The Crime Doctor's Gamble

Warner Baxter goes to Paris in Crime Doctor's Gamble ostensibly to give a lecture, but mostly for a little rest and relaxation. But Inspector Marcel Journet kind of sandbags him into a mystery where a young artist is accused of killing his father. Journet is not convinced Roger Dann did do it or it is a case of temporary in sanity as he and the accused were in a concentration camp together during the late war. Dr. Robert Ordway is intrigued right into a little free consultation.

Dann was a rich kid who left his good surroundings to be a painter and he fell for a girl who was from the wrong side of the tracks. He married a nightclub performer and dad was going to cut him off.

What makes this one work is the nice cast of continental actors falling into good typecasting and the fact the motive is miles from what the police originally thought. A couple of bodies later and Dr. Ordway finds the killer. In fact Baxter has a nice fight scene with the murderer, something the cerebral Dr. Ordway usually doesn't do.

They never leave the Columbia back lot, but Crime Doctor's Gamble is something you can take a chance on.

I have just now had another look at this to clear my mind on some points about it. That was no hardship as all films in the Crime Doctor series are re-watchable anyway. I suppose it may have been all the French names of the characters in this that threw my Anglo-Saxon sleuthing off-kilter the first time round. The characters and their motives are presented to us in a tantalizing way. The only complaint I would make is that this film kills off the most interesting of those characters too soon.

The Crime Doctor is in Paris for two weeks to give a couple of lectures and then spend the rest of the time vacationing. But as with all his vacations he soon finds himself entangled in a case. He is called upon to give his opinion on the sanity of a man who is convinced he has killed his father on a night shrouded under an alcoholic blur. Also this man has been in a concentration camp in the war so there is a question on whether some sort of neurosis in him has been caused by that.

Ordway is drawn further into the case when his old friend Inspector Morrell takes him on a tour of Parisian nightlife. The sleazy little cafe is the best of all the settings. Ordway wonders why Morrell has brought him to such a place after they have tasted the highlights of Parisian cabaret earlier in the night. Morrell wants Ordway to look at a knife-throwing act that he has his suspicions about. The knife-throwing is good as well as the Apache dancing we get to see at the cafe.

Dr. Ordway, the Crime Doctor, is visiting a friend--a detective in Paris, France. While they say repeatedly that Ordway's visit is purely a vacation, the audience KNOWS that sooner or later a crime will occur and Ordway will be called in to solve it.

This movie is a real shame, as early on the Crime Doctor series was one of the best detective series of the 1940s--maybe even the best. The film really lets down on several levels. First, the acting of everyone is poor. Warner Baxter (Dr. Ordway) looks rather tired but the real problem were the French-accented extras. Many of them simply weren't good actors and I think they were chosen for their accents and other talents seemed incidental. Plus, it was very odd that not a single French person spoke French during the film. Also, the film was very talky and the plot just wasn't all that involving.

An added benefit of my watching the film (since I have significant training and experience with diagnosing mental illness) was that I knew that the psychological talk was mostly mumbo-jumbo. For example, at one point a man was accused of murder and Ordway said "(these are) actions of a typical Manic-Depressive"! Even by 1940s standards for psychiatry, this was a load of bull--Manic-Depression (Bipolar Disorder) is NOT related to murder nor did the man show symptoms of the disorder. I think they just pulled the diagnosis out of a hat! It's a shame, as in earlier Crime Doctor films, they seemed to try to get the psychiatric aspects of the film right.

All in all, a rather limp and pedestrian effort. Not bad, but far from the brilliance of the first few films of the series.

The crime doctor, Dr. Ordway (Warner Baxter) gets involved in an art scam and murder in Paris in "Crime Doctor's Gamble." Because he's friendly with the prefecture of police, Ordway, in France to give lectures, is taken into his confidence about a troubling murder case, which may just involve a knife thrower appearing at a local club. The man is accused of killing his own father, and his attorney wants to go for an insanity plea. When two other murders occur, Ordway sets a trap to expose the true murderer.

I guess people take these Crime Doctor movies a little more seriously than I do. I found this entertaining, and I loved the wild dancing that took place at the nightclub. This is supposed to be Paris after the war, but we know it's a set at Columbia studios. There are some French actors to give it a little authenticity. In the nightclub, when the next act is announced, it's done in English, however! Baxter is his usual tired, relaxed self. I imagine, having suffered a nervous breakdown, that he was on medication; nevertheless, he gives a warm, kindly performance. Quite different from his manic portrayal in "42nd Street." As far as the psychological jargon being incorrect, it's incorrect in nearly every film from this era, including "The Greatest Show on Earth." Don't let it bother you.

When an old man is stabbed in Paris, the visiting "Dr. Ordway" (Warner Baxter) is called upon by his policeman friend to investigate. It soon turns out that the man's son looks like he is the prime suspect. Thing is, he has a limited grasp on reality and isn't at all sure what could have happened. He just knows that he was furious with his father who disapproved of his new bride - the daughter of a cabaret performer. As "Ordway" uses his unique methods of detection, he begins to think that the killing is just the tip of an iceberg that will lead to a cunning plan to counterfeit famous and valuable works of art. This is a rather run-of-the-mill and predictable thriller that's let down by way too much dialogue and some seriously ropey French accents - all delivered by an ensemble (including Baxter) who didn't look particularly interested in the proceedings. This one also takes us into the realms of schoolboy psychology a little more clumsily than in some of the other "Crime Doctor" outings and some of the conclusions being drawn do stretch the imagination somewhat. It does try to up the ante for the genre, but there's not enough action and mystery to compensate for the drawbacks.