James Coburn is a doctor trying to help another doctor who's accused of a botched abortion that results in a death in "The Carey Treatment," a 1972 film that also stars Jennifer O'Neill, Pat Hingle, James Hong, Ed Herlihy, and Skye Aubrey.
The movie was made on location, using a lot of exteriors of Mass General Hospital. The inside of the hospital looked very familiar as well, but it's been so many years, I couldn't place it. Having lived in Boston at one time, it was great to see all all of the location shots.
The daughter of a hospital benefactor dies at 15 from a botched abortion, and a doctor who secretly performs abortions (Hong) because he's opposed to wire hangers is accused. His pathologist friend, Carey, a newcomer to the hospital, investigates, and the case takes another direction.
The story is interesting but not very well done. There's a very late '60s, early '70s feel to the film (naturally, since that's when it was made) - but the plot, involving the abortion scenario, is dated as well. Coburn's character is also the flip, hip type that was prevalent at that time, embodied by someone like Peter Lawford.
The beautiful Jennifer O'Neill is Carey's love interest, and she's fairly dreadful. She has a habit of really hitting a certain word in a sentence hard. "And the THINGS that I do..." "WHAT'S wrong" - once you become aware of it, it BECOMES very distracting.
There was also one hole in the plot that wasn't explained - the young girl as she was dying apparently names the Hong character as her abortionist, according to her mother. I don't want to give anything away, but I'd love to know what all of that was about. The mention of that seemed like an excuse for Carey to visit a stereotypical character with whom he could be flip - the drunken socialite. It served no other purpose. This movie really doesn't either.
The movie was made on location, using a lot of exteriors of Mass General Hospital. The inside of the hospital looked very familiar as well, but it's been so many years, I couldn't place it. Having lived in Boston at one time, it was great to see all all of the location shots.
The daughter of a hospital benefactor dies at 15 from a botched abortion, and a doctor who secretly performs abortions (Hong) because he's opposed to wire hangers is accused. His pathologist friend, Carey, a newcomer to the hospital, investigates, and the case takes another direction.
The story is interesting but not very well done. There's a very late '60s, early '70s feel to the film (naturally, since that's when it was made) - but the plot, involving the abortion scenario, is dated as well. Coburn's character is also the flip, hip type that was prevalent at that time, embodied by someone like Peter Lawford.
The beautiful Jennifer O'Neill is Carey's love interest, and she's fairly dreadful. She has a habit of really hitting a certain word in a sentence hard. "And the THINGS that I do..." "WHAT'S wrong" - once you become aware of it, it BECOMES very distracting.
There was also one hole in the plot that wasn't explained - the young girl as she was dying apparently names the Hong character as her abortionist, according to her mother. I don't want to give anything away, but I'd love to know what all of that was about. The mention of that seemed like an excuse for Carey to visit a stereotypical character with whom he could be flip - the drunken socialite. It served no other purpose. This movie really doesn't either.