Dr. Kildare's Crisis

Marriage proposals are spreading in the hospital. Doctor James Kildare (Lew Ayres) proposes to nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day). Mary's brother Douglas (Robert Young) comes for a visit. He is looking for a patron for his charity from one of Kildare's former patient. Kildare has concerns for his health. Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) remains the irascible mentor.

This is another Kildare episode. The war would eventually disrupt the series, but not yet. This is still a series with some juice and the characters remain. The medical aspect is a bit suspect in this one. I'm no doctor and I'm certainly no expert with medical care at this time. That part seems like the weakest link although nurse Lamont's reaction is a close second. She is very melodramatic. I slowly grew frustrated with her. Well, she is part of the crisis.

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.

The sixth in MGM's Dr. Kildare series starring Lew Ayres has Jimmy Kildare trying to diagnose Nurse Mary Lamont's brother, which doesn't go over well with Mary or the brother. I liked this one quite a bit. Most of the negatives I've seen here and elsewhere are coming from the types of people that are triggered by older films not being sensitive to their modern feelings. No one should be watching a movie from 1940 to get an education on epilepsy. If you are, my medical diagnosis is that you need to put down the glue.

Lew Ayres does a solid job. Laraine Day gets a lot to work with this time and makes the most of it. Robert Young is good as the brother. The best scenes, not surprisingly, involve Lionel Barrymore's Dr. Gillespie. The scene where he talks about his late brother or when he goes through old love letters and sings "Seeing Nellie Home" are fine showcases of how a talented actor like Barrymore could own a film with a few moments here and there. Last appearance in the series of Bobs Watson as Tommy, a crippled boy recovering with the help of Dr. Gillespie. This little subplot is an example of the fine continuity that helped make this series so exceptional. I have similar praise for MGM's other great series with Andy Hardy. So much to like about this one. I can't imagine a fan of the series not enjoying it. But I suppose that depends on how sensitive you are to a movie made three-quarters of a century ago having outdated medical information.

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.

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.