Crime Doctor's Strangest Case

There's some films that I saw over 20 years ago that if I ever get back to them after such a gap I wonder why I stayed away for so long. I think the Crime Doctor series is like that - I've had copies getting dusty for ages, and yet it's really too good to be treated like that. They were on a production par with the other Columbia stalwarts of Boston Blackie, the Lone Wolf and the Whistler - all well worth watching.

Avuncular type Warner Baxter playing Robert Ordway aka the Crime Doctor gets involved in the case of the murder by poison of a wealthy industrialist insofar as he tries to clear the name of his suspicious friend played by skinny and intense Lloyd Bridges. He leisurely sorts through a houseful of suspects much to cop Barton MacLane's irritation and who has a job keeping up with him throughout the picture. It can get a bit complicated with red herrings, a surreal dream sequence and a long flashback to precisely 31 years previous but all of it was necessary stuff. Favourite bits: Mrs Keppler's quick change vamoose; Jeremy Cowan's disposal of the fiery wastepaper basket through his window; Baxter's general imperturbable confidence; Lynn Merrick's towering hairstyle.

For those of us who mine this seam it's another fine example of the 1940's b&w detective comedy-mystery genre.

This second entry in the "Crime Doctor" series is a steadfast crime drama with enough red herrings to keep it interesting. It even has a bit of comedic relief involving a musician and his matches.

One caution, however -- a fair amount of the critical action occurs at night, and there aren't enough shades of gray in the print (as shown on TCM) to distinguish all the details, especially in the scenes which take place in an abandoned night club.

One delightful revelation, and what may make this worth watching for aficionados of Hollywood history, is the appearance here of Lloyd Bridges, who plays a prime suspect. Those of us who grew up on the TV series, Sea Hunt, and unfamiliar with his earlier work (this was made about seven years into his career, and about fifteen before the TV series) may wonder why this tall and lean, blond and handsome, deep-voiced, quick-talking actor didn't become one of Hollywood's premiere leading men.

Enjoyed this black and white picture from 1943 and Warren Baxter,(Dr. Robert Ordway) who is a psychologist and at the same time gets himself involved solving crimes and out smarts all the professional police enforcers. In this picture Dr. Robert Ordway comes to the aid of Loyld Bridges, (Jimmy Totter) who is an ex-con and seeks the doctors advice about starting a new position and the fact that he had intentions of marrying Lynn Merrick, (Ellen Totter). Dr. Ordway suggests that he not get married for awhile until he gets settled in his new job. There is plenty of trouble that starts and the mystery gets quite complicated and many scenes are filmed in an old night club that is closed and everything is mostly done in the complete dark with very poor flashlights and even kerosene lamps are used and a telephone rings right after a fire in the night club.

Warner Baxter is the "Crime Doctor," and here he is in the second film of the series, "Crime Doctor's Strangest Case," filmed in 1943. This one has a perk for baby boomers as it stars a very young Lloyd "Sea Hunt" Bridges as a man acquitted of killing his boss who consults Dr. Ordway (Baxter), the man who helped him in his case. Though he was found not guilty, he has had terrible trouble finding a new position. Now he's been offered a job working for a person instead of a company - a similar situation to his first job, and he wants to get married. Ordway recommends that he look instead for a corporate position, even if he has to leave town, and wait to get married.

The Bridges character doesn't take Dr. O's advice, and when his boss is killed, it does look as though he was given the job so he could be framed. Ordway steps in to investigate, dueling wits with the detective in charge of the case (Barton MacLaine).

This "Crime Doctor" has some comedy in it, with Jerome Cowan as a musician who is careless with matches. There's also a hilarious, very fast change of identity.

This is a good series, and I hope to see more of it on TCM.

This B mystery has one particularly striking scene. After the first murder, Jimmy, played by the young Lloyd Bridges, flees to his new wife's apartment. In order to convince her that he will not be believed by the police, he briefly takes on the character of a psychopathic killer, horrifying his wife. The scene made me immediately think of "Jagged Edge" (1985), in which Jeff Bridges, a virtual clone of his father, also played a young man with an edgy personality suspected of being a psychopathic killer.

Despite its cheesy sets, the Crime Doctor series is one of the best written and most entertaining of the 1940s mystery series.