The Carey Treatment

19721972
PGPG
1h 41min

6.1/10

Crime Mystery Thriller

At a Boston hospital, Dr. Carey becomes an amateur sleuth to help clear a colleague who's accused of botching an illegal abortion that kills a 15 year old girl.At a Boston hospital, Dr. Carey becomes an amateur sleuth to help clear a colleague who's accused of botching an illegal abortion that kills a 15 year old girl.At a Boston hospital, Dr. Carey becomes an amateur sleuth to help clear a colleague who's accused of botching an illegal abortion that kills a 15 year old girl.

6.1/10

1.3K

Director
- Blake Edwards
Writers
- Michael Crichton(novel "A Case of Need")
- John D.F. Black(screenplay)
- Harriet Frank Jr.(screenplay)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 1 nomination

Videos1

Trailer 2:08

The Carey Treatment

James Coburn and Pat Hingle in The Carey Treatment (1972)

James Coburn and Robert Mandan in The Carey Treatment (1972)

Regis Toomey in The Carey Treatment (1972)

James Coburn and Michael Blodgett in The Carey Treatment (1972)

Director
- Blake Edwards
Writers
- Michael Crichton(novel "A Case of Need")
- John D.F. Black(screenplay)
- Harriet Frank Jr.(screenplay)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

Dr. Peter Carey is a pathologist at a Boston hospital. The daughter of the hospital's Chief of Staff dies after an illegal abortion goes wrong, and Carey's friend and colleague Dr. David Tao is accused of performing the abortion. Carey doesn't buy it, and so he digs deeper, angering the girl's father in the process. Questions abound: Who performed the abortion? Was the girl really pregnant? And what does it have to do with stolen morphine, blackmail attempts, and a mysterious and dangerous masseur? —reservoirdog909

hospital police illegal abortion pathologist blackmail 24 more

Taglines
- You've never seen a doctor like Dr. Carey. He has a unique way of operating. It's called ... The Carey Treatment
Genres
Certificate
- PG
Parents guide
- Add content advisory

Trivia
Based on a novel entitled 'A Case of Need', published in 1968 and credited to Jeffrey Hudson. Decades later, Hudson was revealed to be a pseudonym for Michael Crichton.

Goofs
During the autopsy, the cadaver is clearly breathing.

Quotes
Evelyn Randall: What can I do for you?
Dr. Peter Carey: Tell me about your daughter.
Evelyn Randall: My step-daugher. I'm not old enough to have been her mother.
Dr. Peter Carey: Oh, really?
Evelyn Randall: [offended] Yeah. Really!
Dr. Peter Carey: Well, if you say so...

Connections
Referenced in Hammer (1972)

Top review

6/10

Forgotten thriller

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.

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