Rare film narrated by Manly Hall on TCM tonight~
Tonight at 10:30 PM Eastern, Turner Classic Movies presents WHEN WERE YOU BORN? Manly Hall’s concept and script collaboration, which he introduces with a quick discussion of astrological signs. The producers misspelled his name in the opening credits as Manley P. Hall.
Mrs. Heindel warned young MPH to stay away from Hollywood but for a time, when he had the opportunity, he was focused on the idea that Hollywood could bring esoteric concepts to the masses. He even had a screenplay about the Count of St. Germain.
As MPH’s assistant I wanted to see this film and the scripts, and the outtake of MPH hypnotizing Bela Lugosi, but he had come around to Mrs. Heindel’s point of view. He told me as far as he knew no copies of the films or scripts could be found, and he was glad. The St. Germain script has not turned up, but his astrological introduction and his Lugosi hypnosis can be found on YouTube.
Anna May Wong, who had to play such demeaning roles, here plays a wise Chinese astrologer. The film was, as usual, marred by the heavy hands of the production team, a 5.8 on IMDB, it is nevertheless a tweet for astrologers and fans of not only MPH and Wong, but also of noir, and black and white who-done-it suspense melodramas.
Tamra Lucid’s book about our friendship with Manly Hall (now on sale).
My upcoming book about the history of esoteric and mystical traditions in America.
