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The Crystal Ball

  • 1943
  • Approved
  • 1h 21m
IMDb RATING
6.5/10
917
YOUR RATING
Ray Milland and Paulette Goddard in The Crystal Ball (1943)
Quirky ComedyScrewball ComedyComedyMysteryRomance

A woman becomes a fortune teller after losing a beauty contest.A woman becomes a fortune teller after losing a beauty contest.A woman becomes a fortune teller after losing a beauty contest.

  • Director
    • Elliott Nugent
  • Writers
    • Virginia Van Upp
    • Steven Vas
  • Stars
    • Ray Milland
    • Paulette Goddard
    • Gladys George
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.5/10
    917
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Elliott Nugent
    • Writers
      • Virginia Van Upp
      • Steven Vas
    • Stars
      • Ray Milland
      • Paulette Goddard
      • Gladys George
    • 25User reviews
    • 3Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos18

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    Top cast62

    Edit
    Ray Milland
    Ray Milland
    • Brad Cavanaugh
    Paulette Goddard
    Paulette Goddard
    • Toni Gerard
    Gladys George
    Gladys George
    • Madame Zenobia
    Virginia Field
    Virginia Field
    • Jo Ainsley
    Cecil Kellaway
    Cecil Kellaway
    • Pop Tibbets
    William Bendix
    William Bendix
    • Biff Carter
    Yvonne De Carlo
    Yvonne De Carlo
    • Secretary
    • (scenes deleted)
    Maude Eburne
    Maude Eburne
    • Apple Annie Character
    • (scenes deleted)
    Iris Adrian
    Iris Adrian
    • Mrs. Angela Martin
    • (uncredited)
    Eric Alden
    Eric Alden
    • Ambulance Driver
    • (uncredited)
    Maxine Ardell
    • Secretary
    • (uncredited)
    Sig Arno
    Sig Arno
    • Waiter at Stukov's
    • (uncredited)
    Bobby Barber
    Bobby Barber
    • Educated Fleas Act Sign Carrier
    • (uncredited)
    May Beatty
    May Beatty
    • Dowager
    • (uncredited)
    William A. Boardway
    William A. Boardway
    • Elevator Passenger
    • (uncredited)
    Lulu Mae Bohrman
    • Party Guest
    • (uncredited)
    Hillary Brooke
    Hillary Brooke
    • Friend of Jo Ainsley
    • (uncredited)
    Paul Bryar
    Paul Bryar
    • Maurice, Captain of Waiters
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Elliott Nugent
    • Writers
      • Virginia Van Upp
      • Steven Vas
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews25

    6.5917
    1
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    10

    Featured reviews

    7boblipton

    Wartime Screwball

    Texan Paulette Goddard pursues rich lawyer Ray Milland, while working for fake fortune teller Gladys George in this funny romantic comedy.

    It's a fine, cynical little late screwball comedy, starting off with Gladys George running a con on Milland's man-hungry client, Virginia Field, and Miss Goddard pursuing Milland using her fake psychic abilities. There are plenty of character-based gags for a supporting cast that includes William Bendix, Cecil Kellaway, Sig Arno, and Ernest Truex (who gets to pop Milland in the kisser). Some of the jokes refer to wartime conditions and haven't aged well, but the script keeps them coming, and Elliot Nugent directs it in a breezy manner.
    10guil12

    Delightful Romantic Comedy

    It was wonderful to see the stars at their peaks. Paulette Goddard, that attractive kitten, with Ray Milland at his most subtle best. They make a terrific pair and made several more films together (Reap The Wild Wind, Kitty and The Lady Has Plans) due to the chemistry of their screen partnership. This is a funny film about a gal from Texas, down on her luck, who gets a job helping out a Fortune Teller, Gladys George, and in the process falls for a well-to-do lawyer, Milland. Things, as always in screwball comedies, get mixed up but in the end girl gets guy and all live happily ever after. Enjoyed this very much. Four stars for the two stars Goddard and Milland.
    dougdoepke

    Good, But Not First-Rate

    Zany wartime madcap from Paramount. Seems Texas girl Toni (Goddard) has designs on handsome city attorney Brad (Milland) but has to out-compete sophisticated rival Jo (Field) for his affections. But don't worry, she's a dead-shot with a rifle and can fake a good crystal ball when she has to. Plenty of chuckles and mild innuendo, throughout, along with nifty scene-ending touches that work as comedic embroidery. Okay, the storyline would flunk a logic course, but who cares, since it's the humor that counts. All in all, the flick's a Goddard showcase that includes snappy support from a Johnny-on-the-spot Bill Bendix, a brassy Iris Adrian, and a fumbling Sig Arno who won't be table-waiting the President anytime soon. Then too, note that the ladies goody gowns are from Hollywood's premier fashion designers Edith Head and Adrian- I wonder if they did the gown that gets ripped off poor Toni.

    Trouble is chuckles tail off toward the end when things serious up a bit. Also, Milland's fine for Brad's serious side, but adds little to Brad's lighter side. Nonetheless, it's an entertaining 80-minutes that gives Mussolini I good kick in the butt. So catch up with it despite the obscurity.
    5moonspinner55

    Cast in high spirits, though the absence of funny lines makes itself felt...

    Shapely Paulette Goddard (dressed to the nines, but with only thirty-eight cents to her name) takes a job as decoy in a shooting gallery, but when the phony fortune teller she's bunking with throws her back out, Goddard subs for her at a fancy affair. Flimsy romantic fluff from Paramount studios (but acquired and released by United Artists). Though set mainly in 'ritzy' surroundings--with gowns by both Edith Head AND Adrian!--the picture appears to be a second-biller, though one given a pinch of star-power from Goddard and Ray Milland (even if the colorful supporting players tend to upstage them both). Elliott Nugent's direction has little feeling for slapstick pratfalls and comedic misunderstandings; coupled with the silly script, it isn't any wonder why the film builds no momentum. Two quirky highlights: the eccentric singing ladies on the tandem bicycle; also, Milland's sports car (a Crosley) that rocks back and forth like a toy auto. ** from ****
    Doylenf

    The plot is beyond silly...but Paulette makes a charming schemer...

    THE CRYSTAL BALL has such a hackneyed plot about a conniving woman out to get herself a wealthy husband (in fact, two women with the same idea), but the plot complications have serious undertones and there's not enough witty banter to make it digestible. Audiences must have been starving for light, fluffy nonsense like this during WWII, but despite some funny moments it's nothing but a predictable romantic comedy.

    What does help are the performances of Paulette Goddard, Ray Milland and Virginia Field as the romantic trio. Lost in the shuffle are William Bendix, Cecil Kellaway and other supporting players who have very little to do but stand around agape at the stupid plot whose ripest comic moments include a waiter who inevitably trips and falls whenever Goddard is within close range.

    Paulette is a down on her heels gal with 38 cents in her pocketbook who needs help from fortune-teller Gladys George (totally wasted). When GG becomes ill, it's Paulette who is designated to take her place as the crystal ball fortune-teller who gets involved in the budding romance between rich playboy Milland and his widowed sweetheart Field.

    None of it makes any sense and the situations are played for screwball comedy effect with only a couple of successful moments where the comedy is pitched to the right key. Both stars try hard, but the material is really beneath them.

    However, fans of Goddard and Milland will find it easy enough to forgive the nonsensical plot and enjoy the stars at their physical peak.

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    Related interests

    Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Cate Blanchett, Bud Cort, Anjelica Huston, Michael Gambon, Noah Taylor, Matthew Gray Gubler, Seu Jorge, and Waris Ahluwalia in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
    Quirky Comedy
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    Screwball Comedy
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    Comedy
    Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in Chinatown (1974)
    Mystery
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    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The little convertible driven by Ray Milland is a 2-cylinder Crosley. Paulette Goddard owned one in real life.
    • Goofs
      Mic shadow visible in upper left of frame as Milland and Goddard step into elevator.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Smythe: I'm a phobophobe.

      Toni Gerard: You're a what?

      Mrs. Smythe: A phobophobe. That means I'm afraid of being afraid.

      Toni Gerard: I see.

      Mrs. Smythe: Well, I don't understand it either, but according to psychoanalysts, it's all because I was a child.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits are shown over a crystal ball & astrology diagram background.
    • Soundtracks
      Tangerine
      (uncredited)

      Written by Victor Schertzinger (music) and Johnny Mercer (lyrics)

      Instrumental version

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 22, 1943 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La bola de cristal
    • Filming locations
      • Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Pictures
      • Cinema Guild Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 21m(81 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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