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I happened to watch 2 movies in the same week ("Live and Let Die" and "Scorpion King") both of which had a common trope of a fortune teller virginal female who is supposed to lose her prescient powers upon physical intimacy (having sex, to put it crudely), though in the former the powers were lost and in the latter the prediction ended up being a fake invented by the fortuneteller bloodline to protect against kingly advances.

What is the cinematic origin (first use) of this trope?

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  • As a note, I tried searching on TVTropes but somehow Google-Fu deserted me.
    – DVK
    Commented Feb 25, 2012 at 22:35
  • My search turned up Live and Let Die as the first time this comes up as a significant plot point. It's not surprising since this kind of topic would have violated the Motion Picture Production Code that was in effect from the early 1930's to the late 1960's. There could be a pre-code era film that had it, some were quite racy, but I couldn't find one right off.
    – jfrankcarr
    Commented Feb 26, 2012 at 0:05
  • I searched through imdb.com for some of the keywords from "Live and Let Die" including psychic and virginity. I also looked through films with precognition as a keyword. The earliest movie I could find with this trope was actually "Live and Let Die." I can't say that's a definitive answer though.
    – Legion600
    Commented Feb 26, 2012 at 0:08
  • Uggh... for some reason I was hoping it would be some sort of Troy/Cassandra thingy, way earlier than 007. Good point re: Production code though - I wasn't very aware of it but you're correct I guess
    – DVK
    Commented Feb 26, 2012 at 0:18
  • 2
    Vestal Virgins? This is an historical example, though, so I'm not sure if it counts.
    – Adele- Nexus of Potlucks
    Commented May 22, 2012 at 3:35

1 Answer 1

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I'd say Cassandra, which it looks like you already know about, and that story has been appearing in films since their invention.

I checked IMDB and their search interface isn't turning up movies from the 20s about the fall of Troy but I know they are out there. Kind of piqued my interested about IMDB's search interface.

You could also say Joan of Arc, as she remained a virgin (and thusly never lost that power), which doesn't provide your question an answer but illustrates the counter-point.

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