Calling Dr. Gillespie

This highly interesting little film almost fits into all three categories, but still doesn't fully meet the requirements for any of them! Though to be honest, this first Kildare movie--without Kildare--seems to be more of a crime/thriller than any of the earlier films in the series; that is, it focuses more on the crime aspect.

Our favorite over-the-top curmudgeon on wheels investigates the case of a, by all appearances, nice, well-mannered young man who just happens to have the nasty habit of turning psycho at the drop of a hat...and ends up becoming the killer's target.

The whole cast does a nice job, though as I stated earlier, the serious plot is sometimes undermined by the comedic undertone.

This is the first film in the series after MGM kicked Lew Ayers out for being a conscientious objector during the war, and that's when the "Dr. Kildare" series became the "Dr. Gillespie" series. This first one is pretty good, and very suspenseful; the script also contains a classic Gillespie line: "I'm sorry to tell you, you're son's a mental case."

Did doctors really say such thing 60 years ago? Lionel Barrymore utters this line to the naive parents of poor Donna Reed's indeed very troubled suitor.

The first thing he does is kill a dog. This is glossed over by the characters but I can't imagine such a thing happening in a movie today. Certainly not after the famous National Lampoon cover.

This man is played very subtly and frighteningly by Phil Brown -- surely a greatly overlooked actor. Indeed, as his travels carry him farther from Reed and Barrymore, he becomes a killer. And the movie looks, for much of its duration, like a film noir.

It's very suspenseful. And with its hospital setting, it made me think of a movie decades later -- more slick, stylish, surely more expensive: "Dressed To Kill." The comic touches pretty much disqualify it is as a noir: Barrymore flirts with adoring female students; Nat Pendleton faints a couple times. And its being part of the Dr. Kildaire series, even sans Lew Ayres, sort of pulls it from the category too. But it's an interesting sidelight to the noir genre.

Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) is asked by an old friend for help with a young man named Roy Todwell (Phil Brown) who may be going crazy. Along with psychiatrist Dr. Gerniede (Philip Dorn), Gillespie tries to convince Roy's parents that he needs medical help before he hurts someone. But they are resistant and soon Roy has gone on a full-blown killing spree, with every intention of making Dr. Gillespie his next victim.

The first of MGM's Dr. Gillespie series starring Lionel Barrymore. The series is a continuation of the Dr. Kildare series without star Lew Ayres. This movie attempts to set up a possible replacement for Ayres in thickly-accented Philip Dorn, but it doesn't click. Dorn is fine but the mentor/mentee relationship between Gillespie and Kildare isn't there. Phil Brown makes for a really creepy psychopath. The movie wastes no time showing us how nuts he is -- he kills a little dog in his first scene! Lovely Donna Reed appears as the object of the psycho's affections. Most of the regular supporting cast from the Kildare series is still around here and enjoyable as ever. This includes Alma Kruger, Nat Pendleton, Nell Craig, and Marie Blake. Ava Gardner has a bit part with a couple of lines near the end.

There's a lot of nitpicking of the Kildare/Gillespie movies by some modern viewers who are indignant that a movie made in the 1940s has outdated medical knowledge. This seems especially true whenever the movies addressed psychological cases, such as with this one. I, for one, find these parts of the film interesting as historical curiosities. It gives us a window into how such things were viewed in the past. Why hold it to a modern standard just to mock it is beyond me. This is my favorite of the Gillespie series. Possibly my favorite from both series. A later movie, Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case, would follow up on the events in this one.

PHILIP DORN steps in for LEW AYRES who had been the chief doctor at Blair General Hospital in a series of Dr. Kildare movies. Here Dorn is the new doctor assisting Dr. Gillepsie in a search for a serial killer who is committing crimes within the confines of the hospital posing as a doctor.

Definitely one of the better in MGM's series of B-movies with LIONEL BARRYMORE doing his gruff stuff as the blustery Dr. Gillespie and ably supported by the usual staff members at the hospital. The last half-hour moves swiftly toward a predictable but interesting climax. Comic relief is supplied by Nat Pendleton as a husky assistant prone to fainting spells.

DONNA REED does nicely as the girlfriend of the killer and if you look closely you'll spot AVA GARDNER getting some exposure in an early role. Sensitive looking Phil Brown makes an interesting homicidal maniac and in some scenes bears a startling resemblance to--of all people--Lew Ayres.

Summing up: Nice little B-melodrama from Metro.

Marcia Bradburn (Donna Reed) has good news for her boyfriend Roy Todwell (Phil Brown). Her father has finally given permission for them to get married. Instead, he picks up a rock and kills his dog for no reason. Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) gets the case and he recruits Dr. John Hunter Gerniede (Philip Dorn) to join him.

This is the first one without Dr. Kildare. Lew Ayres is out after his conscientious objector status. The franchise doesn't lose a beat since they have Lionel Barrymore. He was always the best actor anyways. Red Skelton is no longer with the series and Nat Pendleton gets the lead comic relief in this one. The broad comedy is toned down for the good. On the bad side, I question the details of the illness. It seems like split personality. I have to wonder if he was always violent in the past. The study of the brain is still mumble jumble at the time and there is some of that here. Back to the good side, I really like the cat and mouse chase in the hospital. It's more of cop thrills than a medical show. If you can overlook the medicine, this has some good thrills.