The Amazing Mr. X / The Spiritualist, original Crystal Ball movie prop TURHAN BEY (Mummy films)

original movie prop

Early large "crystal ball' made of a primitive acrylic/lexan-type material. I bought this ball straight out of Ellis Prop house myself back in about 2000, and it is fully marked. It was definately the oldest and largest crystal ball in their inventory. Seen here being used by Turhan Bey (of Universal's MUMMY movies) in THE SPIRITUALIST, also known as AMAZING MR. X, where Bey plays a phony medium. A lot of cool "spirit" special effects in this film, and this ball is a featured prop used in many scenes. It was built so light could shine up through it, or shot from the bottom up through the base via a glass top table. The ball has been dropped, damaged and repaired (by Ellis prop house) at least a couple of times in it's 50 year rental life, as evidenced by sloppy repairs. The base was brokenand repaired, leaving out the broken piece, leaving the ball a couple os inches shorter. This is a prop that has obviously seen a ton of production use, in who knows how many shows.

This prop was also used by Max Baer, Jr. as Jethro Bodine on the Filmways TV classic THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, in the episdoe "CRYSTAL GAZERS".