Today we remember those who fought and died during wartime. Stanley Kubrick‘s Paths of Glory (1957) is one of the best cinematic depictions of the insanity of war. Timothy, Ralph Meeker and Joseph Turkel portrayed the innocent victims of the incompetence and arrogance of the generals on the hill.
Let’s honor those who died by questioning anyone calling for more of them to die.
This week’s quote is another that isn’t from Timothy, but is about him:
“So should Carey’s film legacy really be taken seriously? Absolutely. A man of a thousand tics and tricks, Carey could do more in a minute to make his characters leap off the screen than any supporting actor in movie history. Some have claimed he was too over-the-top and hammy, including a number of the directors and actors he worked with (and often alienated). But in retrospect there is not much doubt that he improved virtually every film in which he appeared – sometimes greatly so – and often the ones where you dare not blink for fear you’ll miss him.”
- “Timothy Carey: Noir’s Wildest Card” by Carl Steward, Noir City Annual #2: The Best of the 2009 Noir City Sentinel (2010)
Our pic for today takes us back to “The Golden Wolf,” the episode of Cowboy G-Men that first aired on September 27, 1952. Tim’s wolf hide rustler Jake Kirby battles with cowboy G-man Stoney Crockett (Jackie Coogan). I believe Crockett has just bit Kirby’s hand. Ouch.
It just occurred to me that Timothy would have made an awesome Lurch on The Addams Family. Not to take anything away from the great Ted Cassidy, mind you. It’s fun to think about the roles for Tim that might have been in some alternate universe. For instance, I think he would have been a great villain on Batman, and what an interesting Klingon he might have proved to be…
The Timothy Carey Experience is one year old today! I have to say it’s been nothing but a pleasure to bring this blog to you. I’ve received lots of positive feedback, many fans, and that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you know you’re doing something right. Here’s to many more years of Tim in cyberspace! Thank you, folks!
Getting silly on the Killing of a Chinese Bookie set
As we near the end of May, our hearts lightly turn to thoughts of summer. Well, up here in the Northern Hemisphere at least. I have already recommended Bikini Beach (1964) and Beach Blanket Bingo (1965) on these pages for mindless summer fun, with Timothy’s pool-cue-slinging South Dakota Slim as an added bonus (and as we all know, the best thing in both movies). To reinforce that idea, we present the closing credits of Beach Blanket Bingo as our Video of the Week.
Slim has been overtaken by the voluminous cloud of billiard chalk created by Eric Von Zipper’s (fellow Brooklyn boy Harvey Lembeck) tendency to overdo things. Tim’s son Romeo once said in an interview that his father was a big fan of silent movies. As Buster Keaton has a cameo here, I like to think that Timothy got to indulge in a huge fanboy moment, sitting down with Buster and enjoying a long talk about the good old days of Hollywood.
It’s time for another look at Timothy and his teeth in “Tracks,” the Airwolf episode that marked his last series television performance. It aired on March 22, 1986.
As the rogue professor known as “The Cat Man,” he stalks those who stalk the wild mountain cats and slings a huge hunting bow like nobody’s business. Sure he’s gone off the deep end, but you gotta admire his dedication. It was the next to last episode of the Airwolf series itself, and a fitting end to Timothy’s television career.
Let’s start off the week with another gander at The Gunfight at Dodge City (1959). Timothy’s crooked deputy Forbes thinks he’s going to be privy to a meeting between his boss Sheriff Regan (Don Haggerty) and Bat Masterson (Joel McCrea), but he’s got another think coming.
Dodge City was directed by Joseph M. Newman, who directed Tim three years earlier in Flight to Hong Kong (1956). He also directed the sci-fi classic This Island Earth (1955). Also appearing in Dodge City are two of Tim’s previous co-stars, Charles Horvath (Francis in the Haunted House) and Richard Anderson (Paths of Glory).
GL: I’m still trying to digest the fact that you passed up a role in The Godfather.
TC: I was offered a spot in both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. To play Luca Brasi in the first one, and the Mafioso boss who gets killed on the stairs at the opening of the second one. But I didn’t do either show, because if I had, I woulda been just like any other actor – out for the money. Francis [Ford Coppola] wanted me on the show, but I kept saying no. To get out of going to New York, I kept saying I wanted more money, and they got tired of it, I guess…
GL: What kept you out of Godfather Part II?
TC: I went to talk to Francis at Paramount. I already had the part, but I still wanted to do a scene. Francis and his pals were sitting around his office and I brought a box of cannolis and Italian pastries as gifts. I said, “I brought you this gift to pay respect to my friends,” and I reached down into those dripping cannolis and pulled out a gun – boom boom! – and blew the hell out of all of them. And then I shot myself and staggered over and fell on [producer Fred] Roos’s desk – all the contracts went flying. And Coppola grabbed my blank gun and shot me back – bang bang! – like a kid. It was byootiful – I took ‘em completely by surprise. Francis was stunned, “How much do you want?” But Roos didn’t like it, so he went to work and influenced Coppola against me.
One guy, a little guy, was sitting there watching everything. A young kid with a camera, but he wasn’t filming. He just sat there with a mean, kind of miserly . . . I could tell he was afraid by the lines on his face. Like he needed two inches of Chinese tonic. It was Martin Scorsese, somebody said.
- “Cracked Actor,” Film Comment Jan/Feb 2004; interview conducted in 1992 by Grover Lewis
It’s Friday – why not celebrate with some SUPER PANCAKES? Today we take another look at “The Velvet Jungle,” the Starsky and Hutch episode that first aired on March 5, 1977. Danny, the racist diner owner, is not being much help to our heroes as they try to crack the case.
Danny might be a fun guy to hang out with, if he weren’t such a racist dickweed. Watch this episode now on Amazon Instant Video!
Today’s pic is the last good shot of Timothy as Hugo, hulking castle minion, that you will see in Francis in the Haunted House (1956), directed by hard-working Charles Lamont. The spooky goings-on clearly have Hugo flummoxed.
Mickey Rooney admitted in his autobiography that he has no memories about making this film. How could he forget working with Tim??? Here’s another of Timothy’s films that needs a proper DVD release, but is available for immediate viewing on Amazon Instant Video.
