Tag Archives: robert vaughn

Quote of the Week

Posted by Marisa on

The second picture I did was for Allied Artists and was titled Unwed Mother, a very provocative title for the late fifties. It starred Timothy Carey, an actor who had scored in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory alongside Kirk Douglas. In our picture, Timothy played the role of an abortionist (also pretty frisky stuff for that time). When he arrived on the set to do his scene, dressed appropriately in a cheap dark suit, he opened his black medical bag and from it brought out some of the ugliest, vilest-looking knives, tools, hammers, and sundry stuff you’d likely see only in some triple-X horror movie. This bag had not been furnished by the prop department, nor was a bag of that kind mentioned in the script. It was all Timothy’s idea, and he had to be talked out of using it in his scene by the director [Walter Doniger], who threatened to have him fired and, if possible, kicked out of the Screen Actors Guild. He finally did acquiesce, and I heard very little about or from him since then.*

*Marisa’s note: I guess he forgot about the Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode he and Timothy did together.

Unwed Mother

Video of the Week: “Unwed Mother” trailer

Posted by Marisa on

Here’s another one from the archives (read: we’ve run out of new videos to post again!). It’s the trailer for Walter Doniger‘s Unwed Mother (1958), the cautionary drive-in tale of a naive gal (Norma Moore) done wrong. Timothy appears as the grouchy back-alley abortionist about halfway through.

Also appearing is Robert Vaughn as the impregnating cad. Girls, let this be a warning – to you.

Pic of the Day: “Unwed Mother” revisited

Posted by Marisa on

Today’s pic takes another look at Unwed Mother (1958), Walter Doniger‘s cautionary tale of what can happen when you do the hanky-panky without benefit of marriage. As the beleaguered title character, Norma Moore pays a visit to Timothy’s unnamed back-alley abortionist. The expression on his face tells us all we need to know of his opinion of this little trollop – er, unfortunate woman.

Unwed Mother

Doniger began his Hollywood career as a scriptwriter in the 1940s. He directed his first film, Duffy of San Quentin (featuring two of Tim’s future Paths of Glory co-stars, George Macready and Joe Turkel), in 1954. He really made his mark in television, directing scores of episodes from the 1950s through the 70’s. His directing style was apparently a bit brusque. According to Robert Vaughn’s autobiography, while shooting this film Doniger clashed with Tim over certain characterizations Tim wished to bring to his character. Tim was forced to back down after Doniger threatened to have him kicked out of the Screen Actors Guild.

Pic of the Day: “The Deadly Quest Affair” revisited

Posted by Marisa on

To mark the birthday anniversary of the late great Darren McGavin, today we take another look at “The Deadly Quest Affair,” the episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. that first aired just in time for Halloween on October 30, 1967. McGavin is exotic villain Viktor Karmak, complete with pet leopard. Timothy, as Karmak’s torpedo Stefan, is divesting Robert Vaughn and Marlyn Mason of weapons or anything else that would give them an unfair advantage as the plot unfolds.

The Deadly Quest Affair - 1967

Tim appeared with McGavin again the following year in the first episode of the series The Outsider, “For Members Only,” which I’m still working on finding a copy of. McGavin certainly ruled a big part of my teen years as Kolchak: The Night Stalker in the mid-1970s. He passed away in 2006  and is greatly missed.

Video of the Week: “The Deadly Quest Affair”

Posted by Marisa on

Our video for this week is another full-length television episode, although unfortunately it will cost you $1.99 to check it out. Timothy, of course, makes it worth it if you’re feeling reckless. It’s “The Deadly Quest Affair,” from the groovy spy series The Man From U.N.C.L.E.  It first hit TV screens on October 30, 1967. It’s basically another boss’ torpedo role for Tim, but this time he kind of redeems himself in the end (you can count that as a spoiler alert, or not).

In his autobiography, Robert Vaughn mentions Tim’s role in Unwed Mother (1958) and some rather unusual ideas he had for same (see this post), then says, “…I heard very little about or from him since then.” Guess he forgot about this, huh?

Pic of the Day: “Unwed Mother”

Posted by Marisa on

Our pic of the day is from Walter Doniger’s Unwed Mother (1958). The titular character, naive Betty Miller (Norma Moore), has been knocked up by insincere cad Don Bigelow (Robert Vaughn). In desperation she visits a grumpy, greasy-haired back-alley abortionist, played by Tim. Things don’t go very well.

Unwed Mother
Vaughn had some interesting things to say about Tim’s characterization in his autobiography, A Fortunate Life:

The second picture I did was for Allied Artists and was titled Unwed Mother, a very provocative title for the late fifties. It starred Timothy Carey, an actor who had scored in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory alongside Kirk Douglas. In our picture, Timothy played the role of an abortionist (also pretty frisky stuff for that time). When he arrived on the set to do his scene, dressed appropriately in a cheap dark suit, he opened his black medical bag and from it brought out some of the ugliest, vilest-looking knives, tools, hammers, and sundry stuff you’d likely see only in some triple-X horror movie. This bag had not been furnished by the prop department, nor was a bag of that kind mentioned in the script. It was all Timothy’s idea, and he had to be talked out of using it in his scene by the director, who threatened to have him fired and, if possible, kicked out of the Screen Actors Guild. He finally did acquiesce, and I heard very little about or from him since then.

I guess Vaughn forgot about the Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode he and Tim did together in 1967.