Draft:The Seven Crystal Balls (1970 film)

The Seven Crystal Balls
French	Tintin et le temple du soleil
Directed by	Eddie Lateste
Written by	Hergé
Based on	graphic novels "Les sept boules de cristal" and "Le temple du soleil" by Hergé
Release date	September 1970 (1970-09) (United States)
Running time	77:00
Language	French

Plot

Young reporter Anthony “Tintin” Hodges and his dog Snowy, meet with their old friend Captain Alexander Haddock at his country estate. The three spend an evening at a music hall, where they witness the performance of a clairvoyant, Madame Yamilah, who predicts the illness of one of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members; this expedition has recently returned from an archaeological venture to the Andes mountains. Anthony also recognises General Salvador Alcazar, former President of San Theodoros, Having befriended Alcazar during a previous encounter. Anthony reunites with him backstage after the show. Alcazar introduces Anthony and Haddock to his Quechua assistant, Chiquito. The next day, Anthony and Haddock learn that members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition are falling into comas, with fragments of a shattered crystal ball found near each victim. Anthony, Haddock, and their friend Professor Jacob Kalacus visit the only expedition member yet to be affected, Professor Hector Tarragon, who is an old friend and former classmate of Kalacus'. Under police guard, Professor Tarragon shows his visitors one of the expedition's discoveries from Peru: the mummified body of Inca king Rascar Capac. That evening, a lightning storm strikes the house and sends ball lightning down the chimney and onto the mummy—which evaporates. Worried, Tarragon states that this reflects the culmination of Capac's prophecy, which declares that punishment will descend upon those who desecrate his tomb. Spending the stormy night at Tarragon's house, Anthony, Haddock, and Kalacus are each awoken by a dream involving Capac's mummy throwing a crystal ball to the floor. They find Tarragon comatose in his bed, with the accompanying crystal shards nearby; the attacker had bypassed the guards by climbing in via the chimney. The next day, Kalacus is walking on the grounds of Tarragon's house when he discovers one of the mummy's bracelets, which he places on himself. Anthony and Haddock later realise that Kalacus has gone missing, and surmise that he has been kidnapped by the same individual who placed Tarragon in a coma. The police set up roadblocks, but the kidnappers switch cars and are able to evade them. Anthony visits a hospital where the seven stricken members of the Sanders-Hardiman expedition are housed; he is astonished that at a precise time of day, all awaken and scream about figures attacking them before slipping back into their comas. Haddock is dejected by Kalacus' abduction, but upon learning that police have spotted the kidnapper's car at a port, he and Anthony race there, believing that the abductors seek to board a boat with Kalacus and take him abroad. At the docks, they spot Alcazar boarding a ship to South America; he reveals that Chiquito was one of the last descendants of the Inca and has disappeared. Anthony surmises that Chiquito must be one of Kalacus' captors. Having lost Calculus' trail, Anthony and Haddock decide to pay a visit to Haddock's old friend Chester, who has docked at another nearby port. They miss Chester, but instead discover Kalacus' hat on the docks, indicating that he was taken to sea from here. Investigating, they realise that Kalacus must be aboard the Pachacamac, a ship headed to Peru, and board a flight, intent on intercepting its arrival. Upon reaching Peru, They discover that the ship has to be in quarantine for three weeks, due to reports of infectious disease on board. Suspecting the quarantine is staged, Anthony sneaks aboard the ship that night and learns from Chiquito, who is indeed one of the abductors, that Kalacus is to be executed for wearing a bracelet belonging to Capac. Anthony barely escapes the ship with his life, and he and Haddock alert the authorities; but the abductors evade the police and take Kalacus to the Andes mountains. Anthony and Haddock pursue them to the mountain town of Jauga, where they board a train that is sabotaged in an attempt to kill them. When they attempt to investigate the whereabouts of Kalacus, the local Indios prove to be peculiarly tight-lipped—that is, until Tintin defends a young Quechua boy named Zorrino from being bullied by two Spaniard men. A mysterious man observes this act of kindness and gives Anthony a medallion, telling him that it will save him from danger. Zorrino informs Anthony that Kalacus has been taken to the Temple of the Sun, which lies deep within the Andes, and offers to take them there. After many hardships – including being pursued by four Indios who try their best to leave them stranded or dead, and finding their way through the snowy mountains and the jungle beyond – Anthony, Haddock, and Zorrino reach the Temple of the Sun, a surviving outpost of the Inca civilization. They are brought before the Prince of the Sun, flanked by Chiquito and Huascar, the mysterious man Anthony encountered in Jauga. Zorrino is saved from harm when Anthony gives him Huascar's medallion, but Anthony and Haddock are sentenced to death by the Inca prince for their sacrilegious intrusion. The prince tells them they may choose the hour that Pachacamac, the Sun god, will set alight the pyre on which they will be executed. Anthony and Haddock end up on the same pyre as Kalacus. However, Anthony has chosen the hour of their death to coincide with a solar eclipse, and through play-acting he convinces the terrified Incas that he can command the Sun. The Inca prince implores Anthony to make the Sun show its light again. At Anthony's "command", the Sun returns, and the three are quickly set free. Afterwards, the Prince of the Sun tells them that the seven crystal balls used on the Sanders-Hardiman expedition members, who had excavated Rascar Capac's tomb, contained a "mystic liquid" obtained from coca that plunged them into a deep sleep. Each time the Inca high priest cast his spell over seven wax figures of the explorers, he could use them as he wished as punishment for their sacrilege. Anthony convinces the Inca prince that the explorers acted in good faith, as they only intended to make known to the world the splendours of the Inca civilization. The Inca prince orders Chiquito to destroy the wax figures, and at that moment in Belgium, the seven explorers awaken in surprise. After swearing an oath to keep the temple's existence a secret, Anthony, Haddock and Kalacus head home, while Zorrino remains with the Inca, having accepted an offer to live among them

References

• The Seven Crystal Balls at IMDb