El extraño caso del Dr. Kildare

For this fourth entry of the fifteen feature films in the much admired Dr. Kildare series, the regular assemblage of talented M-G-M supporting players enlivens a somewhat rambling plot, with acting honours shared by Lionel Barrymore as young Kildare's overseer, curmudgeonly Dr. Gillespie, and Laraine Day, cast as nurse Mary Lamont who has an eye upon James Kildare (Lew Ayres) as spousal material. James, diagnostic intern at "Blair General Hospital" finds he has a rival for Mary's affections in brain surgeon Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick), whose losing streak of dying surgical subjects brings out the compassionate best from the eponymous hero who, clandestinely with Mary's aid, applies the sticky method of insulin shock (accepted at the time of filming as valid) to a Lane patient in order to correct his condition of dementia, possibly caused by Lane's procedure, while at the same time hoping to save the surgeon's waning reputation. The film was successful upon its release due to audience perception that a graphic depiction of the sanctum within a major hospital is being revealed; it benefits from splendid cinematography of John Seitz, and also the familiar sterling cast of the series including those mentioned as well as Frank Orth, Nat Pendleton and Samuel Hinds as the senior Kildare, in addition to a raft of other performing stalwarts.

I always enjoyed the Dr. Kildare series. The casting was excellent, especially Lionel Barrymore as the irascible Dr. Gillespie. If it were not for him, I doubt this series would have been as popular as it was. I believe this is number four in the series, and by this time Dr. Kildare and nurse Mary Lamont are in love, but Dr. Kildare only makes twenty dollars a month as an intern, so he doesn't feel like he can support a wife. Thus he has made no promises to Mary. Remember, back in these days (1940) women always quit their jobs when they got married. Thus Mary has started dating a young brain surgeon, who also has happened to lose a lot of patients lately. He finally gets suspended from the hospital when the last of his patients has gone insane seemingly as a result of the surgery he has performed.

At this point Dr. Kildare takes up the case of proving that the patient is not insane as a result of the surgery by jolting him back to sanity via insulin shock therapy. This primitive method that was long a mainstream treatment for mental patients involves injecting someone with a large dose of insulin and then sitting back and seeing what develops. As a diabetic I can tell you what develops, sweating followed by seizures, possibly followed by death or coma. However, the medical profession, which had a primitive understanding of diabetes and insulin seventy years ago, thinks that what happens is that the human brain regresses back to its primitive self, then back to its evolved present and that the patient's sanity is sometimes restored in the process. This is how Dr. Kildare explains it in the film and it is both hilarious and somewhat shocking.

There are some other jaw-droppers such as after long hours in surgery when all the doctors and nurses involved light up a cigarette - in the hospital, still in their surgical gowns. Note that there is no such thing as biomedical monitoring equipment - nurses just come by each patient and "look in on them". There are a few things that are better in 1940 than today. For one, Dr. Gillespie isn't afraid to hand out straight talk to patients about their culpability involving their conditions. Today doctors are afraid to mention that an overweight patient might lose a little weight and improve their situation because they are so fearful of lawsuits.

In the previous film in the series, THE SECRET OF DR. KILDARE, the good doctor is practicing well outside his area of expertise. Despite being a diagnostician, he performed like a trained psychiatrist and since it was a Hollywood movie, everything worked out in the end! Well, once again, Kildare behaves as if he's a well-trained psychiatrist AND he does very risky and dangerous work using insulin therapy--a type of therapy with dubious effectiveness.

Now the logic of this film is completely absent--but the film is still quite watchable due to the excellent acting and characters. In fact, this was a trademark of the Kildare series--excellent cast but occasionally goofy stories.

The fourth in MGM's wonderful Dr. Kildare series starring Lew Ayres as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as cranky old Dr. Gillespie. This time around Kildare tries to rebuild the confidence of brain surgeon Dr. Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick), who's lost several patients on the operating table. After Lane's most recent patient awakens from surgery a raving lunatic, Kildare has to prove this wasn't Lane's fault. Lane also happens to be Kildare's romantic rival for Nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day). Lamont's in love with Kildare but he doesn't want to get married on his small salary. Yeah, it's one of those "make him jealous so he'll marry me before someone else does" plots that were the go-to formula for how women should snag men in old movies and TV shows. At least in this case Kildare isn't made to look like a total schmuck.

Despite the so-so romance stuff, the meat of the story is the medical case. As with most of the Kildare films, the medical knowledge is dated and easy to knock today. You'll notice with these films a lot of reviewers do just that. Personally I think that's unfair and kind of petty. Hold the films to the standards of their day, not ours. Anyway, the series regulars are all enjoyable, as usual. The story isn't the strongest but it's never dull and keeps your interest throughout. Favorite part? The early scene where Dr. Gillespie reads the riot act to some oldster that's in love with a girl in her twenties. Hilarious. Medical ethics aside, these bits of business are some of my favorite parts of the Kildare & Gillespie films. Long before House brought the brutally honest and crotchety diagnostician to our TV screens, there was Dr. Gillespie.

Favorite movie quote - "You're the doctor, remember?"

Is this worth a chuckle?.... Next door to L.A.'s prestigious Blair General Hospital (BGH, for short) sits Sullivan's Hospital Cafe whose slogan (which is clearly visible to anyone who walks through its front door) says - "Doctors eat here - It must be good!" (Ha! I think that's funny!)

At BGH (in between the incessant gossip, the personal dramas, the non-stop bickering, and physicians pulling rank amongst each other) I'm actually very surprised that any of the medical staff finds any time to prescribe medicine and/or perform surgery.

As well at BGH - Doctors try to cover for each other's errors (especially when a patient dies on the operating table). They also perform operations without the patient's consent, and, generally, defy strict hospital regulations.

But, as it turns out - It was a bloody good thing that hospital ordinance was defied by the young & diligent Dr. Kildare, otherwise the morgue would have had yet another stiff to deal with.

1940's "Doctor Kildare's Strange Case" was the 4th of 15 Kildare movies to come out of MGM Studios. Filmed in b&w, this marginally entertaining Medical-Drama had a brisk running time of only 77 minutes.