Calling Dr. Kildare

This Kildare film is a bit different from the others. Just the second in the series, Kildare is trying to find his footing in Blair hospital when he has a run in with Dr. Gillespie that could end their working relationship. But Kildare decides to stay at Blair and finish what he has started, so he begins working at one of the hospital's clinics. Somebody comes to the clinic at closing time and convinces Kildare to come with him, that somebody is very ill and can't get to the clinic. Kildare finds a guy in an abandoned building with a bullet wound. The guy's sister (Lana Turner as Rosalie) convinces Kildare that her brother has done nothing wrong and not to call the police but help her brother. Kildare relents on principle, and Rosalie's big saucer eyes and long legs can't hurt either. And then the next day he reads that a hood has been murdered and that the suspect is the guy he patched up the night before. Complications ensue.

This is where there is an implied changing of the guard as far as Kildare's love life. Remember Kildare had a "girl next door" pseudo fiancee in the first film, now there is this gun moll, and then there is the introduction of nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) who looks like she could be in Kildare's future.

I liked all of the films in this series, but I think I liked this one the least because Kildare does not have a good head on his shoulders in the decisions he makes. Fortunately for him, he has friends who do. That is how it is noir like. You have a solid citizen in the person of Kildare who has temptation in the form of a good looking girl who throws some attention his way, and this causes him to go down the wrong path, all the while justifying his actions to himself. Though Eddie Muller would probably disagree with me completely on describing it as somewhat like a noir.

**SPOILERS** Dr. Jimmy Kildare, Lew Ayres, plays detective here in tracking down the killer of bookie Footsy Garson whom his patient Nick Lewett,George Offerman Jr, is wanted by the police for murdering.

Dr. Kildare got himself into this mess by first being a bit too big for his bridges in thinking that he can diagnose any illness without looking into it's, the illness', secondary causes like the psychological instead of psychical aspects of it. Thrown out of Dr. Lenny Gillespie's, Lionel Barrymore, office as his assistant Dr. Kildare is assigned to a dispensary, or clinic, where the Willy as a fox Dr. Gillespie assigns Nurse Mary Lamont, Laraine Day, who doubles as a spy for the old geezer to keep track of him.

Being the person that he is, totally dedicated to preserving human life,Dr. Kildare gets himself into a jam when he's called by Red, Johnny Welsh, to help his friend Nick Lewitt who's suffering from a stab wound. It turns out that Nick was in fact shot not stabbed and Dr. Kildare after meeting Nick's knock out of a sister a redheaded not the usual blond Lana Turner, playing Rosalie Lewett, he completely forgot himself and the fact that her brother Nick is a fugitive from justice.

Love makes people do crazy things and Dr. Jimmy Kildare is no exception to the rule in not only putting his medical career in jeopardy but himself in the can, jail, for helping an escaped murderer. Being conned by Rosilie that she's in love with him Dr. Kildare does everything he could, even a make-shift blood transfusion, to save her brother Nick's life. There's nothing at all wrong in saving Nick's life, so he can later be fried for murder, but the fact that Dr. Kildare didn't report Nick to the police was enough, when it was found out by his boss at the hospital Dr. Walter Carew(Walter Kngsford), to get him canned from his job.

I turns out later that Dr. Lenny Gillespie orchestrated Jimmy Kildare trip back home to Dartford Connecticut to keep him from getting arrested by the police but the love-sick fool just couldn't stay there! Jimmy Kildare screwed up all of Dr. Gillespie's plans as well as himself by going back to where Nick was, back in the Big Apple,in order to treat him.

***SPOILERS***Everything turns out to be all right with Jimmy Kildare finding out who really knocked of Footsy Garson and of course, like Jimmy suspected all along, it wasn't Nick Lewitt. With his career as a doctor now back on track at Blair General Hospital Dr. Kildare is now again Dr. Gillespie's assistant and most of all has found his one and only true love the homely and plain Jane, compared to the drop dead gorgeous Rosalie Lewett, Nurse Mary Lamont.

***SPOILER ALERT***As for Rosalie she also had a big surprise coming her way in that her boyfriend, who's portrait was prominent all over her apartment, set Nick up and conned her, like she did Jimmy Kildare, into thinking that Nick may well had been Footsy's killer. Just like Jimmy Kildare Rosalie let her emotions take the place of her brain in seeing the obvious and in the end paid for it.

In Calling Dr. Kildare, James Kildare is in even worse trouble than he was in "Young Dr. Kildare." This time, he's gotten involved with a young boy who was shot and is being sought for a murder he says he didn't commit. Kildare helps him and doesn't report the bullet wound to the police. That's one infraction. More heinous than that - he falls hook, line and sinker for Lana Turner!

At this point, Jimmy is more or less juggling three women in his noncommittal fashion - except of course he's committed himself to the seductive Turner. There's Alice (Lynne Carver), pining away in Kildare's hometown - where she'll continue to pine - and the very pretty Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) who obviously is interested in him.

On top of everything else, he has to deal with the irascible Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) - it'll be a few years before he mellows out, and by then, James will have left the hospital.

I liked this one better than the first in the series. It is predicated on a realistic incident - the shooting - not necessarily the doctor sticking his neck out to help. And Laraine Day is a wonderful addition as Mary.

All in all, a good entry into the "Dr. Kildare" series with a future MGM star on hand.

This seems to be Lew Ayres second appearance as Kildare, under the watchful eye of Gillespie ( Lionel Barrymore). As usual, young doctor kildare butts heads with older, wiser Gillespie, but he learns new things at the same time. Pretty early role for an eighteen year old Lana Turner! About six years before Postman. She's the brother of a neighborhood punk who Kildare helps get out of a jam. Which could get Kildare into a jam. One of those gray area, ethical issues. The usual co-stars Laraine Day, Nat Pendleton. It's mostly good; the last ten minutes are just goofy and silly, but anyway.... directed by Harry Bucquet. Directed a whole bunch of those Kildare films. Died young at 54, after some unspecified illness.

In this second installment of the Dr. Kildare movie series-the Joel McCrea movie wasn't in the linear series-Lew Ayres finds himself adjusting to life in the big city after deciding to take the internship under the stern Dr. Gillespie, played by Lionel Barrymore. In case you don't remember what happened in the first movie, never fear. The first five minutes get you all caught up, with Lew's parents lamenting that he chose to be a big city intern rather than a small town doctor.

I didn't see these movies in order, so I was already used to the regular cast by the time I saw Calling Dr. Kildare. Nat Pendleton is the friendly, none-too-bright ambulance driver, Marie Blake is the telephone operator, Frank Orth is the owner of the hospital cafeteria restaurant, and Alma Kruger is Lionel's right-hand nurse. In this one, Lew is portrayed as a complete idiot with terrible judgement. He's a new intern, yet risks his medical license and jail time by treating a teenage hoodlum with a bullet wound without reporting the incident because Lana Turner turns his head and asks him not to. It was really hard to have any respect for him while watching him make bad decision after bad decision. While Laraine Day makes her first appearance in the series as Nurse Mary Lamont, it's frustrating to see Lew paying more attention to guest star Lana Turner than to the new nurse.

One cute part of the movie is the other guest star: little Bobs Watson as one of Lionel's patients. The same year as On Borrowed Time, Bobs and Lionel are together again, and Bobs is given one of his signature crying scenes as he tries to walk across the room without the brace on his damaged leg. He comes back in the sixth movie, 1940's Dr. Kildare's Crisis to show everyone how his leg is progressing, so be sure to rent that one, too!