Here’s another one from the archives. It’s Timothy’s pivotal scene from John Flynn‘s The Outfit (1973), with a crackling screenplay by Flynn from Donald Westlake‘s novel. Tim’s ill-tempered gangster Jake Menner learns a hard lesson from bent-on-vengeance Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall).
One of Tim’s best performances in a stellar tribute to film noir. Don’t miss it!
Our video for this week is a nifty montage of scenes from John Flynn‘s gritty homage to film noir, The Outfit (1973). It showcases the film’s superb score by Jerry Fielding.
In addition to Timothy, Robert Duvall, Joe Don Baker, Karen Black, Joanna Cassidy, and Robert Ryan are all here. This is a great film, not to be missed. You can catch it this Friday January 30 on the El Rey network. Enjoy!
Today’s pic is another one from John Flynn‘s The Outfit (1973). Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall) is about to put the hurt big time on mean thug Jake Menner.
Duvall has been one of our most gifted actors since the early 1960s, when he began appearing in series television, anthologies and Westerns. He hit the big time with his unforgettable turn as Boo Radley in Robert Mulligan‘s To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). Fifty-two years, one Best Actor Oscar (1983’s Tender Mercies), numerous other awards and nominations, and many classic films and performances later, he’s still going strong.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Our pic today has nothing to do with that, however, unless you count Timothy’s being half-Irish on his father’s side. At any rate, today we present a publicity still from John Flynn‘s The Outfit (1973). Nasty thug Jake Menner is in full grimace mode during the big shoot-out with Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall).
The Outfit airs tonight on Turner Classic Movies – put down the green beer and pay attention, son!
This week we present Timothy’s first and most important scene in John Flynn‘s The Outfit (1973). Robert Duvall runs the show here, with the late great Karen Black briefly glimpsed at the end.
Lean, mean and no-nonsense. If you haven’t seen this one yet, you’re missing out.
Of course we’re here to see Carey shake and rattle like a Santeria shaman, and that’s what he does. He’s also sweet and fatherly at times–nervously maniacal at others. His truck with deviltry has the same desperate ring as it does for Harvey Keitel in BAD LIEUTENANT or Captain Cutshaw in THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, men who rant and rage against God the way I rage at the stupidity of car commercials.
A weird-talking method maniac in general, Carey here has the weary look of someone who’s not only starring in but directing a low budget film, and that’s much more difficult than you would think (you’re basically the whole crew). He appears exhausted in some scenes and exhausted to the point of elation in others; the rest of the time he’s… just perfect, gamboling into brilliant oration ala Willie Stark in ALL THE KING’S MEN. Joy aboundeth, as does surprise bits of tenderness: he loves his horse and regards all humans with a sleepy naturalistic affection. I especially like how he calls everybody “deah”–as in “No, my deah, you don’t need insurance”–and there’s plenty of time for him to nuzzle with his wife and menagerie (he also has a snake and a big Marmaduke of a dog).
His new religion is never quite fleshed out (just how is he going to make everyone immortal?) but it’s worth playing along, humoring his conceits, just to watch him make out with old rich ladies for their money and– most of all–to shake his flabby frame on stage during his frenzied rock orations: half in a voodoo trance, half Corman-esque beatnik (his assistant urges him to glue on a fake goatee because it makes him look “better”) channeling ELMER GANTRY, he’s dynamite.
Hmmm, come to think of it – Robert Duvall produced THE APOSTLE and there’s some similarity. I totally support actors who want to get their megalomaniacal desire to be adored and adulated out onscreen and have the balls to go for it all the way, rather than sublimating and subtextualizing and cuddling it down like Kevins Spacey and Costner and of course Robin Williams.
That’s the difference between the real nuts and those who just pursue nuttiness the way a man with no mouth pursues a glass of water. If it all boils down to love, it’s the difference between those who love you and those who want you to love them. Tim Carey wants to love you through this film, if he had his way he’d pull you into the celluloid and start making out with you. I think he French kisses just about everyone and everything in this movie, but he does it out of love and so it’s pure. Do you hear me, Kevins?? PURE!!!!! Those who want to live forever must do so through othehs. As Carey puts it in the film “you are all Gods, and ya gonna live foreva…”
I can’t watch the whole mess in one sitting, but I believe he means it.
Timothy makes out with his wife Doris in the famous Sinner ad
Today we take another look at John Flynn‘s The Outfit (1973). Ill-tempered thug Jake Menner is not too happy about Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall) interrupting his card game. I am not 100% certain who the actor sitting next to Timothy is.
Many of Tim’s previous co-stars appear in this great film, including Robert Ryan, Elisha Cook Jr., Marie Windsor, Tom Reese, Roland LaStarza, Emile Meyer, and Roy Jenson. Flynn also directed the cult favorite Rolling Thunder (1977), the inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s short-lived film distribution company.
Our pic for today comes to us from John Flynn‘s The Outfit (1973). Tim is Jake Menner, a truly nasty thug about to have some serious mayhem committed on his left hand by the man holding the gun, Earl Macklin (Robert Duvall).
Tim was usually able to lend a note of humanity to even his most low-life characters, but Menner is a mean, rotten piece of work. He participated in the torture of Macklin’s girlfriend Bett (Karen Black) and the murder of Macklin’s brother (both of which occur before the film begins). There is nothing redeeming about him, except perhaps for his fashion sense and for the sheepishly subservient way he approaches his boss (Robert Ryan). One of Tim’s best and nastiest performances – don’t miss it.
The Timothy Carey Experience 