Priests in any decade have had a rough job when it comes to movies but in the 70s they were still greatly respected for the most part. The scandals that have rocked religion all over the place hadn’t run quite as rampant yet and, since the internet hadn’t become a thing, word of mouth was still able to be quelled and discredited. It’s a shame that such a thing would happen since there are such people that are still good priests and in the 70s it was no different. But one thing you could rely on the movie priests for was that they were always there when people needed them more or less and they were always out to do some type of good. In the movies priests, preachers, and the like were usually bent on doing whatever they could to help others to help the church. Either way they were not the monsters that some have been made out to be today.
Here are a few priests from 70s movies.
5. Rocky – Father Carmine
Father Carmine always seemed ready to lay down a blessing whenever Rocky needed one and was there for a good deal of the franchise when he was needed. He was a small bit player for the most part but he still served a very big purpose since Rocky was a very religious man that enjoyed knowing that he had a blessing to carry him into his fights. That being said Rocky was probably the only one in his corner that thought it did any good since Mick would actually get nervous when he would start praying, as Mick tended to rely on guts to get a person through the fight and a whole lot of fighting spirit.
4. The Godfather
This movie was very old school when it came to the churches, priests, and traditions. Being a devout and strong-willed Italian family the Corleone’s didn’t take their religion lightly, yet for all that Michael stood in front of a priest renouncing Satan and all his works while his men were out committing murders all over the city. One has to wonder how he rationalized all this away and made himself believe that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing. The ends justifying the means seems to be the only way that anyone could let their head hit the pillow at night. But lying in front of a priest, yeesh.
3. Salem’s Lot
You’d best be a next-level top of the line priest if you decide to take on a creature like this even in a movie. That little bitty cross isn’t going to do much and likely as not the master would rip the boy’s head off and have the priest’s eyes dug out of his skull in the next second if he really wanted to. It’s kind of comical that he smashed the parents’ heads together and left them alone, when in modern times they’d probably both be dead and the situation would have escalated way beyond this by that time. But quite honestly if you’re a priest looking to take on a master vampire then you’d best be right with your lord and savior or the chances are you’ll be meeting Him soon.
2. The Omen
God is indeed vengeful when He wants to be as the fate of this priest was sealed the moment he was born, he just didn’t know it until that final moment when divine interference decided to speed things along. It’s a wonder he didn’t take refuge in the archway of the entrance, as a falling steel spike wouldn’t have found him there likely. Of course something else could have happened that would have snuffed him out just as easily but the idea that something falling from a great height would have to actually curve along an unnatural trajectory would prove that a higher force was out to get him.
1. The Exorcist
It’s not every person that would invite a demon into their body just to save someone, but in The Exorcist that’s just what happened. When the old priest passed away because of the strain the young priest had to step in and do something, and beating the demon out of the girl wasn’t working so he did the next thing he thought of, he invited it in. Once his holy symbol was gone it was a matter of a brief second and he was fighting to keep control of himself right before he exited the window and ended his own life. Some might say he took the only way out he had, others might say he was grasping at straws. Honestly it seems pretty brave.
Priests in the 70s were still the types that had to fight occasionally with the darker forces, and sometimes just lay down a blessing to make people feel better.
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