The Carey Treatment

I read that after Blake Edwards (The Pink Panther movies) turned this movie in some suit completely recut it. I can believe it. Sometimes it seems that the action sequences or suspenseful sequences are cut so as to reduce the excitement or suspense, that the set has just enough color so as not to be monochromatic, but is not lit so that the colorfulness of the set in some scenes (and the lack of it in other scenes) does not reinforce any emotion or theme in the movie. James Coburn puts on his super-cool persona, and that's fun to watch, but a super-cool pathologist is as common as a super-cool law librarian. Jennifer O'Neill is gorgeous and eminently watchable, but the way her romance is written, she must be very easy; no way. Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain writer, Westworld director) wrote the book on which the movie is based, and hid his name somewhere in the process like Edwards did. Quality writers John D.F. Black (Shaft) and the writing team of Harriet Frank, Jr. and Irving Ravetch (Norma Rae) worked on this, then hid their names. Many hospital drama tropes that are old hat now were fresh then, and that's fun. Should not be your first choice,except maybe to gaze at Jennifer O'Neill- better choices: Blake Edwards- Pink Panther, James Coburn- Magnificent Seven, Michael Crichton medical- Andromeda Strain, nonmedical Westworld.

MGM gave a very stylish treatment to Michael Crichton's novel The Carey Treatment and provided James Coburn with one of his career roles as a pathologist/sleuth.

Coburn has good reason to turn amateur detective in his new hospital in Boston. His friend and colleague James Hong has been accused of murder and of performing illegal abortions. In super Catholic Boston in 1972 that was the worst kind of charge you can make.

Not only that the deceased is Melissa Torme-March the 15 year old daughter of the hospital head Dan O'Herlihy. O'Herlihy is head of a family where everyone goes into or is expected to go into medicine. His daughter was thought to go to Hong for an illegal abortion which was botched. Remember this was before Roe vs. Wade and there were all kinds of back alley abortion providers. Hong tells us he's feeling that women should control their own bodies and charges only lab fees. Others make big money off it, including some of the deceased's own family members. All hush hush and quite hypocritical, but those were the times.

Coburn's training as a pathologist makes him suspect that the young woman wasn't even pregnant, but there were some thefts of narcotics at the hospital that the police are also interested in.

Director Blake Edwards did well by his ensemble cast. For a doctor Coburn is hip and groovy as the times and pretty ruthless in pursuit of justice for his friend. Getting a career performance was Michael Blodgett who normally played beautiful surfer types, here he's one murderess masseuse. Skye Aubrey does well as a drug addicted nurse.

After forty years The Carey Treatment holds up well and is a painful reminder that women need access to safe and legal abortions as well as a fine medical murder mystery.

This little known medical thriller seems like a second cousin to "Coma" and fans of that film should enjoy this one as well. Coburn is a free-living pathologist hired on at a large Boston hospital who almost immediately finds himself trying to disprove a murder rap placed on one of his colleagues. A fellow doctor (Hong, in one of his more substantial roles) is accused of performing an illegal abortion on a fifteen-year-old girl, which led to her death. That the girl is the daughter of the Chief of Staff is no small complication! Coburn must put all the pieces together to find out what actually happened while fending off his protective and commandeering boss (O'Herlihy.) He still finds time, however, to play with O'Neill (whose thankless part only offers one or two decent moments.) Some of the situations and dialogue are inherently "70's", but it is still engrossing entertainment. Coburn has one scene with the great Allen. This effortlessly sophisticated and witty actress partakes in some snappy repartee with him and sparks fly in the well written scene. Coburn also has a memorable run-in with Dreier who nonchalantly simmers some sauce while discussing his niece's death. The subject matter of the film is a bit unsettling and gets increasingly so (and more violent) as it nears its pretty gory climax. Some will view this as a good thing, others may be put off. One scene involving a masseuse and client is quite tense. This leads to some bloodletting and then a nail-biting, if a bit far-fetched, finale. Aubrey is the daughter of Phyllis Thaxter and looks much like her. Blake Edwards' daughter Jennifer has a small, but featured role as the dead girl's roommate. TV fans will note the presence of Hillerman and Mandan as doctors on staff. One complaint: With all the dramatics and hysterics during the resolution, it can be hard to hear what actually happened! Keep the remote handy for a rewind.

I've seen Blake Edward's The Carey Treatment twice since its airing on CBS in the mid '70s. I don't remember a lot of the details, but I am fairly certain that it was a pleasant and engaging medical/crime drama, although it looked TVish even for TV. I watched it with my grandmother of all people--she didn't like anything suspenseful because it aggravated her angina--and Nana gave it the ultimate compliment, "This is a good shoot-em-up!"

To my grandmother, all movies, with or without firearms, that had suspense were "shoot-em-ups."

The film was based on a work by Michael Crichton, but I can't recall if TCT has some of Crichton's trademarks--an ensemble casts of flawed, believable characters and a technology-heavy story. Instead, there's someone killing people, with a hospital as background and James Coburn looking very cool (and a bit Crichton-like in demeanor).

See, I really don't remember much but for the fact that I enjoyed it.

It appears you can't get the film at Amazon (although I haven't checked Netflix). That's too bad, because a cheap copy or a quick rental of this small mystery movie would be fun and enjoyable.

Just remember to bring your little pills, okay?

Coburn was interesting as the plain spoken wild card pathologist Peter Carey who enters a new hospital brimming with problems. Right off the bat a fellow practitioner is accused of a crime which he couldn't possibly have committed. Carey must unravel criminal activities within the institution to clear his friend which puts him in the sights of a psychotic killer. So-so thriller/drama.