The Patient in Room 18

Patric Knowles plays a detective, having just failed to solve his first case, admitted to Thatcher Private Hospital to relax and get over anxiety problems(walking in the middle of the street in pajamas, etc...)In employ there is the nurse that he is smitten with, a trio of suspicious doctors who seem to have all lost any moral character they once had, a drunken Irishman(?) who is a jack of all trades it seems, and a wealthy investment banker that has hypochondriac persuasions. Throw in some romantic intrigue, some want-to-be romantic intrigue, a wastrel nephew needing cash bad, and some other minor plot "twists" and you have the uncle banker getting killed because of some valuable radium lying on his chest. Knowles is to the rescue much to the chagrin of an annoying policeman investigating the crime. As mysteries go, this one is passable but is nothing really more than fluff. The mood is light, the mystery is light, and the denouement is light. Knowles carries off the charming lightness very well as does most of the cast. All the character actors are very good at looking guilty. Ann Sheridan plays Knowles's love interest and is credible in her thankless role. At barely an hour in length, the film does have a nice, fast pace and is fairly entertaining. The solution to the crime was, for me at least, somewhat crude in application but the film does have some interesting merits and is never trying to take itself too terribly serious.

Patric Knowles is noted author and crime specialist Lance O'Leary. He has been acting strangely after failing to solve a case and winds up in the hospital with a nervous breakdown. The doctor prescribes him rest and an absolute ban on anything to do with crime solving. Ann Sheridan is nurse Sara Keate, who tends to Lance and runs the hospital ward. Nurse Keate is Lance's girlfriend, is currently mad at him, and turns out to have an investigative streak of her own.

The setup is definitely comedy, and while the plot involves murder and missing radium, the emphasis is mostly on laughs in this modestly entertaining B mystery.

A rich patient has just bought the hospital $100,000 worth of radium and then checked right in. They put him in room 18 and he goes off to sleep with the radium taped to his chest. (Yes, taped to his chest--partly to safeguard the radium but mainly for the excellent health benefits.) Almost immediately the patient is murdered by a shadowy figure; the radium disappears. Who did it?

Among the suspects are a lawyer, a doctor, and various other characters who sneak around the hospital acting suspiciously. The police are called in, of course, but they seem perfectly happy to let Lance work on the case, while Nurse Keate gathers clues as well.

The plot really isn't much but Knowles and Sheridan are fun to watch. Knowles's best trick is hiding a lit cigarette in his mouth--until Sheridan catches him at it. Like that old trick, this movie is nothing particularly original but plenty enjoyable nevertheless.

Lesser known Patric Knowles is Lance O'Leary, who has been acting goofy. walking around town in his jammies. so they lock him up in the Thatcher Hospital for rest and relaxation. and of course, there's drama going on at that institution. there's a large amount of radium being kept here for "treatment". and someone steals it. and kills a patient. in spite of that, it's all light and fluffy. the cops and now O'Leary are all trying to solve the case. amusing, but there are a couple plot holes. Ann Sheridan's career was still rising when she made this in 1938... her big roles would come in They Drive by Night and Man Who Came to Dinner, a couple years later. Based on the novel by Mignon Eberhart. had nine novels turned into film. directed by Bobby Connolly, who died young at 46, but was nominated for four oscars, for dance. this one is okay.

"The Patient in Room 18" is a murder mystery and comedy that was about the best Warner Brothers could do to try to copy MGM's successful Thin Man series. Patric Knowles is funny as Lance O'Leary. And, while Ann Sheridan is good as nurse Sara Keate, neither of them were a match for William Powell and Myrna Loy in the Thin Man series.

Still, Knowles and Sheridan carry this film and keep it from collapsing altogether. Their comedy, interspersed with some sleuthing is the best part. Otherwise, this very muddled screenplay might turn off most viewers early on. The various doctors, women, and affairs and would-be affairs, are enough to turn one off. They may not be developed or portrayed enough to be red herrings, but there sure are a batch of red minnows in this film.

If not for the O'Leary and Keate comic squabbles, I don't think I would have been able to sit through this whole film. They are 4 of the 5 stars I give this almost turkey flick.

Famous well educated investigator Lance O'Leary (Patric Knowles) is under stress and sleepwalking from his inability to solve a case. He is sent to rest in a hospital under orders not to discuss his work where girlfriend Sara Keate (Ann Sheridan) is a nurse.

This starts with a fun premise and I like the couple's chemistry. Their banter is fun. I do wonder why the studio would keep changing actors in these roles. Knowles and Sheridan should be the ones to do every one in the series. Things may not be that well thought out back in the day. As for the mystery, I couldn't care less about the mystery or the suspects. It should simply start with the murder and the audience could discover the rest by following Lance O'Leary's investigation.