Crystal Balls in Film

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Crystal Balls in Film

All of the material you have access to here -- the instructive booklets, the nostalgic postcards, the boldly graphic ephemera, and all of the historical information researched and shared from the mind of the woman who is making it all happen -- can easily fit into one 8 x 10 foot room in an old Victorian farmhouse, but you would never see it without the investment of the time it takes to produce such a site and the caloric input such a site requires in the form of food for the writer, graphic designer, and database manager, as well as the US currency needed to pay for the computers, software applications, scanners, electricity, and internet connectivity that bring it out of that little room and into the world.

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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 om order to provide a culturally informative viewpoint of 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 panoply will be revealed.

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  1932: "Business and Pleasure," starring Will Rogers, Joel McCrea, and Boris Karloff. Will Rogers with a crystal ball and Jetta Goudal as Madame Momora.
  Black and white publicity still.
  Genre: Comedy.

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  1932: "Business and Pleasure," starring Will Rogers, Joel McCrea, and Boris Karloff. Will Rogers with a crystal ball and Peggy Ross as Olivia Tinker.
  Black and white publicity still.
  Genre: Comedy.

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  1933: "The Mind Reader," starring Warren William and Constance Cummings.
  Colour poster.
  Genre: Action, Crime, Drama.

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  1933: "The Mind Reader," starring Warren William and Constance Cummings.
  Colour Lobby Card.
  Genre: Action, Crime, Drama.

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  The Mind Reader 1933; Loretta Andrews, Ruthelma Stevens, Warren William, Constance Cummings, and Mayo Methot.
  Black and white lobby card.
  Genre: Action, Crime, Drama.

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  1933: "The Mind Reader," starring Warren William. Warren William with a crystal ball.
  Black and white lobby card.
  Genre: Action, Crime, Drama.

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  1933: "The Mind Reader," starring Warren William and Constance Cummings.
  Colour Lobby Card.
  Genre: Action, Crime, Drama.

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  1933: "The Mind Reader," starring Warren William and Constance Cummings.
  Colour Lobby Card.
  Genre: Action, Crime, Drama.

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  1936: Red Lights Ahead," starring Andy Clyde and featuring Ann Doran with a crystal ball.
  Colour poster.
  Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family.

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  1936: Red Lights Ahead," starring Andy Clyde. Addison Randall and Ann Doran with a crystal ball.
  Black and white lobby card.
  Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family.

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  1936: Red Lights Ahead," starring Andy Clyde. Paula Stone and Ann Doran with a crystal ball.
  Black and white lobby card.
  Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family.

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  1936: Red Lights Ahead," starring Andy Clyde. Ann Doran with a crystal ball in the dark.
  Black and white lobby card.
  Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family.

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  1943: "The Crystal Ball," starring Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard.
  Colour poster.
  Genre: Comedy, Music, Mystery.

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  1943: "The Crystal Ball," with Paulette Goddard.
  Black and white publicity still.
  Genre: Comedy, Music, Mystery.

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  1943: "The Crystal Ball," starring Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard. Virginia Field consults crystal gazer Paulette Goddard.
  Colour lobby card
  Genre: Comedy, Music, Mystery.

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  1943: "The Crystal Ball," Paulette Goddard and Ray Milland.
  Black and white publicity still.
  Genre: Comedy, Music, Mystery.

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  1945" "Her Lucky Night, starring the Andrews Sisters, Martha O'Driscoll, and Noah Beery, Jr. Martha O'Driscoll gets her fortune told by a crystal gazer.
  Black and white lobby card.
  Genre: Comedy, Music, Musical.

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  1948: "The Amazing Mr. X," also released as "The Spiritualist," starring Turhan Bey as the lead character, with Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell.
  Colour poster.
  Genre: Thriller.

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  1948: "The Amazing Mr. X," also released as "The Spiritualist," starring Turhan Bey as the lead character, with Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell.
  Blue duo-tone poster.
  Genre: Thriller.

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  1948: "The Spiritualist," an alternate title for "The Amazing Mr. X," starring Turhan Bey as the lead character, with Lynn Bari and Cathy O'Donnell.
  Colour poster.
  Genre: Thriller.

• 

  1948: "The Amazing Mr. X," an unusual photo shot from beneath the table of a Spiritualist seance with a crystal ball.
  Black and white publicity still
  Genre: Thriller.

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  1964–1972: A publicity still fo the "Bewitched" television series featuring Marion Lorne as Aunt Clara, holding a crystal ball.
  Colour publicity still.
  Genre: Situation Comedy.

See Also

Lovely Ladies and Their Little Balls

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

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

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