I have the Orson Welles film, "Touch of Evil" on VHS and paused during
the scene in which Welles asks of Marlene Dietrich to read his future
to which she replies "Your future is all used up." There is one point
in this scene in which Welles spreads out the Tarot deck and it is
revealed that the deck used by Dietrich in this film is the Swiss 1JJ
deck. This film was released in the USA in 1958, 10 years before
Stuart Kaplan's reported exposure to it. I'm quite curious as to the
use and popularity of this deck in the United States prior to Kaplan's
1968 discovery of the 1JJ deck and his founding of US Games.
I would also be curious as to what is the oldest existing film to
explicitly depict a Tarot deck. So far, "Touch of Evil" is the
earliest such film I have seen. "The Wolfman" does not count as it is
not clear whether the reader is actually using a Tarot or a
conventional deck of cards. I did see a "Wolfman" action figure
recently, it is actually the Bela Lugosi
Gypsy character
http://www.monstersinmotion.com/classic/belagypsy.html., which did include a miniature Tarot of Marseilles, but in
the film one cannot identify the actual cards.
Was the 1JJ a common Tarot even prior to founding of US Games or was Orson Welles uncannily
prescient? As a regular viewer of TV Land and Turner Classic Movies,
I am quite surprised at the lack of any representation of Tarot decks
in old TV shows and movies, even when such material explicitly dealt
with occult matters. The most common divination method appearing in
pre-1970's media is palmistry. I have also seen references to
numerology, astrology, cartomancy and the Ouija board on at least one
episode of "I Love Lucy" When cartomancy is represented on programs
of this vintage, conventional playing cards are more often employed.
There is one incident, however, in which Barney Fife, on "The Andy
Griffith Show" uses, if I recall correctly, "Unicorn Fortune Telling
Cards." Such a lack of depictions of the Tarot deck indicate that it
may not have been well known as it is today. I have a link to the
action figure from the "Wolfman", it is actually the Bela Lugosi
Gypsy character
http://www.monstersinmotion.com/classic/belagypsy.html.
I also have the Wolfman on DVD and nowhere in the actual film are
the cards displayed in sufficient detail to enable one to discern
whether they were Tarot or conventional playing cards. As I am still
under 40, I have no living memory of much of anything prior to
Watergate, so I'm quite dependent on pop culture and books for
information on things prior to the 1970's and what such media
indicate is a widespread lack of knowledge of Tarot in earlier times.
The film "Touch of Evil" appears to be an exceptional case, proving a
general rule. Perhaps I should also mention, the TV show Dark Shadows
is reported to have shown the 1JJ Tarot but it appears likely that
the show's creators bought it from US Games after 1968. I have also
heard of one mid 1960's horror movie, "Dr. Terror's House of
Horrors," if I recall the name correctly, which has shown a Tarot of
Marseilles deck. If I remember correctly, "Dr. Terror" may have been
a British Hammer film.
MABUSE