Trois hommes en blanc

This is a rather annoying entry into the series. With Dr. Kildare persona non grata at MGM after Lew Ayres became a conscientious objector, the franchise now belongs to irascible Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore). Barrymore was a wonderful actor, but these were B movies slapped together probably in days, and it shows.

This particular film had Barrymore overplaying to the balcony at the top of his lungs. Van Johnson and Keye Luke are cute as the energetic interns vying to be his assistant (again) and each taking on a difficult case. Johnson, of course, also has to deal with a woman. This time, it's pretty Marilyn Maxwell.

The chief interest in seeing this film is for an early appearance by Ava Gardner as Jean Brown. She is flawlessly beautiful as a young woman caring for her arthritis-stricken mother.

I liked the Dr. Kildare series with Lew Ayres and Laraine Day much more, I have to confess.

3 Men In White featured a trio of upcoming talent in the cast. Vying for the position of being the new assistant to Lionel Barrymore is up and coming Van Johnson. Vying for Van's attention is nurse Marilyn Maxwell and Ava Gardner who brings in the case of her mother who struggles with arthritis.

Walter Kingsford head of Blair General Hospital finally wants Lionel Barrymore to once and for all choose between Johnson and Keye Luke. When you think about it this whole thing is rather silly and stems for Dr. Gillespie's inability to make up his mind. Barrymore never showed a Hamlet streak in his crusty makeup before.

Despite a really contrived and silly plot the three up and comers were all shone to best advantage. For Ava Gardner this film marks her first real acting role and according to Lee Server's fine book on Gardner her then husband Mickey Rooney helped pull her through the film as she was having doubts about being able to cut it with the dramatics.

I get the impression that what Dr. Gillespie really wanted was for Jimmy Kildare to return and not to have to pick a new one.

Fans of the three upcoming stars should like this.

The post-Lew-Ayres Dr. Kildare series sputters with Keye Luke and Van Johnson still competing to be Lionel Barrymore's assistant -- and each has to solve a medical mystery of his own choice. Meanwhile, various plots continue from earlier entries in the series, mostly comic. The series was winding down and only two more entries would come out, at two-year intervals.

This episode is better than a couple of the polished stinkers that immediately preceded it. The comic relief does not overwhelm the movie, the usual character actors are on hand in their series roles for your enjoyment and they also give you a young Ava Gardner, just another of the MGM contract players. Hubba Hubba.

But the principal reason to watch these movies is, of course, Lionel Barrymore, always an enormously enjoyable and expert performer for any role. Unfortunately, he suffered badly from rheumatism and so he spent this entire series sitting down in a wheelchair. But standing or sitting, he's always good to watch.

This is the third entry in the Dr. Kildare series in which Van Johnson and Keye Luke play residents vying to be Dr. Gillespie's assistant. Several other people have mentioned this, and I noticed it before I read anything here, so I don't feel bad mentioning it again. Did anybody else see the parallels between this film and House, M.D.? Think about it. A brilliant diagnostician with a foul disposition (Barrymore as Dr. Leonard Gillespie) and a crippling disability is ordered to get an assistant and makes it a competition among the hospital's best and brightest, with Red Adams (Van Johnson) and Dr. Lee (Keye Luke) being the finalists. Was Molly Byrd, head nurse and Dr. Gillespie's oldest friend who bears Gillespie's grouchiness and insults with humor, in fact a model for Wilson? There are the usual interesting medical cases interspersed with the personal dilemmas of the staff - mainly Red - that comprise the drama. One interesting thing to notice is how the war is brought into the film, in statements that seem over the top and even a bit silly today. For example, even though Keye Luke has been in previous films in this series, it is again stressed at the beginning of the film that he is Chinese, just so nobody thinks there might be anybody of Japanese descent in the cast. Both residents mention how they want the assistantship to Gillespie so they will have a leg up going into the medical corps. At this point the war is almost over. Where have they been all of these years? A very young and lovely Ava Gardner shows up where you least expect her, and she is a woman of mystery to Red. Is Red falling for her or is something else going on here? Watch and find out.

As you might be able to tell from the title, this installment of the Dr. Kildare movies is about Dr. Gillespie trying to choose one assistant from his two head interns. There is no Lew Ayres in this movie (he's off being a medic in WWII) but there's still Lionel Barrymore. Van Johnson and Keye Luke are the interns you've seen in a few movies, and they're both trying to impression Lionel by curing an incurable case. Keye has an anorexic child with a penchant for candy, and Van has an arthritic woman near paralysis. "May the worst man win," Van says. "I think you're the better man, but I want the job!"

The side plots in this one are interesting, and the jokes are hilarious rather than forced. In Between Two Women, it doesn't even feel like a medical drama because there are too many corny jokes in the movie. Marilyn Maxwell is Van's steady girl he's afraid to kiss, lest he get carried away. She tries to trap him in a seductive dinner date at her apartment, but he's one step ahead of her. He asks Keye to interrupt him with a medical emergency after seven minutes, to ensure he doesn't get into trouble. It's a very funny comedy of errors.

A pre-famous Ava Gardner shows off her sensational figure in this movie, so if you're a fan of hers you'll probably want to check her out (and you won't be able to help it) in this early role. I usually don't find her very attractive, but even I couldn't take my eyes off her! All in all, this might be my favorite of the Van Johnson ones. So while we miss Dr. Kildare and Nurse Mary Lamont, Dr. Red Adams is very entertaining in 3 Men in White.