An unfortunate incident occurred at the World Premiere of this movie at Los Angeles' Beverly Theater. According to Billy Graham in his autobiography "Just As I Am," "Shortly before the film was to start, someone threw a tear-gas canister into the theater, forcing the crowd to evacuate. The showing had to be postponed. We held an impromptu street meeting out in front while the police and fire departments attempted to find out what had happened. I spoke to the crowd and prayed."
Billy Graham maintains that the disruption of this movie's world premiere actually created worldwide interest and publicity for this movie.
Writer Corrie Ten Boom said of the incident that disrupted the world premiere of this movie: "People asked me tonight, 'What did you feel about this bomb (a tear-gas canister) that was falling?' I was touched. I was sad. Do you know why? Not only because there was in some way disappointment for people who had hoped to see the movie, but because on that bomb was the Hakenkreuz, the swastika. What we have to do is love these people who hate us, love them, pray for them. These people are wounded people who have hate in their hearts. They need forgiveness. They need the Lord. That is the answer we must give."
The meaning and relevance of the title "The Hiding Place" is twofold. Its literary origins are derived from Psalm 119:114, which says: "Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word . . . Hold thou me up, and I . . ." The movie and source book's title also literally refers to the Dutch home of the ten Boom family in Haarlem, Holland, which was a safe haven in which Jews could hide during the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands during World War II.
The Hiding Place (1975) was produced by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association under their movie production divisional wing "World Wide Pictures." Their website states that this is their movie ministry's "most popular film."