Dr. Kildare's Crisis

Thanks to Turner Classic Movies, I have been enjoying the series, never having seen them before. The Dr. Kildare series was the precursor of shows like Medical Center, Marcus Welby, M*A*S*H*, ER, and Grey's Anatomy, and a slew of other shows I am sure as well.

I found this series entry to be worth viewing. Another reviewer made some valid points about the weakness of some character motivations, but I still can see why Mary could react the way she does when discovering the truth, which Jimmy Kildare has kept from her.

Robert Young turns in an excellent performance as Mary's brother, proving how versatile an actor he was. He wasn't always the boring and stable father from Father Knows Best (and later on becoming the Dr. Welby mentioned above).

We learn a bit more about Dr. Gillespie's past; he had a brother who died. We also learn a bit more about how and why he feels special towards Molly Byrd.

Overall, another entry worth watching and enjoying.

I haven't seen all of the Dr. Kildare movie series, but I've seen enough of them to know that any newcomers shouldn't start with Dr. Kildare's Crisis. There's definitely enough drama and comic relief, but Lew Ayres's titular character is written so badly in this installment, it's impossible to like him or respect him as a doctor.

In this one, Lew Ayres and his devoted and very pretty nurse, Laraine Day, are planning their wedding. Lionel Barrymore, the sage Dr. Gillespie, is looking forward to breaking out his dress clothes and giving the bride away, and as he goes through his trunk with his tuxedo, he also revisits youthful memories inspired by adorable mementos. When he puts on a decades-old straw hat and reads old love letters still fragrant with perfume, it's easily the best scene in the movie. Anyway, Laraine's brother Robert Young comes to town for a visit, and immediately, Lew becomes suspicious that he has a severe illness. Keep in mind that the two have never met before and the only clue Lew has that anything's wrong with Bob is that he seems to hear a noise no one else hears. Without any official testing, Lew diagnoses him with hereditary epilepsy, which leads to insanity and death, and causes a huge dramatic panic. What's wrong with him?

Normally, I've been known to complain that it should have been Franchot Tone as the famous doctor in the series, but not even he could have saved this installment. Die hard fans won't want to miss any, of course, so if you do decide to watch it, you'll see the same friendly, familiar faces, Nat Pendleton, Alma Kruger, Nell Craig, and Marie Blake. You'll also see Bobs Watson return and show off his improved walking, and any reunion of Lionel and Bobs is touching. Robert Young is given some dramatic scenes to show off his acting, but since he and Laraine usually make such a great romantic couple, it's a little odd to see them as brother and sister.

The wedding of Dr. Kildare and nurse Mary Lamont is fast approaching, and Mary's brother, Doug (Robert Young) has come for a visit. He has drawn up plans for a philanthropic concern that needs the backing of a rich person, and so he has come to New York for two reasons - to meet his future brother-in-law and also to ask Dr. Kildare to introduce him to a rich man who is indebted to Kildare. During the visit, Kildare notices that Doug seems to be hearing things followed by a period of extreme energy and confidence. For reasons that are beyond me, Kildare thinks that this behavior could amount to some dread disease and won't stop until he uncovers said dread disease. Complications ensue.

The disease that is suspected is epilepsy, and as with most illnesses mentioned in this series, it is given an excessively bad rap. It is said it leads to insanity unless the person lives a very calm uneventful existence, it is said that the person eventually becomes an invalid, and because it is often inherited, it could mean that Mary has it too. But wait, wouldn't that mean that their parents would have it too, that it wouldn't just suddenly crop up in Doug and Mary? This is never mentioned.

So the diagnostic/treatment portion of this film is a bit of a mess, but then I'd expect that from a film that is 85 years old. The entries on melanoma and diabetes were all wrong medically too, but they were still enjoyable films. The key to its enjoyability is the consistency of the supporting characters - Molly Bird, Nat Pendleton as lovable but strong as an ox Joe, Nell Craig as the persistently terrified Nurse Parker, and Marie Blake as Sally the hospital receptionist and switchboard operator.

Dr. K, Dr. Gillespie, and nurse Mary are all involved in "Dr. Kildare's Crisis," a 1940 "Dr. Kildare" film which stars regulars Lew Ayres as Kildare, Laraine Day as Mary, Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillepsie, Alma Kruger as the nursing supervisor. Robert Young appears as Mary's brother Doug.

Kildare and Mary are planning their wedding when Douglas comes to visit. He has a plan to help unskilled labor become skilled, and needs the support of one of Kildare's grateful ex-patients.

Unfortunately it's downhill from there, due to a very weak script. Kildare, without examining Mary's brother, decides he has epilepsy on the basis that Douglas sometimes seems to hear noises no one else hears.

This makes Mary afraid to marry Kildare for fear of having him end up with a sick wife or epileptic children. She becomes hysterical and wants to return home with her brother.

Well, this plot line is so pathetic that the New York Medical Society wrote a letter in protest about the way epilepsy is treated in the film - that it's curable, that it can be inherited, and that it can lead to insanity.

Also, how could Mary, a trained nurse, go so crazy and insist on dumping Kildare, whom she's been chasing for years? Really preposterous behavior on the part of the characters. The audience knows them by now and it's pretty bewildering.

The series would be over in 1942 and become the "Dr. Gillespie" series, which retained Barrymore and Alma Kruger. Lew Ayres was persona non grata for being a conscientious objector in World War II, though he did work on the front lines as a medic. MGM didn't care, they just wanted to be rid of him.

When he returned from the war, the handsome Ayres did some of his best work, receiving an Oscar nomination for "Johnny Belinda," and continuing his career until 1994.

Laraine Day, though MGM never seemed to know what to do with her,(happily, she was loaned out a lot) is lovely as Mary, and of course, due to her involvement with Kildare, Mary becomes a casualty in this series.

Dr. Gillespie, starring in his own movie series, would mellow. Both the Kildare and Gillespie series were very popular. It's a shame that this film seems so out of place.

Some other crisis, rather than suspecting "epilepsy" as the cause of Robert Young's erratic behavior, would have made more sense. Having Lew Ayres decide, on some vague notion that Laraine Day's brother (Robert Young) has epilepsy and might be passing it on to her, doesn't make much sense. Then too, her hysterical fears (as a nurse) are unsubstantiated by reasons given in the script.

I must admit that these negatives, however, do not mean that "Dr. Kildare's Crisis" is not an uninteresting film. Indeed, it's so well acted by the leads that it's apparent they were ready for headier stuff, acting-wise. Laraine Day is so impressive as Nurse Mary Lamont that it's a wonder MGM didn't build a better career for her during her studio contract. She's not only extremely attractive but does a decent job in a role that's not particularly well conceived.

Robert Young does nicely with some starkly dramatic moments, proving that this MGM series was a good training ground for their young contract players. No surprise that better roles would lie ahead for Ayres and Young. Miss Day would have to wait until she left the studio for better assignments.

Lionel Barrymore is his usual grumpy and sometimes obnoxious self as Dr. Gillespie, using all of his well-known mannerisms and then some.

But for a drama dealing with medical terms and hospital life, the epilepsy angle is badly handled and factually incorrect both as to treatment and diagnosis.

Summing up: As it is, this is formula stuff--some romance, some light moments and then some darker elements before the windup with Ayres emerging as a heroic doctor.