I have nothing against Macdonald Carey and I thought the movie was pretty good, but Joan falling for him was pretty tough to take. Maybe that's the science fiction part of the movie? His groping of Joan was almost as creepy as Oliver Reed's incestuous behavior.
share'Washed up' American actors like Pat O'Brien, Wayne Morris, and Dan Duryea were fixtures in British thrillers of the 50s and early 60s cast opposite younger leading ladies with an eye toward selling the film in the US market. Although a tired-looking Carey was only 49 during filming, it is a stunningly attractive 24 year old Field, looking every bit the 20 year old she was playing, that makes the age difference appear striking. Perhaps it was meant to parallel the relationship between the seedy-looking Knox and the still beautiful Lindfors, 14 years his junior. In any case, Losey had worked with Carey in "The Lawless" in Hollywood, presumably had a good working relationship with the actor, and was likely instrumental in his being hired for the film.
shareLikely Columbia (the financial backers) insisted that Hammer use an American in the lead role. These people were usually chosen from a list of those who were available. I doubt if Losey had much input other than maybe he could pick from a list (good job Brian Donlevy wasn't available that day!!).
The character was British in the original novel on which the film was based. I suspect he was also quite a bit younger as well.
OMG - MC was only 49? He looked in his 60's!
He was commanding in the film, but the age difference was creepy! And Shirley Anne was stunning.
Leading men old enough to be the leading lady's Father are hardly unique to this film. Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly made many such films. Woody Allen never quite came to terms with the fact that it was inappropriare for him to romance much younger girls - especially in the light of his court case.
shareCarey was 48 when he made the film but looks older and the filmmakers try to disguise this by dressing him in a trendy figure-hugging polo necked sweater.
In the novel, the character was 25 and English (which makes quite a difference).
"Woody Allen never quite came to terms with the fact that it was inappropriate for him to romance much younger girls - especially in the light of his court case."
Who decides what relative ages are appropriate, among adults? You? If a twenty-year-old woman wants to have a relationship with a forty-nine-year-old man, it's for her to decide whether it's appropriate. As for Woody Allen, after extensive investigation and interviews with the child and mother, the police detectives and psychologists determined that the girl was lying and had been coached by Farrow to do so.
Yes, they did.
Director Joseph Losey made a career of thwarting bourgeois audience expectations. Your expectation that the movie should have a “suitably” young leading man? Thwarted! Losey cared more about using the character to provide a moral balance to Alexander Knox. Knox is the “bad” father figure; Carey is the “good” one—a father figure not just to the children, but also to Shirley Ann Field and Oliver Reed. Reed’s passion for Field is literally incestuous, and so (figuratively) is Carey’s. She is confused and reluctant to reciprocate either her brother or her father figure. (Unsettling? Remember the title of this movie!) Reed begins by rebelling against his father figure, but his relationship to Carey begins to change.
In practical terms, the character obviously must be older; he’s a retired executive traveling the world. And there’s another reason he’s older; in 1965, everything was about “the generation gap,” so when the young teddy boys attack him, it’s an act of intergenerational violence. Carey was exactly the right age for the role. You’ll understand all this when you’re older.
Geez, I'm already older than MacDonald Carey was when he made this movie. How much older do I have to get before I understand their relationship?
Carey is the "good father" yet you say their relationship is figuratively incestuous?
"bourgeois"? Oh brother!
I still say the relationship was CREEPY.
Never mind the big words like "bourgeois". Give up the mental struggle. If you don't understand now, you never will. I suggest you watch less taxing material.
Using your phraseology, I didn't find their relationship "CREEPY". I'm 52 and regarded Carey's character as a lucky bastard. Come on, most middle-aged men would jump at the chance to bed a woman in her 20s. Many modern middle-aged women (cougars) harbour exactly the same "forbidden" desires towards young, virile 20-30 year old men. Get real!
No, he wasn't. Dude was way too old for her. Old dudes only get cast with younger women only because it was men who wrote and directed the films, probably projecting their own fantasies about young women on the film. One thing these May-December romances in films usually never deal realistically with is whether the couple actually have anything in common despite their age---they're just old dude fantasies written by old dudes. And in real life, most young woman in their 20s are not even trying to get with old dried-up dudes in their 60s when they can get with young hot dudes their own age, lol.
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Watched it again the other night on late night TV here in Australia-I would have first seen it in about 1973-this time no ads and in wide screen on a large plasma panel-an interesting film in which the scifi elements are almost secondary to the psychological interplay between the various adult characters. I must admit that MC appeared more like 60 on the screen, 3 times the stated age of Joan and that did seem very unsettling added to the other dynamics.
'What is an Oprah?'-Teal'c.