Is Spiritualism a Fraud? (1906)

Original title

Is Spiritualism a Fraud? – The Medium Exposed

Directed by

Walter R. Booth

Genre

comedy film, silent film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

7 min

Rating

4.6 of 10 from 7 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A medium holds a séance but is caught faking supernatural tricks. The film shows how the illusions work, making it clear to viewers that they are watching a staged deception.

playfullightheartedclevercomedictongue-in-cheekfast-pacedwhimsicalrevealing

What happens

Is Spiritualism a Fraud? (AKA: The Medium Exposed) is a 1906 British silent trick film directed by Walter R. Booth (also credited to J.H. Martin), featuring a medium exposed as a fake during a séance. The film is "one of the last films made by R.W. Paul in collaboration with the trick-film specialist W.R. Booth," and according to Michael Brooke of BFI Screenonline, "combines elements of the previous year's The Unfortunate Policeman with a special effects sequence. However, unlike Booth and Paul's other work, here the mechanisms are deliberately revealed," "the crucial difference between his illusions and those of a medium is that Booth's audience knew that they were being deceived, but were happy to go along with the charade for the sake of both entertainment and the pleasure of working out how it was done." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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• The Hand of the Artist (1906)
• Table Turning (1905)
• The Tomboys (1906)
• The Valet Who Stole the Tobacco (1906)
• Rehearsing a Play (1905)
• The Big Swallow (1901)
• More like this film, on a shelf you can walk up to.It's the lit case on the top shelf.