El extraño caso del Dr. Kildare

Yup, that's right folks... in a supposed sterile hospital, a speedy little mouse dashes across the top of the dividing curtain right behind the beautiful face of of nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) exactly 40min into the movie. Although MGM did not plan this squeekers debut, it was certainly no less jarring than the act of doctors and nurses lighting up cigarettes here, there and everywhere including the surgery suite! But the weirdest whopper is a stunner when they instantly diagnose "insanity" after only hearing a few words the patient mumbles within seconds of waking in an post - anesthetic haze following a serious brain operation. After half a sentence is uttered they pronounce "this man has lost his mind". It's all par for the course in 1940's era medicine gone mad film fun. Incredibly "insulin shock" was actually a viable therapy for mental illness decades ago ...INCLUDING the procedure's ghastly contortion descriptions and its outlandish " backwards evolution" premise. It's staggering to observe Dr. Kildare (Lew Ayers) basically sleepwalk through actions that defy all ethical, moral, and legal codes today, ... and which naturally makes it a terrific watch!

The supporting cast of character actors deliver some hilarious lines. Although Kildare's Sherlock style investigations on behalf of Dr. Lane (Sheppard Strudwick) are altruistic, I can't understand why they didn't just run a "do you know this man?" picture in the newspapers or even call the police?.

Give this mangled medical drama a peek. It's short and certainly has many angles of interest and especially behold the quips that spring from Dr. Kildare's mother.

Dr. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) works at Blair General Hospital with his nurse girlfriend Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) and his wheelchair-bound mentor Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) who is battling cancer. He is concerned that Gillespie is not fighting hard enough. He rejects a high paying job to stay with Gillespie which frustrates Mary. Dr. Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick) is a struggling brain surgeon. When Lane's patient seems to turn insane from sugery, Kildare takes on the strange case.

This is the fifth Dr. Kildare film. The various dramas of the main cast is fine. I do wonder about the strange case. I'm guessing that psychology is still undeveloped during this time. This is definitely a case for a psychiatrist or a brain specialist. Apparently, he just needed a sugary snack and a meeting with his wife. I'm no doctor, but this case is a little too strange.

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.

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.

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.