Jason Miller as Fr. Karras in The Exorcist (1973)
Vitals
Jason Miller as Fr. Damien Karras, Jesuit psychiatrist and—according to at least one demonic entity—”faithless slime”
Washington, D.C., Fall 1972
Film: The Exorcist
Release Date: December 26, 1973
Director: William Friedkin
Costume Designer: Joseph Fretwell III
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
Progressing deeper through spooky season toward Halloween, let’s look at some understated style in William Friedkin’s 1973 horror classic The Exorcist. Playwright and actor Jason Miller made his Academy Award-nominated screen debut as Damien Karras, SJ, the theological psychiatrist summoned to exorcise a demon from the 12-year-old Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair).
A landmark in legitimatizing the horror genre, The Exorcist received ten Oscar nominations including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Miller. Miller’s own experience likely informed his performance as he graduated from the Jesuit-run University of Scranton before dropping out of his studies at the Catholic University of America. He soon found success in theater, where he caught Friedkin’s eye for the role of Father Karras—reportedly beating out ’70s screen giants Paul Newman, Jack Nicholson, and Stacy Keach (who had actually been hired for the part). Even after his Oscar-nominated success, Miller preferred to continue working in regional theater
What’d He Wear?
Georgetown mother Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) desperately tries to talk Father Karras into exorcising her daughter, but he’s skeptical that she’s actually possessed by a demon—until realizing that Regan shouldn’t have known that he was a priest given his lack of clerical garb when they first meet. Indeed, Karras looks more transplanted from the world of sports than spirituality given his bright royal-blue nylon coach’s jacket paired with smart casual fall layers.
Appropriate for his duties counseling the institution’s priests, Karras’ jacket features “Georgetown University” embroidered in white Old English script over the left breast. The six silver-toned snap buttons up the front have their solid top prongs painted in dark-blue to match the rest of the jacket. The set-in sleeves are finished with elasticized cuffs, and there are two squared, open-top patch pockets positioned at hip level.
Father Karras arrives at the MacNeil house wearing a marled dark-gray wool sweater that quickly becomes Pazuzu’s next casualty when she christens the priest with a blast of poorly aimed vomit. Though he’s in “plainclothes” rather than priestly attire, the sweater’s raised, rounded, and narrowly ribbed crew neck may have been intended to echo the effect of a clerical collar.
Following The Exorcist’s release, Jason Miller related stories of being understandably dismayed that Regan’s demonic vomit—in fact, Anderson’s pea soup—misfired from the SFX tube and hit the actor in the face rather than his chest as intended.
While Chris launders Karras’ sweater, he considers the case in their basement laundry room stripped down to his shirt sleeves. He wears an olive-green bush shirt with all the excessive safari-informed detailing common of men’s sportswear in the ’70s, from the short shoulder epaulets to the pair of box-pleated chest pockets, each covered with a single-buttoned flap cut with mitred corners. Its substantially sized point collar is also reflective of the decade’s trends. The shirt also has single-button cuffs and a wide front placket that he leaves with the top two buttons undone, showing the top of his white cotton crew-neck undershirt.
In his olive bush shirt tucked into khaki slacks, Father Karras reflects the image of a military commander considering his next mission as he comes to terms with what must be done to exorcise Pazuzu from Regan.
By the 1970s, khaki slacks had evolved from their military origins to a menswear staple that balanced presentability and comfort. Karras’ light tan flat-front trousers have the standard detailing of belt loops and side pockets, only slightly flared below the knees down to the plain-hemmed bottoms.
These break high over the tops of his black leather penny loafers—which appear to the be the same shoes that Father Dyer (William O’Malley) took off of him after a night of drinking too much Chivas. In addition to harmonizing with the trousers’ blend of presentability and comfort, the penny loafers align him with campus life as this footwear had emerged as a defining symbol of American college and Ivy League style shortly after G.H. Bass launched their original “Weejuns” in the 1930s.
Karras’ short trouser break and low shoe profile shows his plain white cotton-blend socks.
We get a few glimpses of interesting watches throughout The Exorcist, from Dr. Barringer (Peter Masterson) in his sporty Heuer Autavia ref. 2446 chronograph to a silver-dialed watch mounted to a hefty studded leather bracelet worn by Paul Bateson in the bit part as a radiologist’s assistant—just a few years before Bateson would be convicted of a murder that later inspired The Exorcist director William Friedkin to make Cruising (1980) about serial killings in New York City’s leather scene.
While neither of these men are Fr. Karras, it feels irresponsible to discuss wristwatches in The Exorcist without at least mentioning Dr. Barringer’s Heuer Autavia and the R.A.’s studded leather watch cuff.
All that to say that Father Karras characteristically foregoes either of these more eye-catching timepieces in favor of a subdued stainless steel watch with a round black dial on a matching steel bracelet.
How to Get the Look
In his checked cap, sheepskin coat, sunglasses, and desert boots, William Friedkin decided there was no way he was getting outmogged on his own film set. Meanwhile, Jason Miller merely layers a dark wool topcoat over Fr. Karras’ costume in this behind-the-scenes shot from production of The Exorcist (1973).
Even a water-resistant nylon coach’s jacket isn’t enough to withstand a blast of pea soup, so be especially cautious of your surroundings when layering your smart wool sweater over the timeless and commanding combination of an earthy sports shirt and khaki slacks, finished with your GADA watch and comfortable leather loafers.
- Blue nylon Georgetown University coach’s jacket with six blue-finished snap-buttons, squared patch hip pockets, and elasticized cuffs
- Dark-gray marled wool sweater with raised and narrowly ribbed crew-neck
- Olive-green bush shirt with long point collar, front placket, two box-pleated chest pockets with single-button flaps, short shoulder epaulets, and button cuffs
- White cotton crew-neck short-sleeved undershirt
- Tan flat-front trousers with belt loops, side pockets, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Black leather penny loafers
- White cotton-blend socks
- Stainless steel watch with round black dial on steel bracelet
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the movie.