Just Before Dawn

Good entry in the Crime Doctor series where our hero, Dr. Robert Ordway, inadvertently gives poison to a man in diabetic shock. The police are willing co-conspirators to the Crime Doctor's sleuthing in this case but there will be additional murders before a final resolution.

The real issue is not murder but a business being run out of a funeral parlor. The dying diabetic mumbles something before passing that is later revealed to be from Hamlet: "God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another" (Hamlet 3.1). What could possibly be going on in the funeral parlor in the evening? Direction by future horror meister William Castle results in some excellent shots of where something sinister is implied with off-screen mayhem. Recommended

This time Dr. Ordway (WARNER BAXTER) is involved in a plot concerning diabetics and insulin with the reliable MARTIN KOSLECK as the villain of the piece who is not above switching a bottle of insulin for poison and making Dr. Ordway the unsuspecting killer.

While there are plenty of suspects who might have wanted the deceased man out of the way, the plot hinges mostly on sinister doings at the Ganss Mortuary run by Kosleck who is prone to dispose of anyone who is going to reveal information to Dr. Ordway.

It's a good old-fashioned mystery with some creepy characters among the villains assisting Kosleck and the plot is less murky than some of the others in the crime doctor series. There's a clever plot twist with the doctor using supposed blindness as deception in catching the killer.

Summing up: One of the better entries in the crime doctor series.

High-quality mystery that attempts a lot and delivers in a serious, solid manner. Warner Baxter as always does fine work with a kind of personal and professional integrity.

This film is well-directed by someone who obviously knows the mystery genre. There is such immediate, sinister danger lurking over Dr.Ordway and everyone else that the plot remains taught from start to finish. Also enhanced by good plot twists, especially near the beginning and near the end.

There are three very sinister bad guys, as portrayed with evil believability by Martin Kosleck and the actors portraying his henchmen. The henchman named Casper is every bit as threatening as the killer "Lash Canino" in Bogart's "The Big Sleep".

First-rate character actor Charles D. Brown is excellent as the police inspector. Robert Barratt and Mona Barrie are solid and watchable as a couple caught up in the story.

Some new neighbors of Dr. Ordway call on him one nigh as the man of the house is not feeling well. Turns out he's a diabetic and missed his insulin shot. Warner Baxter gives him his shot, but moments later the man is dead.

After that introduction the police allow Baxter a free hand t work as their agent in solving the crime. The investigation leads him to a funeral parlor where he director Martin Kosleck has an interesting sideline in plastic surgery for criminal types.

Baxter takes a potentially fatal gamble in finding he final solution. Watch and see what i mean.

This is the 7th entry in the "Crime Doctor" series starring Warner Baxter as Dr. Robert Ordway. This time, at a party, he gives a diabetic in shock insulin, using a bottle of insulin in his pocket, only to find out it was poison when the patient dies. Before the man dies, he mutters something which turns out to be from Hamlet.

There are two other murders, but as usual, Ordway figures it out. He has plenty of suspects, too.

Directed by William Castle, this is an interesting story, though none of these "Crime Doctor" films are particularly thrilling. Baxter gives his usual relaxed performance, though it's noticeable in the later films that his health was failing.

Good film for mystery buffs, even if you can figure out the end.