fate


Special thanks to my dear husband and creative partner nagasiva yronwode for illustrations, scans, and clean-ups.