The Exorcist
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Trivia: Author and writer of the book and script William Peter Blatty has a cameo early in this film. He plays the producer trying to have a word with director Burke Dennings on the movie set before Burke turns his attention to Chris MacNeil. William Peter Blatty is the middle eastern-looking guy with the black hair and moustache, which is natural since his mother is originally from Lebanon.

Allister Cooper, 2011

Continuity mistake: The Psychiatrist that hypnotizes Regan is wearing a tie that in the close-ups, is retied differently as the scene progresses. (01:02:05)

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Trivia: In the scene where Regan's mother is supernaturally blasted away from the bedside, she is being yanked by the crew by a length of rope. After dozens of takes director William Friedkin was still unhappy with the look of the shot and ordered the crew to haul her more fiercely. The scream in the shot that made the cut was of genuine pain and required no dubbing for effect.

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Question: What was the significance of the father being an absentee dad? Did that make Reagan more vulnerable to being possessed?

Answer: The demon wants everyone to lose hope for the girl and give up on her. Her father, having already flown the coop, just makes this goal that much easier.

TonyPH

Answer: It's possible it made her more vulnerable, but the mother, being a big movie star with an adolescent child would probably be divorced at this stage. It was more likely a literary choice by the author. Fewer characters make for a less complicated plot and eliminates the need to add an additional character who may not serve the story in a meaningful way.

raywest

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