CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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Like I said, TVYNS is like adding neon paint to the Mona Lisa. It was unnecessary to add all the CGI crap because it was crap! I mean, why did some idiot at WB put Pazuzu’s face on the exhaust vent over the stove in the kitchen when the lights kept going out on Chris while she was calling Sharon’s name. BIG FUCKIN’ DUH! That really scared the shit out of me, NOT!
Hiya Witch,
Q. “Is it possible that something was cut from the final and remained cut in the new version that would had explained this. Perhaps a take showing the new cig being lit?”
A. I am ruling that out because of the script (I have an original altered and final version). Plus, if you watch the scene, it does have continuity in the speech between Chris and Karras and an additional scene asking for another cigarette didn’t happen and would not work. Why? Well, if you look closely at the length of the burning cigarette throughout the entire scene, you’ll see it starts off at full length. Chris smokes about half of it when she and Karras are talking in that one long shot scene that includes stomping out the smoke. The cigarette Chris is smoking in the continuity flub is at the half-way point. Therefore, that’s not indicative of a request for a new cigarette. It’s just a continuity issue.
Q. “Also, you believe inserting a close-up of Chris taking a second cigarette would not work?”
A. Based on my first answer to your first question, the answer is no. Most importantly, if that scene was never shot, it’s impossible to go back and re-film because of Burstyn’s age and the demise of Miller. I believe the “angle” you are shooting for is one in which we just show another cigarette being handed over to Chris from Karras in an extremely tight closeup of just hands sans the words that would go along with it. Well, that wouldn’t work either because, as I stated above, the cigarette is half-way smoked. Karras is a priest, so I know he didn’t deprive her of a full cigarette. 😉
I really do believe in TVYNS, WB would have made someone fix the continuity error because it’s been talked about for so many years. Plus, it’s noticeably by the less hardcore fans of The Exorcist just as much as us.
I hope that helps and ends our mystery of the “reappearing smoke!” 🙂
1. Karras ultimately reaching into the lower, right-hand pocket of his blue Georgetown University jacket.
2. He removes his pack of cigarettes (and cleverly covers the brand name with his fingers). This is probably because product advertisers didn’t want to be associated with The Exorcist. Can you image being a marketing manager having to ask the CEO if it’s okay to advertise in this controversial film? 🙂
3. Karras removes only one cigarette and hands it to Chris.
4. Karras pulls out a red disposable lighter from his lower, left-hand trouser pocket and lights Chris’ smoke.
5. Chris keeps the lighted cigarette in her leather-gloved right hand.
6. The cigarette in Chris’ hand is alway in view with smoke coming from it.
7. The clincher: In the same shot as Karras and Chris are walking, Chris drops the cigarette to the ground (you can actually hear it hit the walkway). Chris intentionally stops, stomps the smoke out, and looks back to make sure it’s out. (Great acting that’s natural on Burstyn’s part!). Okay, still the same scene (no cuts, no edits, no new shot), Chris lifts her leather-gloved right hand and adjusts her sunglasses. No cigarette because we know what she just did. Additionally, she puts her leather-gloved right hand into her pocket (OUCH if she put her hand in their with a cigarette!) 😉 This scene is a one-camera fully read scripted scene similar to what Polanski did a lot of in Rosemary’s Baby. It’s effective, which I might assume is why it’s one of my favorites, just like the Captain. The new camera scene is that of a closeup shot of Chris. Smoke is rising in the air and the cigarette is in her left hand as she adjusts her sunglasses again. There are no pauses or what-ifs to consider because it’s a continuity issue that the crew on the set forgot about, including Burstyn. However, we don’t really know if they shot that full “DVD chapter” in one full day, so it’s easy to forget if there was a cigarette in her hand or not. Or, perhaps it was filmed out of sequence and then edited together.Also, the next closeup scene which features Karras is really when you notice the “vanishing smoke.” The following scene is one in which Chris starts to wipe her nose and eyes with a tissue.
My hypothesis is that the “vanishing- reappearing cigarette” scene is extremely pivotal because Chris is asking exorcism. That, if any scene, was probably shot numerous times. It just so happened that it was film incorrectly with the burning cigarette.
There’s is no implication of a second cigarette. If the “stomp-out smoke” scene is removed, it would mean a cut that would ruin the long scene altogether. Unfortunately, there is really no way to fix this scene except to remove the smoke through CGI and cutting the closeup even further on the left-hand side of the “cigarette hand” of Burstyn. But, that means we don’t get part of Chris’ face and that’s not what I would do.
Hi Sofia,
I’ve missed you! This is good news and I’m happy you are back. I’ll look forward to the A&E bio of Linda. I’ve lost track of where the original blog was on this topic, but I remember you had posted a portion of the bio on youtube.
I hope you are doing well, friend! 🙂
madzatec, if only I had seen The Blair Witch Project without knowing it was fake, I could have potentially bought into some of it (especially when the weird and freaky lady is being interviewed in the beginning … a true “off-the-street” amateur).
Ghetto, I agree about Friedkin’s “car salesman” approach (I’ve hit on him for being a Bible salesman on here, too).
Look at the source. Plus, “a second cigarette off screen” is just a way to resolve the fact that it didn’t happen.
madaztec2, I’m sorry I was clear about the actors. I actually think their “candid interviews” (although somewhat vaguely scripted) appeared pretty genuine. I absolutely agree with you about the ending. When “what’s her face” went looking for “Josh” (I think that’s the name she kept calling out, while she was going through the house was indeed a its best moments. The hand prints of the kids was a unique twist for a horror film, yet very effective (I still see these on Halloween props and I think of the movie).
Good question! I’d like to know what the people do for a living. The house today is so ugly in comparison to the film version. Check it out (click pic for larger image):
Hmmmm … does this mean The Passion of the Christ is on a level playing field with The Exorcist? If so, does that mean that Mel Gibson delivered a message of “good” in every single frame of the celluloid he produced? Both films are “moving.” However, to denounce or praise that evil or good is a part of a film is asinine. Again, just MHO. 🙂
dsea, what’s a “power frame?” “Please thrill me with your acumen.” 🙂
The cigarette scene is a major continuity blunder. It happens in the park when Chris meets up with Fr. Karras. She asks him: “Do you have a cigarette, father?” He obliges with the one smoke.
After a few puffs she throws it on the ground and does a “twist-stomp” to extinguish it (we only see this from the waist up view, but know what’s clearly happening). Next shot, she starts asking questions about exorcism and the cigarette and its smoke reappears. The weed is still lit while she adjusts her sunglasses. She didn’t ask for a second one. She simply had that “bottomless barrel of popcorn” just in a cigarette form. Once you notice it, it’s something you seem to focus on and it can be annoying. [Update this on HD please, Billy Friedkin!]
I can’t recall what the script calls for (at least not in the original marked-up one that I have).
It’s just clearly a continuity issue … like the ping-pong ball that’s under the paddle, disappears, and reappears. This is in the basement scene with Regan, Chris, and the Ouija board.
dsea, you’re pretty on track with the statement that Graham made. Here’s what a blogger wrote directly to William Friedkin regarding it’s 25th Anniversary:
IRVINE, CA: What made you make a film like that? It was just pure evil.
William Friedkin: That’s what Billy Graham said at the time. I think you’re both wrong. To me, “The Exorcist” is a story of the eternal struggle between good and evil in which the forces for good, in this case, win out.
You read even more here.
