The Exorcist - 1973 and 2023 -- Ellen Burstyn commands the screen
By Moira Jean Sullivan The Exorcist made in 1973 is a classic because its construction commands new audiences ever since its conception by William Friedkin. The film initially was about a professor Chris MacNeil who wants to help her students who are sitting out and missing classes because of a bad university administration. She has a daughter who has become possessed. The film establishes the point of contact from an evil spirit in Northern Iraq that Father Merrin (played by Max von Sydow) out on a dig has gotten mixed up with and he is a presence that the evil spirit fears. Somehow the spirit makes its way to Georgetown and possesses Regan (Linda Blair). Ellen Burstyn plays her mother beset with grief in trying to fix her daughter and enlists the help of Roman Catholic priests who live close by their home. As a famous actress she asks the priests to heal her daughter and she's magnificent in this role. She implores them to conduct an exorcism which requires special permi