Crystal Balls in Film 2
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Crystal Balls in Film Part Two
When considering the subject of fortune telling, one is immediately hi with the generally agnostic or atheistic attitude toward any other form of spirituality or folk belief beyond extreme deference to Christianity (often in the form of Catholic devotionalism). Once the self-imposed 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 as villains or victims. Fortune tellers underwent the same degradation, and in very few post-Code films are the psychics truly psychic.
1932: "The Mask of Fu Manchu," starring Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy. The set dressing shows the large crystal ball famous from "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Return of Chandu."
Black and white photograph of set decoration.
Genre: Horror.
1932: "The Mask of Fu Manchu," starring Boris Karloff and Myrna Loy. Fah So Lee (Loy) and Dr. Fu Manchu (Karloff) with the large crystal ball also seen in "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Return of Chandu."
Black and white publicity still.
Genre: Horror.
During the Hays Code era, from 1934 to 1968, fortune tellers were generally portrayed as comedic bumblers, scamming fraudsters, or wicked villains -- and sometimes two of three in the same film. One favoured trope was the fraudulent fortune teller who is 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 to convey information to younger people in order to improve their lives.
1934: "The Return of Chandu (The Magician)," Episode 6: Chandu's False Step, starring Bela Lugosi, and Maria Alba. Dean Benton as Bob Regent, Bela Lugosi as Frank Chandler (Chandu), and Phyllis Ludwig as Betty Regent view the future in a small crystal ball.
Sepia tone lobby card.
Genre: Fantasy.
1934: "The Return of Chandu (The Magician)," Episode 6: Chandu's False Step, starring Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi as Frank Chandler (Chandu), consults his slightly larger crystal ball.
Black and white lobby card.
Genre: Fantasy.
In addition to the cultural biases against fortune telling that permeated early to mid 20th century film, the portrayal of psychic readers faced other 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! It 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.
1934: "The Return of Chandu (The Magician)" starring Bela Lugosi and Maria Alba. Bela Lugosi as Frank Chandler (Chandu) charges up his giant crystal ball machine. This is said to have been the same large crystal ball prop seen in "The Wizard of Oz" from 1939.
Black and white publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
1934: "The Return of Chandu (The Magician)" starring Bela Lugosi and Maria Alba. In this poster the crystal ball has assumed huge proportions and vibrant colour, becoming a outstanding example of the lure of supernormal stimuli.
Colour poster.
Genre: Fantasy.
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 3 of Pentacles be meaningful? How about the lines on the palm of an actor's hand (and what if the actor's lines do not correspond to the nature of the character he is playing)? Can the roll of three dice be significant to a film-goer? The answer is, "No," and of all the popular methods of divining, only astrology looks good when blows up to the size of a wall chart. As for crystal balls -- they are simply too small, too reflective, and too clear to make an impact.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland and Frank Morgan. Dorothy Gale (Garland) approaches the travelling abode of Professor Marvel, which reads "Professor Marvel, Acclaimed by the Crowned Heads of Europe; Let Him Read Your Past - Present and Future in His Crystal; Also Juggling and Sleight of Hand."
Sepia tone publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland and Frank Morgan. Judy Garland as Dorothy consults Professor Marvel with his crystal ball. This small sphere prefigures the large one used by the Wicked Witch of the West and also the spherical bulk of his hot air baloon.
Sepia tone publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
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 these sometimes appear in film, they are more likely to be placed on a stalk-like sand than to be held in the hand. Far more common in cinema, however, are 4" and 5" table balls, placed in carved wood stands or cast brass stands of an Asian type.
But, as ethologist Nikolaas Tinbergen demonstrated in like what T.N.C. Vidya calls "the curious phenomenon of exaggerated responses to supernormal stimuli in animals." Brefly put, what Tinbergen discovered was a previously unexamined feature common to virtually all animal species, the preference for "supernoramal stimuli," that is, objects that are larger, more vividly coloured, more highly flavoured, or more stronly scented than the natural counterparts with which the animals hhave had a millenias-old eveolutionary relationship. In birds, such as the Oystercatchers and Herring Gulls that he stuudied, this preference led to the fmales abandoning their own fertilized eggs in favour of larger artificial eggs with distinct speckling. Their own smaller and drabber eggs, abandoned, they would attempt tp sit upon eggs so large they could not brood them, wasting away an entire nesting season trying to hatch the supernormal , 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.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland and Frank Morgan: Dorothy consults the professor. Professor Marvel's small crystal ball prefigures the large one used by the Wicked Witch of the West.
Sepia tone publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton. The "Witches Tower" set from "The Wizard of Oz," showing the large crystal ball in place.
Black and white publicity set decoration shot.
Genre: Fantasy.
But, returning to crystal balls: Hollywood, the ever-ready server of tall men, big-custed women, and extra-large cartons of popcorn, could not resist super-sizing the crystal balls seen 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 between 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 and cast eerie up-lighting on the fortune teller.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland and Clara Blandick: Dorothy (Judy Garland) views Aunt Em (Clara Blandick) in the crystal ball.
Colour and sepia tone publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Judy Garland and Margaret Hamilton. Dorothy views the Wicked Witch of the West in the crystal ball.
Colour publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
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," sarring Bela Luosi, and a series of balls ever larger, until one of them becomes part of a complex machine that dwarfs its creator.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Margaret Hamilton and Judy Garland. The Wicked Witch of the West (Hamilton) views Dorothy (Garland) and her companions in the crystal ball.
Colour publicity still.
Genre: Fantasy.
1939: "The Wizard of Oz," starring Margaret Hamilton. The Wicked Witch's crystal ball salvaged from a Hollywood junkyard.
Colour documentary photo.
Genre: Fantasy.
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 Professor Marvel and the Wizard himself. 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."
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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