Set those DVRs, you Super Human Beings – Timothy’s mad masterpiece returns to TCM Underground tomorrow night, October 29! 11:30 PM PST, 2:30 AM EST! Check your local listings!
Tag Archives: turner classic movies
Video of the Week: “The Killing”
Kudos to Turner Classic Movies for featuring the great James Edwards in their Summer Under the Stars showcase today, but it looks like they forgot one…
Quote of the Week
I apologize for not posting anything last week. It was a rough week for me – I lost both my cat and my father the previous weekend. I promise to get back on track this week!
The third of the four titular convicts was Timothy Carey, an oddball supporting actor usually cast as a psychopath. Carey’s large frame, sad eyes, and drawling voice made him memorable even when playing bit parts. Shortly after his work on Convicts 4, Carey set out to broaden his horizons by sheer moxie – producing, writing, directing, and starring in The World’s Greatest Sinner (1962). That B-movie epic finds Carey playing a rock-n-roll atheist evangelist who sets out to become a dictator (the film is even weirder than this description makes it sound).
- David Kalat, “Convicts 4”; Turner Classic Movies (undated)
Pic of the Day: “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” revisited
In anticipation of tonight’s airing of the Lillian Roth biopic I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955) on Turner Classic Movies (9:00PM PST, 12:00AM EST), we present another screen shot from Timothy’s don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-him appearance about halfway through the film, as a sweaty derelict in a seedy flophouse. He is on his way to (it is strongly implied) molest Ms. Roth (Susan Hayward in her Oscar-nominated performance) as she lies in a delirious alcoholic stupor.
Another of Tim’s uncredited “bit parts” that makes you wish he was a bigger part of the story. Don’t miss this excellent film tonight!
Videos of the Week: “The Killing” and “Crime Wave”
To celebrate today’s broadcast of The Killing (1956) and Crime Wave (1954) on Turner Classic Movies, as part of their tribute to Star of the Month Sterling Hayden, we are featuring two videos this week that come from both of those films. First up is Timothy’s pivotal scene from The Killing, with the great James Edwards.
Next up is a bit of ephemera from Crime Wave that comes to us courtesy of the amazing Film Noir Foundation. It’s part of an interview with that film’s director, Andre’ De Toth. Timothy only appears in a still from the film, however. But that’s OK by us.
Don’t forget – both of these films air TONIGHT on Turner Classic Movies, starting at 5:00 pm PST!
Pic of the Day: “What’s the Matter with Helen?” revisited
We close the week with another look at the handout-seeking tramp of Curtis Harrington‘s What’s the Matter with Helen? (1971). It’s a very brief appearance for Timothy, but Harrington imagined no one else in the role and insisted he be cast.
Don’t miss What’s the Matter with Helen? on Turner Classic Movies this Sunday, April 26!
Pic of the Day: “Crime Wave” lobby card
Already anticipating the screenings of Crime Wave (1954) and The Killing (1956) next month as Turner Classic Movies celebrates its Star of the Month for May, Sterling Hayden, today’s pic takes another look at the former film. It’s one of the best examples of film noir ever, directed by Andre’ De Toth.
This intensely red-tinted lobby card features Hayden and Mack Chandler rounding up Timothy and Gene Nelson, as Phyllis Kirk looks on. I encourage you not to miss this film if you haven’t seen it. It’s a winner in every respect.
Pics of the Day: More SINNER-related ephemera
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
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.
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!
TONIGHT! “The Boy and the Pirates” on TCM!
Tune in tonight to Turner Classic Movies as they show The Boy and the Pirates (1960) as part of their salute to Bert I. Gordon today!
Quote of the Week
“You mean you’ve never heard of WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER?”
This was a question posed to me not too long ago by a friend; too many drinks and joints in while surveying his collection of rare films and memorabilia. To tell the truth, I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, and could only stare back at him with a kind of slack-jawed goggle reserved for Alabama rats attempting to study astrophysics. In turn, my friend quickly dropped down to the floor, mumbling about some article in Psychotronic Video as he threw the cabinet of his entertainment center open, revealing a gaggle of VHS tapes, imported DVDs, and even spindles of DVDr recordings of late night TCM showings. From one of the spindles came a disc, probably buried six or seven deep, with the words “World’s Greatest Sinner” crudely scribbled on it with a black Sharpie. For a second I was semi-stressed, as neither of our wives were present, and I feared I was going to get exposed to some kind of super sick snuff flick he had hidden amongst bootlegs of forgotten Warren Oates roles.
Instead, what I got was entranced by the first forty-five minutes of arguably one of the strangest, most fascinating bits of cinema I’d ever laid eyes on. Dubbed by some as one of the “worst films ever made”, WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER was the work of one Timothy Carey, a Brooklyn born character actor who was attempting to produce, write and direct what he considered to be a “truly controversial” film. The story of a suburban everyman who becomes a rock megalomaniac, WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER is undoubtedly odd, but also hypnotic in its purpose; a kind of counter-culture document made before the term “counter-culture” was even part of our pop culture vernacular. And while it practically ruined his career in 1962, WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER has come to find a ROOM-like cult amongst psychotronic film fans*, because underneath the film’s seemingly inept veneer is an odd commentary on race and religion the likes of which were unheard of in the late 50s and early 60s.
*Zack Carlson of the Alamo Drafthouse recently put on a screening of WORLD’S GREATEST SINNER as his “goodbye film” before leaving as a programmer for the famed Texas theater chain
– Jacob Knight, “Remembering Timothy Carey: The World’s Greatest Bit Actor”; Very Aware (July 26, 2013)
The Timothy Carey Experience 