| Timothy
Agoglia Carey lived and died
an underground legend. Crafting
one of the most sporadic and
disjointed film careers in history,
he was a man who refused to
compromise; always forgot to
check his spelling; and never,
ever listened to a goddamn word
anybody said to him. He caused
a full-blown riot at the world
premiere of his one and only
completed visions of film brilliance,
The World's Greatest Sinner,
when he fired a gun into the
roof of a jam-packed LA theatre.
His misplaced ambition and passion
for life burned a trail of insanity
and wide eyed beauty that's
been followed by such contemporary
icons as Crispin Glover and
Andy Kaufman. Carey once scaled
the wall of 20th Century Fox
Studios in a full suit of armor,
trying to get a part in the
1954 film Prince Valiant;
he was kicked in the ribs by
Karl Malden and stabbed with
a pen by Marlon Brando during
the making of 1961's One
Eyed Jacks; he shot himself
in the head with a blank, just
to get some attention during
a live stage performance; Richard
Widmark beat him up on the set
of 1956's The Last Wagon;
he faked his own kidnapping
and ransom note during the filming
of Paths of Glory,
just to get some press; he pulled
a gun from his lunch box on
the set of the Godfather
II and shot Coppola (with
blanks of course); he brought
John Cassavetes over to his
house, put him in a dog attack
suit and let three rotweilers
attack him, all without telling
Cassavetes what was going on,
yelling words of encouragement
from the next room, "It's not
you they hate, it's the suit!!!"
Through all of this, and much,
much, much more, he always remained
true to the world he most definitely
helped create and flourish,
the underground. Timothy Carey
was one of the only actors Stanley
Kubrick ever allowed and trusted
to improvise at the drop of
a hat. He turned down a big
part in the Godfather because
he felt the money he'd make
would destroy his ability to
properly pursue his own art.
And John Cassavetes once said
that Carey's film The World's
Greatest Sinner 'had the
brilliance of Einstein'.
The
Kubrick Connection
It's
ironic that a man, whose name
is so widely unrecognized, could
make such an impression on so
many people. When you've seen
Carey, you don't forget him,
whether you know who he is or
not. Carey made his biggest
impressions on people during
his short, but memorable stint
with Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick
saw promise and passion in Carey's
impulses, when other director's
just saw problems. A great example
of Carey's overwhelming presence
is in Stanley Kubrick's 1956
film The Killing. Carey
was cast as Nikki Arane, the
sniper who's hired to shoot
the horse at the racetrack.
Carey's scenes in The Killing
are some of the most memorable
and intense examples of his
amazing ability to create an
unmistakable character out of
very little. Just ask any one
who's seen The Killing.
First, ask them if they know
who Timothy Carey was. After
they say no, ask them if they
remember the guy in The
Killing who shoots the
horse and talks through his
teeth. They will no doubt say
something along the lines of,
"oh yea, he was great." Carey's
whole body of work is filled
with underwritten roles blown
into career making performances,
all thanks to him.
In Kubrick's next film, 1957's
Paths of Glory, Carey
turned what could have been
a fairly straightforward and
potentially flat scene into
one of the most memorable moments
in the entire movie. In this
film, Carey plays a soldier
who's lead down a path to be
tied to a post and executed.
During this scene, Carey improvised
all of his dialogue becoming
a withering and crying mess;
a terrified and pleading man,
who knows he's going to die.
The reality of Carey's character
impulse gives this scene all
the more power. The star of
the film, Kirk Douglas, didn't
like the idea of Carey's improvisations
because he felt Carey was overshadowing
him (which he was) and Douglas
made this fact known to Kubrick.
Kubrick walked up to Carey,
leaned over and whispered in
Carey's ear "make this a good
one 'cause Kirk doesn't like
it." When Paths of Glory
had it's general run, one critic
in New York referred to Timothy
Carey as "Kubrick's good luck
charm." After Paths of Glory,
Kubrick went on to make Spartacus
in 1960. Carey was originally
cast in the film, but eventually
his presence was no longer requested.
Kirk Douglas was, once again,
the star and executive producer
of the movie and he no doubt
remembered Carey's energy and
ability to make a scene more
than it was. This is most likely
the reason Carey was left out
of the Spartacus club,
Douglas was afraid of Carey's
smothering star power.
Carey
worked with Kubrick again, although
Kubrick always had the highest
of praise for Carey. Throughout
his life, Carey realized the
contributions he made to Kubrick's
early days and he seemed hurt
by the lack of loyalty Kubrick
showed him after Kubrick's personal
exile to England. God only knows
what Carey's presence would
have done for Kubrick's later
films. One can only imagine
Carey's role in Lolita or
Dr. Strangelove, Full
Metal Jacket or even The
Shining.
The
Cassavetes Connection
Timothy
Carey and John Cassavetes started
out running neck and neck in
the film world. Both men were
prominent character actors in
the 1950s with a strong and
enormous presence; both played
off-kilter, strange men; and
both worked with James Dean.
Both Carey and Cassavetes had
a hand in creating the world
of underground film, yet ironically,
they both claimed not to be
a part of it. Cassavetes once
told a reporter "I was never
part of anything" in response
to a question about his involvement
in the underground. While Carey
stayed away from being associated
with underground filmmakers
and continued being looked at
as just a good actor in bit
parts. However, in 1956 they
both began working on their
own films. For Carey it was
World's Greatest Sinner
and for Cassavetes it was
Shadows. Shadows was completed
and released in 1959. Sinner
was completed in 1962 and
released in 1963. Shadows
went on to win accolades and
awards the world over, while
Sinner went on to be
called the worst movie ever
made and an absolute mess.
Carey
and Cassavetes became friends
in the 1960s. Cassavetes helped
Carey raise the money for his
next directorial project, Tweet's
Ladies of Pasadena, which
got underway in 1968. During
the production of Tweet's,
Cassavetes' wrote a part for
Carey in the 1971 film Minnie
and Moskowitz. The character's
name was Morgan Morgan, a loudmouth
coffee shop sloth. Carey was
allowed to run amok with the
character, improvising and soul
searching through his still
undefined character. Cassavetes
shot thousands of feet of film
of Carey's improvisational rants
and revelations. Carey was finally
getting the star treatment he
deserved when Cassavetes hugged
him and told him "You made the
film Tim." This action no doubt
endeared the two to each other,
but it certainly left the rest
of the cast with a rather jealous
and askewed view of Carey and
Cassavetes' affection for him.
This slow burning resentment
from cast members came to a
boil in the only other Cassavetes'
film Carey worked in, 1976's
The Killing of a Chinese
Bookie. Carey played Flo,
a member of a tight nit group
of mobsters out to kill Cosmo
(Ben Gazzara), the owner of
a strip club in LA. Carey's
performance in Bookie
is nothing short of amazing;
his presence pours from the
screen, at times almost drowning
out the other people. Carey's
ability to turn other actors
into mere props and furniture
shows more here than in any
other film. This, however, did
not go unnoticed by the other
members of the cast. Most notably
would be Seymour Cassel. During
one scene in particular, Cassel
is supposed to grab Carey by
the collar and rough him up
a bit but instead he grabbed
Carey by the neck so hard Carey
couldn't turn his head. Carey
told Cassavetes he was going
to break a bottle over Cassel's
head if he did it again and
Cassavetes responded by telling
Carey to do it, punch him in
the nose if he tried it again.
Keep in mind that Cassel and
Cassavetes were the best of
friends for years and years.
Cassavetes felt Carey was making
Bookie a better movie
and was willing to put his friendship
with Cassel on the backburner,
if he had to. Once again, Carey
crafted a memborable character
with his free flowing dialogue
and surreal statements that
seem rooted in underworld creepiness
and sin. All of Carey's scenes
in Bookie have a strange
feel to them. You can feel the
alienation in the air, and see
the distance he's given from
the other performers. He is
the existential spirit of reality
in the film, his world filled
with people and partners, yet
he remains apart and detached
from them. This was true for
his character in the film, for
himself on the set, and even
in life.
Another
example of Cassavetes overwhelming
care and affection for Carey
was in the early 80s when Cassavetes
ran across Carey outside of
the Paramount lot. The two men
got into a conversation about
old times and when Carey smiled,
Cassavetes noticed a cap had
fallen off of one of Carey's
front teeth. He drove Carey
to the dentist and paid the
bill. At Cassavetes' funeral
in 1989, Carey delivered an
astounding, poetic and beautiful
requiem for the man who had
done so much for him. "His grace
humility. Artistry against all
odds. His light will never be
extinguished. Cassavetes always
perpendicular to humanity. Antidote
against apathy in my life as
a thespian. To me, he will always
be a theantropist. Hail Cassavetes."
The
World's Greatest Sinner
Film
is still such an open and undefined
form of expression. In film
there are many different techniques,
different ways of conveying
feeling and ideas, different
methods of presenting visual
composition and story structure.
The best part is that most of
these techniques haven't even
been used or thought of. This
is what makes movies so interesting
and what makes them a legitimate
art from, and a constant challenge
for the film artist. Unfortunately,
most participates in the film
industry don't take these things
into account. Most filmmakers
use what's already there and
recycle, coating their canvas
with diluted colors, borrowed
invention and artificial inspiration.
Well, when I think about all
of the half-assed movies I've
seen throughout my life, all
I can say is, thank God for
The World's Greatest Sinner!
Timothy
Carey began crafting his one
and only fully realized moment
of personal celluloid brilliance
in 1956 in El Monte California,
where he lived most of his adult
life. He shot The World's
Greatest Sinner with his
own money, the final budget
running around $100,000. He
shot it mainly in his El Monte
home and on the city streets.
He used people off of the streets
of El Monte and got a young
man, an unknown musician named
Frank Zappa to do the soundtrack.
Reportedly, Zappa begged Carey
to do it. Carey told Zappa,
you come up with the music and
you got it. This was Zappa's
big break in music, the start
of a long and illustrious career.
(Just for the record, soon after
Sinner's completion
Zappa went on the Steve Allen
show and referred to it as "the
world's worst movie". This
remark rings of a true idiot
and ingrate if you ask me. In
fact, I find it rather ironic
that Zappa's entire persona
in the world of music can be
traced back to The World's
Greatest Sinner, right
down to Zappa's running for
president).
The story of Sinner
remains one of the most prophetic
and groundbreaking in film.
It's the story of Clarence Hilliard,
a man who's tired of his every
day, hum-drum life. He's an
insurance salesman with a beautiful
family, a Mexican gardener and
a horse. One night, he stumbles
across a rock n' roll show happening
near his home. He becomes so
moved by the music and dancing
that he heads home and turns
over a new leaf. He decides
that he's God, he changes his
name to God Hilliard and starts
a rock n' roll band. He travels
the country in a gold lamae
suit or a black suit jacket
with gold God embroidered on
the sleeves, working crowds
into a frenzy! He preaches his
gospel and develops a cult of
rabid Followers. He tells his
Followers, who wear nazi like
armbands with an F on it (F
for follower), that there is
only one God and that God is
man. His Followers riot and
destroy city streets while God
seduces an old lady for cash
and runs for president. He has
sex with fourteen-year-old girls
and slaps his 8-year-old daughter
in the face when she begs him
to accept Jesus. He forces one
of his Followers to commit suicide
when he begins to stray from
God's teachings. He challenges
the real God to a fight to the
death and eventually has that
battle in the films final, a
mind-melting moment of brilliant
insanity and over the top artistic
realization. The World's
Greatest Sinner makes other
so-called groundbreaking films
seem like a joke. Carey's creation,
his canvas, his brainchild is
quite possibly the most awesome
and inspiring depth charge ever
put on film.
The idea for Sinner
came from Carey's intense desire
to create something new, something
that would really push the envelope
and give people something to
think about. Carey once said
about the point behind Sinner,
"I was tired of seeing movies
that were supposedly controversial.
So I wanted to do something
that was really controversial."
Calling Sinners' subject
matter controversial simply
doesn't do it justice. Sinner
was controversial, bold,
dumbfounding, mind bending,
and earth shattering. It's cultish,
religious and political subjects
predate Jim Jones (which Carey
proudly mentioned time and time
again), Manson, Heaven's Gate
and Pat Buchanan. The rock n'
roll performances that Carey
unleashes in Sinner
reek of punk rock and no wave
madness, and this was 1956!
Sinner seems to be hundreds
of years ahead of it's time,
in it's messages, in it's purpose
and it's method. It's like an
alien viewpoint of the hypocrisy
of man and his mental machines
and addictions, religion, politics,
lust, ultra ego and extreme
self-doubt. Sinner
is one of the fullest and intense
films ever made, and almost
no one has seen it. On it's
initial release in 1963, it
was only screened a few times,
and to a bad response. It's
no surprise though, when one
watches the film, you can almost
taste the hate for the general
viewing public and the world
around. Carey's Hollywood alienation
and misunderstandings drip from
the screen of Sinner
like blood from a stigmata.
To this day Sinner
remains the underground's greatest
POW, a lost masterpiece of a
personal vision fulfilled through
independence and a desire to
create something new and amazing.
And while critics of the day
referred to Sinner as "a travesty
of the arts," this critic views
it as his all time favorite
film. I swear to God Hilliard,
I'm telling the truth.
Wealth of Unrealized and Misunderstood
Brilliance
Beyond
being one of the most misunderstood
and underused actors in the
history of film, Timothy Carey
had a lifetime of ideas and
dreams that never materialized.
Carey's mind seemed to be full
of surrealism (which explains
his hero worship of Salvador
Dali) and color. His concepts
and dreams were just too much
for people to grasp, especially
studio people. When it came
to performances, you could safely
say that Carey helped other
actors come up with a character
more times then he got to play
one. Carey's career is filled
with failed screen tests, in
which his performance is almost
mirrored by the eventual actor
of choice. Carey's energy and
naked honesty often made more
enemies than friends, and unfortunately,
enemies, more than friends,
can see when you've got something
they want and need. Carey's
characters were never allowed
out of their cage, he would
spend months developing the
personality and behavior of
a character only to have his
screen time edited down to a
moment or two. The reason? It
seems as though his presence
always took away from the stars,
his energy and screen presence
left everyone else looking flat
and artificial. In this way,
he was kind of like James Dean,
who he worked with on Dean's
first film, 1955's East of Eden
(Carey was uncredited). But
even if you try to sweep all
of Carey's misuse and abuse
as an actor under the studio
rug, you can't look past all
of his ingenious and insane
film concepts that never saw
the light of day.
Carey's
follow up to The World's
Greatest Sinner was a film
called Tweet's Ladies of
Pasadena. It began filming
in 1968 and never got finished.
It's the story of Tweet Twig
(played by Carey), a giant child/man
who roller-skates everywhere
he goes. His wife is a 300-pound
British female wrestler and
he works for the "Don't Drop
A Stitch Knitting Club," a group
of little old ladies (some of
which were played by guys in
drag) who dress in Indian garb
for no apparent reason. Tweet
Twig tries to clothe all the
naked and homeless animals in
the world, so he takes in any
and every stray he sees. The
animals talk to each other and
run amok in his small house.
The imagery of the film seems
to be extracted from the dreams
of a child; the angles, colors
and structure of the story seem
to drift from the coherent to
the unattainable; in other words,
Tweet's Ladies of Pasadena
is an amazing piece of psychedelic
madness that never got off the
ground (beyond a rough 90-minute
work print). It's interesting
if only for the fact that it
presents a side of Carey that
couldn't exist further from
the person portrayed in
Sinner. It shows Carey's
character ability as well as
his ability to craft ideas so
far apart, that association
is practically impossible. Tweet's
was eventually pitched as a
TV show, but it never went anywhere.
Another
potential fuse that never got
lit was Carey's script for a
film called Al. Carey
started shooting this in the
mid 50s, even before he began
shooting Sinner. Al
is the story of an Alabama salesman
who gets stuck in L.A. traffic
on his way to get his pregnant
wife to a hospital. Once he
gets off the freeway, he drives
aimlessly, trying to find a
hospital. The film deals mainly
with Al's odd encounters with
the people of LA. The film shows
Carey's fascination with the
everyman, with the strangeness
that existed in the normal man's
life and personality. Carey
saw the sparks that made life
strange, that made life interesting.
Sadly,
all that came of Al was
a wonderful script and footage
Carey shot in the mid 50s. Universal
wanted to make it, but not with
Carey in the driver's seat.
Universal wanted Daniel Petrie
to direct but Carey was dead
set against anyone but him making
Al a reality. So as
you can imagine, Al
died a slow death, just like
Tweet's.
Carey
had many other ideas that never
even got as far as Tweet's
and Al did. Two more
films Carey envisioned were
Flore and Greenwood.
Carey wrote Flore with
his long time wife Doris. Folore
is about a guy who works in
a car wash. He tries to solve
a necrophilia/murder case to
use the reward for his girlfriend's
art school tuition. Greenwood
is about a guy named Cass
Matthews who pays for his 25,000
acres of alligator sanctuary
by recording pop records in
Memphis. Timothy Carey wrote
a number of teleplays too. My
Casa is Yours, about a
singing Mexican cowboy who dreams
of being a pro soccer player.
Another one is Commercials
(written with his wife
as well), about an ad executive
who joins forces with an anarchistic,
dog loving street musician.
These are just a sample of the
gigantic amount of ideas Carey
never got off the ground, thanks
to the misunderstanding of the
studios.
One
more point of interest that
I'll mention just for fun is
the fact that Timothy Carey
was going to be in Apocalypse
Now. His idea for the character
was to be a member of a Marine
K9 unit who spends all day picking
fleas from the necks of his
killer dogs, petting them and
talking to them like his children.
It sounds like a brilliant moment,
Coppola didn't like the idea.
The
Insect Trainer
Carey's
final creative blast was his
most impassioned and surreal
project, a stage play called
The Insect Trainer.
He began laying the foundation
for The Insect Trainer
as far back as 1981. Subtitled
"an intimate collaboration with
Salvador Dali," the play is
about a man named Guasti Q Guasti.
He's a dishwasher at a Chinese
restaurant who, as a side note,
makes friends with a cockroach.
One day he farts near an old
lady. The power of the gas knocks
the woman out of her chair,
she hits her head on the floor
and dies. Guasti is put on trial
for murder. The majority of
the play is Guasti defending
himself in court, with Guasti
delivering intensely dense and
surrealistic lines, many of
which are directed at the audience.
These segments were to be enormous,
stream of consciousness rants
on the attributes of farting
and the necessity of such an
act. The Insect Trainer
deals with one of Carey's most
obsessive subjects, farting.
Carey felt that farting was
the key to removing all inhibitions,
something a good actor has to
be able to do. Carey once said
about prepping his cast for
The Insect Trainer,
"First I'd take a big fart in
front of them. That's always
a big help. I always thought
if you really want to be a good
actor, you've got to be able
to fart in public. That, to
me, is the most important. If
you are so inhibited that you
can't fart, I don't mean around
your friends, I mean just a
fart, out loud somewhere. I
don't mean the 'silent creeper',
everybody does that. I mean
fart out loud! Just that you
can do it and not be afraid
of it. Humility is very important."
Carey
died on May 11th, 1994 as a result of his fourth
stroke in less than six years, right before The
Insect Trainer went on stage. Carey's son,
Romeo Carey went on to play the part of Guasti Q.
Guasti, making sure that his dad's vision got the
proper treatment it deserved. It seems poetic that
Carey would die right before his final passion became
complete. His whole life was composed of wild ideas
that lead him in circles of frustration and disappointment,
yet he never became bitter or tired. His energy,
kindness, creativity and life seemed to grow and
grow with each passing year, with each passing let
down. Carey was truly the saint of the underground,
the man who walked through it all, the studios,
the independents, TV, the stage. From lying his
way into the Marines when he was 15 years old to
making the world's greatest movie, The World's
Greatest Sinner, Carey's life was filled to
the brim with self-inflicted madness and genius.
His wandering dreams and ideas never ending. In
fact, when hearing Carey speak about The World's
Greatest Sinner back in 1992, one can't help
but think about his life as a whole, "I'm changing
Sinner every second! I took my last cut of
the show last year, that's after years and years!
I'm not afraid to turn it around. Some people say,
'Oh, this is boring now.' That I'm losing my touch
'cause I'm doing too much. But a creative person
can do it a thousand times, five thousand times,
and still enjoy it because he's creating each time.
You wine and dine something! You don't say, 'OK,
it's gonna take me two weeks and that's it.' It's
something that's going to be with you for the rest
of your life.
-Sam McAbee
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