Tag Archives: heather drain

Quote of the Week

Posted by Marisa on

(WOW it’s been over a year since I’ve posted! I’m so sorry. Trying to get my life back on track; I promise to post more often!)

Standing at 6’4 with a tornado of jet black hair, piercing blue eyes and more swagger and verve than every founding father and mother of rock & roll combined, Carey started to make his mark in cinema in the 1950’s, with turns in such classics like Elia Kazan‘s East of Eden (1955) and in Stanley Kubrick‘s twin masterpieces, The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957). Standing out in the Kazan film despite being both dubbed and on screen for a hot second, Carey blew the lid OFF with the latter two. In particular, his turn as the doomed Private Maurice Ferol in Paths of Glory is unshakable once you’ve seen it. Carey’s ability to not only innately steal every scene he graced but also bring the entire rainbow of the human condition to any film made him a presence to look out for.

bizarro

Video of the Week: Honeyboy Slim and the Bad Habits

Posted by Marisa on

Today happens to be the birthday of one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world, Heather Drain. Besides being an amazing writer and critic of fringe culture, she is my number-one cohort in the Timothy Carey Estrogen Brigade. I dedicate today’s video, another one from the archives, to her.

Happy birthday, doll! Long may you rock.

Pics of the Day: More SINNER-related ephemera

Posted by Marisa on

Today, my last post before the blog goes on a short hiatus, I present two pics pertaining to Timothy’s magnum opus, The World’s Greatest Sinner (1962).

First up is an amazing piece of memorabilia that comes our way via Facebook friends (and super human beings) Bill Ackerman and Heather Drain. It’s a letter from Timothy to Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Premiere at the time of Sinner‘s release. It appeared in the May 1, 1962 issue of Variety. The print is pretty small, so here is how it reads:

Mr. Nikita Khrushchev 

Kremlin, Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Dear Mr. Khrushchev:

Allow me to introduce myself: My name is Timothy Carey. I am a motion picture producer-distributor.

I am writing for one reason. It has been said by many that you are the world’s greatest sinner. I made a film by the same name, wherein the leading character is quite similar to you, a man who wants to be God. I would like to send you a print for your viewing because it can be very enlightening. The subject matter deals with a great sinner who finally repents.

I’ve tried to show that there is some good in all human beings. I sincerely believe that there is a potent moral message in the “Sinner” and this movie can help the world, especially people who are out to conquer it. “The World’s Greatest Sinner” realized that a man doesn’t profit when he suffers the loss of his soul.

Sincerely yours,

 Timothy Carey

Letter to Nikita

I wonder if Mr. Khrushchev ever received his copy?

Secondly is a lovely photograph of Romeo Carey with Betty Rowland, taken when he interviewed Betty at her home in 2012. As previously reported, Betty, who portrayed long-suffering Edna Hilliard in Sinner, passed away recently. You can visit her online memorial here.

Betty Rowland with Romeo Carey, 2012

And that is all from me until March 31! Byron and I are headed down to Los Angeles for the Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival! Trust me, if anything Timothy-related should happen there, I’ll be your girl reporter on-the-spot!

Quote of the Week

Posted by Marisa on

In the landscape of television, public access has always been the equivalent to the wild, wild west. You will see and hear things that you would never see on “regular” or “for pay” television. It’s a field that many an artist and personality has created and prospered in. One man that fits this bill oh so nicely is Art Fein and his long running Los Angeles access show, Art Fein’s Poker Party. Billed as a “rock & roll talk show” and running since 1984, Fein’s likable personality coupled with a history of stellar guests, including Brian Wilson, Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Richard Carpenter and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy have all helped make Poker Party a cult favorite. But like a Cajun dancing Elvis from Hell, it was one guest in particular that made Art Fein’s Poker Party history.

On June 12th, 1989, along with Paul Body, Richard Blackburn (director of Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural, a film I cannot recommend enough) and host Fein himself, was the man, Timothy Agoglia Carey. Carey, famous for his unforgettable turns in films like Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing and Paths of Glory, as well as John Cassavetes’ The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, had already long-earned the reputation of wild card by the time of this episode’s taping. This nearly six minutes of pure brazen gold plays out like a gift for anyone in the know of this not nearly heralded enough artist and true blue genius. In fact, it is so good that it is also a great introduction to the charisma and beautiful madness that was and forever is Timothy Carey for the uninitiated.

Here, Carey talks about his work with Cassavetes, as well as briefly his own film, the incomparable rock & roll religious parable of sorts, The World’s Greatest Sinner. Even better is Carey’s recollections of his work in both the campy AIP (American International Pictures) classic, Beach Blanket Bingo, as well as his last mainstream feature film, Echo Park. While neither description is entirely accurate, both actually would have made said films even better, between his talk of murder-by-bongos or women literally weeping from the painful indigestion after eating his character’s pizza. It makes one yearn for an entire universe as seen through Timothy-Carey-Vision. Dreaming is free but in the meantime, we at least thankfully have this great clip courtesy of Art Fein’s Poker Party.

– Heather Drain, “World’s Greatest Sinner on Public Access: Cult Actor Timothy Carey on ‘Art Fein’s Poker Party’; Dangerous Minds (January 5, 2015)

Quote of the Week

Posted by Marisa on

The real conflict, however, comes in the form of a Southern Fried übermensch named Ulysses (the eternally awe-inspiring Timothy Carey), local business owner and oil slick brute who has the screaming hots for Marie. The feeling is less than mutual with Marie prefering “dirt” over Ulysses, but he’s a man with an epic case of bullheadedness. […]

When BAYOU was first released by United Artists, as a B-picture on double-bills with self-produced features like TAMMY AND THE BACHELOR, it did not do that well – despite a young and attractive cast, handsome monochrome photography by Alabama-born brothers Vincent and Ted Saizis, some nicely authentic Southern Louisiana locales and a heart-stopping dance sequence by Timothy Carey, who makes Elvis Presley at his most manic seem like a Carmelite nun. It died a quite box office death. […]

And then approaching the stage like a hep cat Zeus meets Godzilla, is Ulysses, his arms up in the air looking like a resplendent rock and roll vision in a generic zydeco world.

He then quickly grabs Marie by her long hair and starts swinging her around, while Martin stands by a tree smoking. In an amazing move of deftness, Ulysses manages to unbutton his shirt while swinging around the unhappy-looking Marie, even switching arms. She manages to finally get free, leaving him to fully unleash the epic “Cajun dance” that entails a lot of manic hip thrusts, self-caressing and knee-knocking wildness.

The cuts of this sequence differ in both versions, for better and worse. In BAYOU, after Marie gets free, she runs over to check on Emil, then Martin (1:07:17). Carey’s dance is also (sadly) shorter. In POOR WHITE TRASH, the whole scene with Emil is cut out, making it look like Marie immediately checks on Martin after getting free from the Southern Psychotic Reaction Elvis. Also in PWT, they have looped some of the Cajun dance sequence, making it seem longer than it really was. This is not a bad thing, since I could watch an eight-hour cut of Carey frugging away. […]

Having a milquetoast hero doesn’t help, but there is enough artistry and good performances, courtesy of [Lita] Milan and [Douglas] Fowley, and an absolutely volcanic turn by Timothy Carey.

Now let’s all go crack hickory nuts and shimmy!

– Heather Drain, “How’s Bayou? A Look at the Original Poor White Trash”; Video Watchdog No. 166 (Jan/Feb 2012)

Bayou

Pic of the Day: “The Velvet Jungle” revisited

Posted by Marisa on

Today’s pic is another priceless shot of Timothy from the Starsky and Hutch episode “The Velvet Jungle,” which was first broadcast on March 5, 1977. Danny, the racist diner owner, has just offered Starsky and Hutch a helping of his “super pancakes.” AAAAHHHH they’re delicious!

The Velvet Jungle 1977

My dear friend Heather Drain, of the fabulous blog Mondo Heather, once told me that this scene made her literally fall out of her chair with delighted laughter. Ohhh, Tim, you rascal you.

Video of the Week: “The Odds Against Donald Jordan”

Posted by Marisa on

It’s Wednesday already! Our video of the week highlights Tim’s only appearance on the television detective series Mannix, starring Mike Connors. The episode is “The Odds Against Donald Jordan,” which was first broadcast on March 1, 1969. Tim is Rasmussen, affectionately known as Moose, Mannix’s pony-playing hipster pal. You get the feeling that they’re attempting to set up Moose as a recurring character, but alas, it was not meant to be.


My dear friend Heather Drain says about this scene, “Life should always be this good.” I concur. Come around and see me, dad! You dig?