[Justin]

Thought it would be interesting to watch some of the scenes without Mercedes McCambridge’s voice as the demon, so I edited together this video using the sound effects test from the 25th anniversary DVD commentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3_z0mYXnMc

It’s certainly not as effective, almost laughable. That face and that voice just don’t go together.

[Jagged]

Certainly puts a different perspective on it doesn’t it 😮

[GhettoExorcist]

Great Work!! Ugh this is truly horrific to watch. To see these terrifying images on screen and hear the normal voice of a 12 year old girl trying to sound scary really does put a spin on this. Thanks for reminding us Justin how truly remarkable Mercedes Mccambridge’s contribution to the film really were.

[fatherbowdern]

Sorry to all the fans of Blair, but this really shows her inability to act. No wonder Friedkin was bashing his head in trying to think of another actress to dub over Blair’s voice.

Indeed, it’s not only laughable, but a disaster for a failure. If it hadn’t been for Mercedes acting abilities, this would have been just a film instead of an icon.

Thanks for sharing, Justin!

Father Bowdern

[Ceru]

Whoa, that is bizarre.
Too bad there wasn’t any “Stick your…” or “Your mother sucks…” or other existing obscenity-filled audio footage from Miss Blair. Now that would’ve been hilarious!

In the hands of another director, they would’ve just slowed her voice down and gone with it (like they tried unsuccessfully to do w/Linda’s voice), or gotten some gruff male voice actor to grumble the lines.
There was no way in hell an age-appropriate child actress could effectively provide that voice, whether it was Linda Blair or Pamelyn Ferdin, or whoever.

But Friedkin’s idea of someone whose voice had male characteristics, but also female characteristics (who the hell sounds like that??) was a genius move. The first time I heard the demon, I thought God, is that a woman or a man? I had no knowledge of the film’s history, and I initially couldn’t tell!

Bonus: Listen to the scene where Karras is playing the tape in reverse. Along with “I am no-one, fear the priest” etc., you can hear Mother Karras say “Dimmy” and Regan (the real one) gasping and sobbing.

[fatherbowdern]

Ceru,

Have you heard the audio of what the sound crew did with Blair’s voice through audio distortion? It’s horrible, despite their best efforts. I’ll bet when Friedkin sat in the “preview theater” with others, he probably sank in his seat or yelled expletives left and right when he heard it.

I recall Ellen Burstyn saying that Blair couldn’t act. Burstyn was right. Blair just doesn’t have the innate acting abilities from a verbal stance to complete the demonic role using her own voice (despite alterations). She really didn’t have what it took to inflect the necessary emotional range required of this heavy-hitter role.

When TVYNS came out, I could clearly see why Friedkin chose to cut the scenes of Blair at the doctor’s office. It’s God-awful acting. Case in point: when Blair is attempting to “act” out the scene of flighty behavior, while humming, followed by her passing out, her acting is in accord with a very camera-conscious clumsiness that makes the scene implausible. Friedkin knew what he was doing, and I praise his editing decisions in the original version of the film despite the small commotion about the transitional scene regarding Regan’s sudden (and unknown) illness at the end of the party scene.

Oh, well … I digress.

Another Bonus! Here’s a link to the snippets I posted on here called, “Speaking in Tongues.” Enjoy!

Father Bowdern

[GhettoExorcist]

I would have to say her vocal performance is next to awful but I don’t agree with the whole “she can’t act” statement. I bought her as that character 100%. One of the things we tend to forget is that kids in movies can easily get annoying or bratty i.e. Anakin Skywalker but I felt truly sorry for her character. Her being 12 years old and able to handle such material is still fascinating to me. Yeah she had help from Eileen Dietz but alot of that was still her.

[fatherbowdern]

Ghetto, I love the film because of the cast and that does include Blair. I too obviously “bought her as that character 100%” in the demonic role.

My rationale may be slightly differing in the fact that Blair’s acting talents, or lack thereof, did not include the vocal range required for the demon; plus the aforementioned awful acting scenes prior to her character’s possession.

Friedkin was very selective about scenes to include in the film of Blair that represented her character as the young and innocent victim. In fact, there are very limited scenes of Blair that would have, IMHO, built a better “mind mousetrap” had Blair been a better actress.

I have to split the non-possessed Blair performance away from the demon, and hearing what Justin put together, caused much concern for Friedkin who knew the film was disastrous had he not thought of and acquired the great Mercedes McCambrige.

As far as Dietz, she is nothing more than a stand-in with only a few seconds of screen time all of which were dedicated to special effects and stunt double scenes. Again, IMHO, she belongs in the same classification as contortionist Linda Hager who performed the spiderwalk.

Father Bowdern

[Jagged]

Father Bowdern said:

When TVYNS came out, I could clearly see why Friedkin chose to cut the scenes of Blair at the doctor’s office. It’s God-awful acting. Case in point: when Blair is attempting to “act” out the scene of flighty behavior, while humming, followed by her passing out, her acting is in accord with a very camera-conscious clumsiness that makes the scene implausible. Friedkin knew what he was doing, and I praise his editing decisions in the original version of the film despite the small commotion about the transitional scene regarding Regan’s sudden (and unknown) illness at the end of the party scene.

Oh, well … I digress.

Another Bonus! Here’s a link to the snippets I posted on here called, “Speaking in Tongues.” Enjoy!

Father Bowdern

I totally agree. I think Friedkin’s editing was solely responsible for making Blair’s performance what it was.
She was bloody awful in that medical examination scene.

[Sofia]

Oh, Ron, when Ellen Burstyn said that Linda couldn’t act, she was referring to the Ouija Board screen test of hers.(Peter Travers book-1974) By the time they were into rehearsals, though, she mentioned that Linda was terrific, and that it was just like talking to her own kid… But, you know, Linda never wanted to be an actress, her heart was always with the horses. She even told Peter Travers that she looked upon the movie as merely an opportunity to buy and raise horses.
Now, Nicoletta Elmi was a remarkable Scream-Queen child actress of the 70’s. She really could act… Watch her in, The Cursed Medallion.. You might not like the movie, but just seeing Nicoletta’acting in it, yblows you away. Or, Patty McCormack in The Bad Seed. Hah! I can’t even imagine Linda playing out that role at only 9 years old…

[fatherbowdern]

Sof,

I have the Travers book and I know its contents fairly well. However, you have to remember that Burstyn’s intent was to pull for all the actors in the film for a greater success rate (thinking of financial success here, too). In fact, she coached Jason Miller along in several scenes. So, if I were Burstyn, I would say Blair couldn’t act in the beginning and then say she was terrific when the cameras rolled. I believe Burstyn was implying her thoughts in a general way regarding the acting process (Blair’s a part of that picture). Of course, we could split hairs over the comment. But, it’s unnecessary.

I am content with Burstyn’s comment at face value in that Blair not couldn’t act, but can’t act. Perhaps we would have seen more parts of the build-up of the mother-daughter relationship that you and me so yearned for in the film; e.g., Washington sightseeing; Regan and Chris sharing a meal … something to show us the “normal” side of Regan.

Father Bowdern 🙂

Have you read Burstyn’s memoir, “Lessons in Becoming Myself”?

[Sofia]

Hi, Ron! I haven’t read her book, only the chapter on The Exorcist. As for Linda’s acting, I still don’t really agree with you. Have you seen her in Born Innocent or Sarah T.? She was very good in those movies.

[fatherbowdern]

Hey Sof,

Get Ellen’s book. Her writing style is definitely something you will enjoy (another one of her hidden talents).

I have seen Blair in both movies. If I had to choose, I would pick “Sweet Hostage” as the best of those “cornball” TV movies and that includes Blair’s performance. Blair tries to be a performer in an acting sense, but she seems so uncomfortable and “camera/filming crew conscious.” Like you said, you didn’t want to be an actress … but, I’m sure the $1M price tags for made-for-tv movies didn’t look bad back then. I saw that Blair was the second highest paid actress in the 1970’s; only second to that of Elizabeth Montgomery in her made-for-tv movies.

I disgress … I think Linda is doing great work for animals.

Back to the subject. She just can’t act in my eyes. But, my eyes are different from yours and everyone elses. She was great in Roller Boogie, right? J/K! 🙂

Father Bowdern

[Jason Stringer]

Justin, this video is genius. What a great insight into what *gulp* could have been. It sorta plays out like a fan-made spoof, you know? Thank goodness we know better. I’m going to publish this.

[fatherbowdern]

Oh, mercy to publishing it Cap (Justin deserves that!). However, I’m afraid this will go global. [Actually, it does deserve to go global just for the laughs it provides].

Thank for Friedkin’s seeing something in his “mind’s eye” and realizing he had a disaster on his hands … The Exorcist could have easily become another Roller Boogie! 🙂

Father Bowdern

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