Nixon had to share the spotlight with this revolutionary horror classic.
The Big Picture There was a lot going on at the end of 1973 heading into the new year. The President of the United States Richard Milhous Nixon was embroiled in the fallout from the bungled robbery attempt of the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel, and a revolutionary horror classic hit movie screens just a day after Christmas.
One of six security guards working at one of the theaters, Ralph Bailey, said, "It was like a riot...we had to cancel the showing." Bailey was also offered bribes of over $100 to allow people to jump the line in order to make sure they got in. $100 plus is a lot of money, and this is in 1973 dollars. Today, that would probably be in the neighborhood of $500 smackeroos! Just to advance in line! It must have been pure craziness.
Apparently, People Prefer to Get Sick at the Movies Over Political Scandal If you look at what happened at the box office during the sensational opening of The Exorcist, people seem to prefer getting sick and collapsing due to a terrifying film to getting sick over guys like Nixon and G. Gordon Liddy looking like complete idiots. In just one week and in just two dozen theaters, the movie made more than $93,000. That is a remarkable total for the time.
Others who left during the movie stated, "I don't like it, I want to go home." Another audience member said, "I just found it really horrible and had to come out, I couldn't take any more," Did you know that people who fainted during the movie were purportedly given smelling salts? Absolutely nuts for a movie of any kind.
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