MacDonald Carey Movies
Actor MacDonald Carey started out as a Chicago-based radio actor and singer; among his early airwaves credits was a brief tenure as "Mr. First Nighter" in the anthology series of the same name, and a longer engagement as Dick Grosvenor on the daytime soap opera Stella Dallas. In 1941, Carey starred opposite Gertrude Lawrence in the Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, which led to a Hollywood contract. He appeared prominently in several Paramount features from 1942 to 1949, but is best remembered for his portrayal of the detective in Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt (1943), which he played on loan-out to Universal. When his film career began to wane in the early 1950s, Carey returned to radio as star of the tongue-in-cheek adventure series Jason and the Golden Fleece. He was also top-billed in two syndicated TV weeklies, Dr. Christian (1954) and Lock-Up (1959-61). In 1965, Carey was cast as Dr. Tom Horton on the NBC daytime drama Days of Our Lives, a job he held until his death 19 years later; his voice is still heard at the opening of each episode, intoning the familiar intro "Like sands from the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." Not long before his death, MacDonald Carey published his autobiography, in which he was brutally candid about his lifelong battle with alcoholism. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1992
Free-spirited artist Lindsay Wagner learns that she's dying from cancer. She can handle that, but she worries about the future of her 6-year-old daughter Molly Orr. Enter high-powered executive Shelley Long, Lindsay's oldest friend. Despite the fact that they obviously move in different circles, Shelley commits herself to the task of properly raising young Molly. This lachrymose TV movie suffers from surprisingly noncommital performances by its stars. Message From Holly premiered December 13, 1992. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1984
This disjointed action film concerns a renegade security company which takes over the United States' computer defense system. CIA agent Barnes (Michael Durrell) and his sister must avoid World War III by defusing the plot. Mark Sobel's direction is lacklustre, and entire scenes appear to be missing, as many speeches are completely unrelated to anything in the finished film. Macdonald Carey, Martin Landau, and Michael Ansara are the requisite down-on-their-luck guest stars. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- 1959
While driving through the desert, Professor John Piltkin (MacDonald Carey) stops his car to care for a seriously injured coyote. Not long afterward, the coyote vanishes -- whereupon Piltkin is confronted by a wild-eyed young girl named Julie (Collin Wilcox). Whether or not Julie and the coyote are one and the same turns out to be a moot point, as the story segues into a morality play involving treachery, theft, and sweet revenge. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
A slick Los Angeles callboy finds love and redemption in Paul Schrader's ultra-stylish drama. High-living prostitute Julian Kay (Richard Gere, stepping in for John Travolta) has it all: the Mercedes, the clothes, access to Beverly Hills' swankiest establishments, and a stable of rich, older female clients. But it all falls apart after he does a favor for his former pimp (Bill Duke) and the trick turns up dead a short while later; Julian's actual client won't give him an alibi, and police detective Sunday (Hector Elizondo) doesn't believe the gigolo's denials. The one person who can help him is frustrated politician's wife (and sole non-paying bedmate) Michelle (Lauren Hutton), if only Julian could let down his defenses and accept her gesture of love. Mixing his admiration for European art cinema with a voyeuristic view of the seamier side of sex and affluence, Schrader renders Julian an inscrutable, emotionally disengaged purveyor of pleasure, decked out in Giorgio Armani clothes coordinated with Ferdinando Scarfiotti's meticulous production design. Amid critical doubts about its artiness and distanced eroticism, American Gigolo surprised everyone by not dying on the box office vine. With some audiences reportedly showing up for repeat viewings of Gere's seductive charms, it became a moderate hit, turning Gere into a star and Armani into the new fashion sensation. Whatever reservations one may have about the movie, it provided two indelible images of 1980s decadence to come: Gere's perusing his "artist's palette" of shirts, ties, and jackets, and Gere's cruising down the Pacific Coast Highway in his convertible to the New Wave strains of Blondie's "Call Me". ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, (more)
- 1967
Knowing that Darrin is anxious to impress his new client, a golf enthusiast named Joe Baxter (MacDonald Carey), Endora casts a spell on her son-in-law's golf clubs. As a result, Darrin plays golf brilliantly -- too brilliantly to suit the envious Baxter, who drops his account, whereupon Larry Tate drops Darrin. As it turns out, it is Mrs. Baxter (Joan Banks), rather than Samantha, who comes to the rescue. Written by David V. Robison and John L. Greene, "Birdies, Bogies and Baxter" originally aired on October 19, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, (more)
- 1959
A surprisingly serious and well-acted major studio variation on the "teens in trouble" films that AIP and Allied Artists cranked out in the 1950's, Blue Denim stars Brandon De Wilde and Carol Lynley as Arthur and Janet, a pair of high school sweethearts who find in each other the love and understanding they don't receive from their emotionally distant parents. However, teenage romance leads to adult consequences when Janet finds herself pregnant; neither of the teens can broach the subject with their parents, and since they're regarded as too young to get married, they're forced to seek out an illegal abortion before Janet is no longer able to hide her condition. While time has dated the story, Blue Denim still comes off as sincere and well-crafted (the sequence where the teen lovers meet the abortionist is still a bit spooky all these years later), and was considered quite frank in its day. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Carol Lynley, Brandon de Wilde, (more)
- 1965
In the first episode of a three-part story, Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) is invited to Washington DC by his ex-fiancee Laurette (played by Connors' then wife Kamala Devi) and her father, Senator Hastings (Macdonald Carey). It turns out that Lansing is one of several people who hope to benefit by discrediting the late General Reed, who had been McCord's superior officer at the Battle of Bitter Creek. Although he could clear himself of desertion charges by ruining Reed's reputation, McCord refuses to do so--but this is only the beginning of the story. Unlike the rest of Branded's first-season episodes, "The Mission" was filmed in color (though whether or not it was originally broadcast in color is still a matter of dispute). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1949
After Ray Milland turned down the leading role in Bride of Vengeance, Paramount contractee John Lund stepped into the role of Alfonso D'Este, second husband of the notorious Lucrezia Borgia. The ruthlessly ambitious Lucrezia is played by Paulette Goddard, who seems ill at ease in the role. MacDonald Carey is better suited to his assignment as Cesar Borgia, the real villain of the piece. The plot proper gets under way when Lucrezia seeks revenge for her first husband's murder. The supporting cast is an odd lot, especially Billy Gilbert as Beppo, a wandering minstrel. A far better recreation of the Borgia "regime" was offered in the like-vintage Prince of Foxes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulette Goddard, John Lund, (more)
- 1964
In this western, after being branded as a coward by the army, an ex-soldier succumbs to his former finacee's pressure and breaks a treaty with the Apaches. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1951
MacDonald Carey and Alexis Smith star in the heavily plotted western Cave of Outlaws. Carey plays Pete Carver, who has spent 10 years in jail for participating in a train holdup. Upon his release, Pete heads to the huge cave where his cohorts had hidden their loot. Not surprisingly, he is trailed to the hiding place by several interested parties, including Wells Fargo investigator Dobbs (Edgar Buchanan) and all-around baddie Ben Cross (Victor Jory). Smith plays the vengeful widow of a newspaperman who was murdered by the crooks, while Hugh O'Brian is suitably menacing as Cross' trigger-happy nephew. Cave of Outlaws was Technicolorfully filmed on location in Carlsbad Caverns. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- MacDonald Carey, Alexis Smith, (more)
- 1952
A soldier decides to volunteer his own body to help find a cure for yellow fever in this live TV production of Sidney Howard's Yellowjack. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- 1950
Universal's Technicolor program westerns of the 1950s were among the best in the business. Comanche Territory stars MacDonald Carey as famed frontiersman Jim Bowie, who is sent into Comanche country by the government. Bowie's mission is to draw up a treaty allowing the government to mine silver on the Indian's turf. He is accompanied by politician Dan'l Seegar (Will Geer), who intends to renew the government's agreement that white settlers will be barred from setting up camp in the Comanche's land. But saloon owner Katie (Maureen O'Hara) connives to spoil Bowie's and Seegar's peacekeeping mission. Katie's brother Stacey (Charles Drake) is a no-good crook who wants to cheat the Indians out of what's rightfully theirs, which of course will result in all-out war. Falling in love with Bowie, Katie decides to turn honest--but it may be too late. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1980
Condominium is a two-part, four-hour TV adaptation of the novel by John D. McDonald. The setting is a hastily constructed Florida high-rise, assembled at the least possible cost by its greedy owners. An oncoming hurricane threatens to topple the structure and its residents into the ocean. Various degrees of greed, lust, terror and concern are displayed by stars Steve Forrest, Dan Haggerty, Ralph Bellamy, Barbara Eden, Stuart Whitman, Jack Jones and Pamela Hensley. Produced for the syndicated "Operation Prime Time" series, Condominium was first made available to local stations on November 20, 1980. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Set just after the close of the Civil War, a former Confederate officer (Ray Milland) joins a vaudeville target-shooting show to avoid detection by the Union army. Working his way West, he falls in league with a group of Southern copper-miners being harassed as they try to make a living. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Milland, Hedy Lamarr, (more)
- 1953
Director Don Siegel keeps the events in Count the Hours moving so quickly that no one has time to ponder the film's huge lapses in logic. MacDonald Carey stars as a defense attorney Doug Madison who races against time to save migrant ranchhand George Braden (John Craven) from execution. While Madison tells himself that his motives are altruistic, there are those who believe that the lawyer has designs on Braden's wife, Ellen (Teresa Wright). Sacrificing everything in the pursuit of justice, Madison finally finds the crucial evidence that will free his client--if he can deliver the goods, and the actual murderer, before the switch is thrown in the death house. Produced by Benedict Bogeaus, whose wife Dolores Moran plays a supporting role, Count the Hours was somewhat pointlessly retitled Every Hour Counts when released in England. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Teresa Wright, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1942
In this mystery, a Times Square doctor rescues a chorus girl who, as part of a publicity stunt, was preparing to leap off a building. He later becomes friends with a killer who asks the doctor to take $100,000 to his estranged daughter. Before the doctor can run his errand, mobsters show up and shoot the killer. They then steal the key to the safe deposit box carrying the cash leaving the doctor to be blamed for the murder. Fortunately, he is able to capture the crooks and clear his name. He also manages to again save the chorus girl from a second attempt at jumping off a building. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- MacDonald Carey, Jean Phillips, (more)
- 1948
Elmer Rice's clever stage comedy Dream Girl is Hollywoodized and "dumbed down" almost beyond recognition in this 1948 film version. In place of the original play's Betty Field, Betty Hutton stars Georgina Allerton, who periodically escapes her humdrum existence by retreating into elaborate daydreams. Georgina's fantasy excursions disturb her parents (Walter Abel and Peggy Wood) and her married sister (Virginia Field), who wish that she'd grow up already and stop all this nonsense. Only when she falls truly in love with Clark Redfield (Macdonald Carey) does Georgina abandon her dream world. Like the previous year's Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the film version of Dream Girl substitutes the quiet whimsy of its source with slapstick and overstatement; additionally, Elmer Rice's three-dimensional supporting characters are transformed into cardboard stereotypes. And just so the audience doesn't miss anything, the producers have added a voiceover narration to explain what has just been seen. With all this going against Dream Girl, Betty Hutton emerges unscathed, delivering a lot better performance than her material warrants. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Betty Hutton, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1951
Excuse My Dust is one of the few Red Skelton musicals in which Skelton is not obliged to share screen space with the likes of Eleanor Powell, Esther Williams or Fernando Lamas. Set in 1900, the film stars Red as zany inventor Joe Belden. Enchanted by the new-fangled horseless carriages, Belden vows to become the Henry Ford of his small community. The climax finds Joe competing in a cross-country auto race for a $5000 prize. Though light on slapstick, this closing sequences scores on the nostalgic value of the several genuine vintage autos pressed into service. Sally Forrest co-stars as Skelton's sweetheart, while MacDonald Carey plays his obnoxious rival. The songs for the most part are well-integrated into the story, save for one anachronistically modern production number (explained away as a "dream sequence" wherein Skelton imagines what life will be like in 1950!). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Red Skelton, Sally Forrest, (more)
- 1954
In this adventure, set in North Africa, a secret agent must find a band of smugglers. The man who recommended her for the job is another American agent who works in foreign law enforcement. Only he knows her real identity and he is soon killed leaving her to break up the ring with the assistance of another agent masquerading as a smuggler. The are also assisted by a friendly saloonkeeper. The story was shot on location in Tangiers. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Maureen O'Hara, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1977
This enthusuastic but ultimately ridiculous space-monster opus involves the midair collision of an American fighter plane and a cheap-looking model of a UFO -- a craft which eventually crashlands in the remote California fishing town of Parish Island. The alien survivors (represented by what appear to be superimposed Christmas tree lights) do battle with the couple inhabiting the local lighthouse. Incomprehensible plot twists abound, including a dimensional vortex, a rampaging monster, and some half-baked exposition from a scientist played by future soap opera star MacDonald Carey. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1972
Monie Ellis is the latest in a long line of movie and TV "Gidgets" in Gidget Gets Married. The title tells all: Francie "Gidget" Lawrence (Ellis) forsakes bikinis and surfboards for a wedding gown and corsage. Her husband, of course, is her faithful beau "Moondoggie", aka Jeff Stevens (Michael Burns). But the course of true love steadfastly refuses to run smoothly, as Gidget tries to deal with the snobbish social hierarchy within her husband's family and business associates. As he did in 1970's Gidget Grows Up, Paul Lynde steals the show as the waspish Louis B. Lattimer. Based on characters created by Frederick Kohner (whose own daughter was the model for the original Gidget), the made-for-TV Gidget Gets Married premiered January 4, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1948
Chronic gambler Ellen Crane (Paulette Goddard) indulges in games of chance to compensate for the loss of her boyfriend during WW2. Heavily in debt to gambling czar Lonnie Burns (Fred Clark), Ellen promises to marry him to clear her financial slate, but in the cold light of day she rethinks her decision and takes it on the lam. The irascible Burns hires detective J. D. Storm (Macdonald Carey) to track Ellen down and bring her back. After a hectic cross-country pursuit, Ellen and Storm come to realize what the audience has predicted all along: they've fallen in love with each other. This very standard assembly-line comedy is redeemed by its character actors, notably squeaky-voiced Percy Helton as a "three time loser" jailbird. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paulette Goddard, MacDonald Carey, (more)
- 1987
- R
Better known as It's Alive III, Island of the Alive details the further exploits of the murderous mutant infants introduced in director Larry Cohen's It's Alive! (1974). Said infants are shipped off to a desert island, where they are completely cut off from civilization. The government intends to eliminate the penned-up infants, but Michael Moriarty, the father of one of the babies, organizes a protest against this wholesale slaughter. It is clear to anyone who can read that director Cohen is drawing parallels between the quarantined children and society's treatment of AIDS victims. The strength of Cohen's direction and storytelling prowess is slightly weakened by some inadequate special effects in the closing scenes, wherein the babies reproduce and wreak havoc on the Mainland. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Moriarty, Karen Black, (more)
