Satan’s Little Helper
With apologies to Paul Duane, who suggested Leo McCarey for this role, one the Great Man would no doubt have appreciated. But Leo’s not as recognizable a personage as the less prolific auteur TC (one film as director, but it’s a doozy — THE WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER), who also has the benefit of a great Ebenezer Scrooge type visage.
December 24, 2010 at 1:27 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by dcairns. dcairns said: Have a Timothy Carey Christmas! http://dcairns.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/satans-little-helper/ [...]
December 24, 2010 at 3:04 pm
A favourite Tim Carey moment:
December 24, 2010 at 3:56 pm
“Me, a social undesirable?”
December 24, 2010 at 4:32 pm
Here’s my annual Joe Dante Tribute:
Have Yourself A Funky Little Xmas
December 24, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Gremlins is one of my favourite Christmas films — one of several Dantes I can’t keep myself from watching if it’s on TV. And it’s true to the important tradition of Christmas films by including a good dose of bleakness and doom!
December 24, 2010 at 5:58 pm
Kubrick had a soft spot for Carey. Kirk Douglas was appalled and disgusted at Carey’s “bad acting” in PATHS OF GLORY, which I imagine fueled Kubrick’s allowances for Carey’s indulgent style of performance. Anything to get Kirk’s goat, I’ll wager. I think Tim’s a sterling choice for a Christmas post. And I got to see THE WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER about five years back (scored by the then little-known Frank Zappa). Only Carey himself could’ve concocted such a tale.
December 24, 2010 at 7:08 pm
Timothy Carey is terrific in The Killing of Chinese Bookie where he utters the direct non-sequitir, of why Marx was wrong about religion being the opium when it was money that was the narcotic of people. Cassavetes somehow allowed Carey to engage Marx in a dialogue for the first time in an American crime film.
December 24, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Kubrick said he liked to work with the world’s best actors, but if he couldn’t get them, he’d settle for distinctive types. Carey is certainly the latter.
Kubes also liked to get actors to exaggerate their styles, hence the extremes from Nicholson, Scott, Magee… With Carey he almost seems restrained in his Kubrick roles, compared to what he could be like.
December 24, 2010 at 7:36 pm
One exception to Kubrick refraining from exaggeration is James Mason who was one of the world’s best actors and of course Nicole Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut, the most complex and best performance by any actress in his works.
December 24, 2010 at 8:43 pm
As Tim might have said, Bollocks.
December 24, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Well, Kidman is better with a little restraint. I like Shelley Winters best, though.
December 24, 2010 at 10:42 pm
Much as I love Leo McCarey, Tim Carey is the perfect ornament for any Christmas tree. In fact I might just spend tomorrow watching The World’s Greatest Sinner – a fantastically blasphemous, pious film – to cement the deal. Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Carey Christmas!
December 25, 2010 at 4:39 am
And a Timothy New Year (Tiny and otherwise).
December 25, 2010 at 2:00 pm
God Carey us everyone!
(Who can forget him in One-Eyed Jacks? Immortal in cinema is the moment when Brando scowls down at a just-decked Carey and commands
“Git. . .up. . .you .. .scum. . .suckin’. . . .PIG!”)
December 25, 2010 at 7:29 pm
I presume Kubrick is responsible for his casting in that one, as well…
December 26, 2010 at 1:43 am
Possibly. But it’s my understanding he dropped out of the project in pre-production.
December 26, 2010 at 1:50 am
I believe so, but fairly far along in prep. Enough time for Brando and he to definitively clash, according to various stories. It seems that Kubrick hadn’t met Slim Pickens prior to Strangelove, so his casting was down to Brando.
December 28, 2010 at 3:39 pm
Cassavetes said he used to call round to Carey’s house and Carey would always have some new crazy thing to show him. One day he had a ferocious dog penned in the yard. He convinced Cassavetes to put on a padded protective suit and go out into the yard to try to calm the dog down. Cassavetes did so, and was comprehensively mauled. From the safety of the house, he could see Carey at the window shouting “It isn’t you he hates – it’s THE FUCKIN’ SUIT!”
December 28, 2010 at 4:19 pm
Bwahaha!
December 25, 2011 at 1:27 am
LOL, this is hilarious! I hope you get a chance to check out my blog about Carey. I’m writing a book about him. Have a very Carey Christmas! http://thetimothycareyexperience.wordpress.com
December 25, 2011 at 1:33 am
Thanks, I know I’m going to love your blog! See you over there later — and Merry Christmas!