Il caso Carey

James Coburn plays a pathologist who is investigating the death of the fifteen-year-old daughter of the chief of medicine, who has died of a botched abortion that has been blamed on his colleague (James Hong), who is an illegal abortionist on the side. A lot of people today would be horrified of a movie where the hero is actually trying to help out an abortion doctor. But this was 1972 and people tend to forget that everything wasn't all bright and wonderful back when abortion was still illegal either (I don't personally take a side on the abortion debate, but I have a problem with people on either side who think the issue is in any way morally clear-cut and unambiguous--it's not now and never was). But before anyone goes bemoaning "liberal Hollywood", there's also a real "Dirty Harry" element to this movie, like a scene where Coburn essentially tortures information out of a drug-addicted suspect by denying her treatment. This particular scene should offend liberals everywhere (as well as anyone else who's ever heard of the Hyppocratic Oath).

But the fact that this movie might offend both conservatives AND liberals is exactly what I liked about it. The real world is morally messy and no one person is ever 100 percent morally righteous, and the many, many Hollywood movies that try to make things morally simplistic and their protagonists morally pure actually do a great disservice in many ways. Of course, the moral complications in this particular movie seem to be more the result of a confused production than anyone's clever intentions. Still I always find an interesting failure like this much more enjoyable than a boring success (like whatever old TV show they're making into a major motion picture this week). And in 1970's Hollywood there was a whole string of these kind of interesting failures, which is why I find that whole period so fascinating.

This movie definitely has some problems as other have said. Jennifer O'Neil is completely wasted, and the basic plot is riddled with holes (i.e. noboby but the protagonist notices that the botched operation was very obviously not the work of a trained doctor). Coburn isn't bad though, and this movie does kind of anticipate both "Coma" and the popular TV series "Quincy MD". Not good, but interesting, and certainly worth seeing.

Pathologist Peter Carey (James Coburn) moves to Boston for a job at a hospital there. He meets Dr. David Tao (James Hong) and they become friends. He also romances beautiful Georgia Hightower (Jennifer O'Neill). Also Tao does abortions on the side (they were illegal in 1972). Then a hospital administrators daughter dies of a botched abortion and Tao is arrested. He didn't do it and Carey sets out to find out who did.

OK thriller elevated by Coburn's great performance and beautiful Boston locations. The script has plot holes and moves kind of slowly but it's OK. O'Neill look incredible but is given nothing to do. Director Blake Edwards disowned this film in later years saying the studio interfered with it. It's not good but it's not that bad either.

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.

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?

I remember seeing this movie when I was a kid and really liking it. At the time, a doctor-as-detective story was an original idea, and Coburn carries it off with typical aplomb. Blake Edwards has directed thrillers before ("Experiment in Terror") so it's not like he doesn't know what he's doing here. At the time abortion was a pretty hot topic, so a thriller on the subject was fairly touchy. It all may seem a little too "hip" now, but I'd give it at least 3 stars.