An ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.An ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.An ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 4 nominations
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaJoe Spinell's character of "Spinell", a patient at the castle-hospital, was not in the novel nor the original script. Spinell had begged writer and director William Peter Blatty, a close friend of his, to cast him in a small role as the sidekick to Jason Miller's character of Lieutenant Reno. Since there was no part for Spinell in the movie, his character was given the same last name. Nearly all of Spinell's dialogue was ad-libbed.
- GoofsWhen Capt. Cutshaw places the mud pie on Col. Kane's desk it is whole and intact. In the next shot the mud pie is very noticeably crumbled.
- Quotes
Col. Vincent Kane: In order for life to have appeared spontaneously on earth, there first had to be hundreds of millions of protein molecules of the ninth configuration. But given the size of the planet Earth, do you know how long it would have taken for just one of these protein molecules to appear entirely by chance? Roughly ten to the two hundred and forty-third power billions of years. And I find that far, far more fantastic than simply believing in God.
- Alternate versionsThere are five different versions of this film, with various running times from 99 up to 140 minutes. Director William Peter Blatty disowned all versions except one: his approved cut runs 118 minutes and is the version that was originally released theatrically in the USA. This version is available on DVD.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Night of the Creeps: Tom Atkins, Man of Action (2009)
- SoundtracksThere's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder
Written by Al Jolson (uncredited), Billy Rose (uncredited) and Dave Dreyer (uncredited)
Performed by Al Jolson
Courtesy of MCA Records
This is not quite at the level of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Stacy Keach is deliberately stiff which dampens the humor. He's almost robotic. There are some wacky characters in weird craziness but it's mostly dark seriousness. It's a real oddity and an original creation. While the rest of Hollywood zigs, this one zags.
- SnoopyStyle
- Jul 15, 2017
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- The Ninth Coinfiguration
- Filming locations
- Castle Eltz, Wierschem, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany(exteriors of the castle)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1