Picture_616_small
Reputation: 2
Follow 0
Follow 1

mystery hand gestures

in the 1947 movie " life with father"

what are the 4 hand gestures that the maid annie makes

at 5:36into the movie and 6:20 and 7:03 and 7:45 minutes ??

it can be seen at http://www.archive.org/details/LifeWithFather

this gesture can also be seen in the 1948 movie 10th avenue when the actor george murphy is crossing a street with the child flavia .

no-one seems to know exactly what these gestures mean .

waltbel asked in Film about 1 year ago | Report

Answer this question or share it with a smart friend:

Avatar_default
Type your answer here…

1 Answer

  • Qlandav2ex_small
    Reputation: 4209
    Follow 5

    Each time she sees one of the family members she notes that they are a redhead and so she licks her two first fingers, touches them to the palm of her other hand and then stamps the palm with the ulnar side of her fist (as near as I can tell) as a way of protecting herself from bad luck. This action is a little more ladylike than spitting into the palm of her hand.

    Essentially, this is a ritual to ward off any evil from meeting a redheaded person.

    There is a distrust and concern about contact with redheads that can be found across many cultures and this maid is obviously being portrayed as being of a lower social order where such ideas may have been common.

    Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Film about 1 year ago | Report
    3 comments by LMNOP, capicola, and O my captain…
    Share this answer with a friend: