User reviews

The fourth in MGM's wonderful Dr. Kildare series starring Lew Ayres as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as cranky old Dr. Gillespie. This time around Kildare tries to rebuild the confidence of brain surgeon Dr. Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick), who's lost several patients on the operating table. After Lane's most recent patient awakens from surgery a raving lunatic, Kildare has to prove this wasn't Lane's fault. Lane also happens to be Kildare's romantic rival for Nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day). Lamont's in love with Kildare but he doesn't want to get married on his small salary. Yeah, it's one of those "make him jealous so he'll marry me before someone else does" plots that were the go-to formula for how women should snag men in old movies and TV shows. At least in this case Kildare isn't made to look like a total schmuck.

Despite the so-so romance stuff, the meat of the story is the medical case. As with most of the Kildare films, the medical knowledge is dated and easy to knock today. You'll notice with these films a lot of reviewers do just that. Personally I think that's unfair and kind of petty. Hold the films to the standards of their day, not ours. Anyway, the series regulars are all enjoyable, as usual. The story isn't the strongest but it's never dull and keeps your interest throughout. Favorite part? The early scene where Dr. Gillespie reads the riot act to some oldster that's in love with a girl in her twenties. Hilarious. Medical ethics aside, these bits of business are some of my favorite parts of the Kildare & Gillespie films. Long before House brought the brutally honest and crotchety diagnostician to our TV screens, there was Dr. Gillespie.

Growing up in the '60s, my Dr. Kildare was Richard Chamberlain, but my mother's Dr. Kildare was the attractive Lew Ayres.

In the MGM serial, Dr. Kildare was called Jimmy by his nurse girlfriend (later his fiancee) Mary Lamont, played by lovely Laraine Day. His boss, Dr. Gillespie, was played by Lionel Barrymore.

In this entry into the series, Kildare attempts to save the reputation of a neurosurgeon (Sheppard Strudwick) who has had a streak of bad luck, i.e., his patients have died.

When a patient makes it through surgery but appears to have become demented, Kildare administers insulin shock therapy, an accepted form of treatment until the 1950s to treat psychotic disorders. The treatment put the patient into a coma and upon awakening, saline was given as well as glucose to terminate the treatment.

Insulin shock therapy had some efficacy in schizophrenia that was of less than 2 year duration. Kildare's explanation of how it worked and what it treated deviated somewhat from the above description.

The subplot is Kildare's hesitance to ask Mary to marry him because it would entail waiting awhile, and his competition for her affections from the aforementioned doctor.

Barrymore as Gillespie seems a lot more irascible around Kildare than he did when the series revolved around him later on. Lew Ayres created a huge hoopla when he became a conscientious objector during World War II, and MGM got rid of the Kildare character; theaters were refusing to show Ayres' films.

Ayres did serve in the military as a medic on the front lines and resumed his career, winning an Oscar nomination for "Johnny Belinda." He worked almost until his death in 1996. But post-war, he only played Dr. Kildare on the radio in the early '50s.

The very likable and excellent cast elevates the series, and this is one of the better Kildare films.

For this fourth entry of the fifteen feature films in the much admired Dr. Kildare series, the regular assemblage of talented M-G-M supporting players enlivens a somewhat rambling plot, with acting honours shared by Lionel Barrymore as young Kildare's overseer, curmudgeonly Dr. Gillespie, and Laraine Day, cast as nurse Mary Lamont who has an eye upon James Kildare (Lew Ayres) as spousal material. James, diagnostic intern at "Blair General Hospital" finds he has a rival for Mary's affections in brain surgeon Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick), whose losing streak of dying surgical subjects brings out the compassionate best from the eponymous hero who, clandestinely with Mary's aid, applies the sticky method of insulin shock (accepted at the time of filming as valid) to a Lane patient in order to correct his condition of dementia, possibly caused by Lane's procedure, while at the same time hoping to save the surgeon's waning reputation. The film was successful upon its release due to audience perception that a graphic depiction of the sanctum within a major hospital is being revealed; it benefits from splendid cinematography of John Seitz, and also the familiar sterling cast of the series including those mentioned as well as Frank Orth, Nat Pendleton and Samuel Hinds as the senior Kildare, in addition to a raft of other performing stalwarts.

This entry into the Dr. Kildare series was enjoyable but not as compelling for this reviewer as other installments were.

As usual, Dr. Gillespie allows Dr. Jimmy Kildare to think that Jimmy is making his own decisions, all the while being controlled by the octogenarian.

Nurse Mary Lamont has not yet landed the good doctor, and here is dating Dr. Lane the brain surgeon and our beloved Dr. Kildare.

Once again, Dr. Kildare's parents make an appearance, and Ma Kildare once again gives her son her willing shoulder to lean upon. The series always showed a close parent-child relationship, especially between Jimmy and his mother.

Dr. Kildare must make a decision in this entry which could derail his entire career at Blair General Hospital. This type of plot line would be handled in a much more serious manner today, but it was interesting to see how it was handled back in 1940.

I always enjoyed the Dr. Kildare series. The casting was excellent, especially Lionel Barrymore as the irascible Dr. Gillespie. If it were not for him, I doubt this series would have been as popular as it was. I believe this is number four in the series, and by this time Dr. Kildare and nurse Mary Lamont are in love, but Dr. Kildare only makes twenty dollars a month as an intern, so he doesn't feel like he can support a wife. Thus he has made no promises to Mary. Remember, back in these days (1940) women always quit their jobs when they got married. Thus Mary has started dating a young brain surgeon, who also has happened to lose a lot of patients lately. He finally gets suspended from the hospital when the last of his patients has gone insane seemingly as a result of the surgery he has performed.

At this point Dr. Kildare takes up the case of proving that the patient is not insane as a result of the surgery by jolting him back to sanity via insulin shock therapy. This primitive method that was long a mainstream treatment for mental patients involves injecting someone with a large dose of insulin and then sitting back and seeing what develops. As a diabetic I can tell you what develops, sweating followed by seizures, possibly followed by death or coma. However, the medical profession, which had a primitive understanding of diabetes and insulin seventy years ago, thinks that what happens is that the human brain regresses back to its primitive self, then back to its evolved present and that the patient's sanity is sometimes restored in the process. This is how Dr. Kildare explains it in the film and it is both hilarious and somewhat shocking.

There are some other jaw-droppers such as after long hours in surgery when all the doctors and nurses involved light up a cigarette - in the hospital, still in their surgical gowns. Note that there is no such thing as biomedical monitoring equipment - nurses just come by each patient and "look in on them". There are a few things that are better in 1940 than today. For one, Dr. Gillespie isn't afraid to hand out straight talk to patients about their culpability involving their conditions. Today doctors are afraid to mention that an overweight patient might lose a little weight and improve their situation because they are so fearful of lawsuits.

In the previous film in the series, THE SECRET OF DR. KILDARE, the good doctor is practicing well outside his area of expertise. Despite being a diagnostician, he performed like a trained psychiatrist and since it was a Hollywood movie, everything worked out in the end! Well, once again, Kildare behaves as if he's a well-trained psychiatrist AND he does very risky and dangerous work using insulin therapy--a type of therapy with dubious effectiveness.

Now the logic of this film is completely absent--but the film is still quite watchable due to the excellent acting and characters. In fact, this was a trademark of the Kildare series--excellent cast but occasionally goofy stories.

Favorite movie quote - "You're the doctor, remember?"

Is this worth a chuckle?.... Next door to L.A.'s prestigious Blair General Hospital (BGH, for short) sits Sullivan's Hospital Cafe whose slogan (which is clearly visible to anyone who walks through its front door) says - "Doctors eat here - It must be good!" (Ha! I think that's funny!)

At BGH (in between the incessant gossip, the personal dramas, the non-stop bickering, and physicians pulling rank amongst each other) I'm actually very surprised that any of the medical staff finds any time to prescribe medicine and/or perform surgery.

As well at BGH - Doctors try to cover for each other's errors (especially when a patient dies on the operating table). They also perform operations without the patient's consent, and, generally, defy strict hospital regulations.

But, as it turns out - It was a bloody good thing that hospital ordinance was defied by the young & diligent Dr. Kildare, otherwise the morgue would have had yet another stiff to deal with.

1940's "Doctor Kildare's Strange Case" was the 4th of 15 Kildare movies to come out of MGM Studios. Filmed in b&w, this marginally entertaining Medical-Drama had a brisk running time of only 77 minutes.

Which is very similar to electro convulsive therapy (ECT), which they still performed in the early 90s when attended certain, ah, institutions. Back then they were run by charter health systems, which I believe went out of business. The last time I was ever there was in 1999 and it reverted back to the control of the local hospital in that area. But that was the year "managed care" came into its full authority, turning the mental hospitals into nothing better than prisons, and they had actually erected a very high fence around the grounds of the campus and put guards on all the entrances. And this was one of those hospitals where the patients have all chosen to be in there, but instead they have turned it into a locked ward. Because of managed care the quality of care has dwindled greatly. Ironically this film shows a hospital where psychiatric patients share the same ward with regular patients.

As far as the hospital where I was treated, I know that they had an ECT room, and I used to have long discussions with a patient there who was undergoing continuous treatment. I had several discussions with my own doctor about it and that was when he explained the difference between the insulin treatment and ECT.

In this film dr. Kildair explains it as a type of regression back into the primitive reptilian brainstem, the root of most animal's "Feed, Fight, and Reproduce" drive for existence. The way Dr. Kildair explains it here, is almost exactly the way it was explained it to me.

Thank goodness that this archaic form of therapy is no longer used as it is both demeaning and humiliating.

But it was surprising to see this treatment accurately described and depicted, every once in a while in these old 1940s comedies that were loosely based on reality, they will come out with something very accurate and hit the nail right on the head.

Along with the medical and psychiatric aspects of this film there are comedic aspects that are examples of "how to get your girl back from a rich suiter who takes her to dinner is where they have two dollar soup", The person giving out this wisdom is of course the host of the café next to the hospital, who is as wise with "street psychiatry" as Dr. Gillespie is with regular psychiatry in his manipulation of Dr. Kildare and his nurse girlfriend, and the way Dr. Gillespie cleverly gets Kildare to turn down a better paying job.

But what I loved about these series is how Dr. Gillespie, even though he was ill and confined to a wheelchair (just like the real Lionel Barrymore), and basically facing mortality in the eye, had a great sense of humor about it.

I love every single one of these, I wish there had been more made.

Dr. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) works at Blair General Hospital with his nurse girlfriend Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) and his wheelchair-bound mentor Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) who is battling cancer. He is concerned that Gillespie is not fighting hard enough. He rejects a high paying job to stay with Gillespie which frustrates Mary. Dr. Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick) is a struggling brain surgeon. When Lane's patient seems to turn insane from sugery, Kildare takes on the strange case.

This is the fifth Dr. Kildare film. The various dramas of the main cast is fine. I do wonder about the strange case. I'm guessing that psychology is still undeveloped during this time. This is definitely a case for a psychiatrist or a brain specialist. Apparently, he just needed a sugary snack and a meeting with his wife. I'm no doctor, but this case is a little too strange.

I am new to this series. I remember seeing these on Saturday afternoon TV when I was a kid. Unlike most series they used a stellar cast. The problem is I felt that everyone was so darned stiff. It's as if they were walking through a part. Lionel Barrymore is crotchety (he defined the word) but the rest engage in a plot that makes me ask, "Who cares?" There is a bit of romance, medical drama, criminal action, betrayal, self doubt. Lots of soap opera stuff. There's also that control that Dr. Gillespie holds over Kildare. Of course, the old goat has the tender heart. I still hate him from "It's a Wonderful Life." In fairness, perhaps these types of movies grown on one. I should probably give them another chance. Still I found the acting predictable and the plot not very interesting.

Medically speaking in Dr. Kildare's Strange Case, Lew Ayres drew to an insight straight. In seeking to help save Sheppard Strudwick's reputation as a neurosurgeon, Ayres performs a completely reckless act without official authorization to prove a point.

Ayres does all this mind you even with the fact that Strudwick who is at the top of his field and pulling down big bucks to add to the big bucks he inherited is making moves on nurse Laraine Day with whom Ayres has a running romance with in the series. Ayres on the other hand is surviving on the meager pay of an intern. But this was the days of the Code and doctors were almost always portrayed as saints.

Strudwick in the film is having a crisis of confidence and rumors that he's losing his touch are spreading. He's lost several patients, not his fault because brain surgery is always risky. Still with Ayres assistance he's operating on John Eldredge who was brought in without identification and disheveled. The operation is a success, but the patient is raving like a lunatic.

Ayres, Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie and the rest of the Kildare regulars perform magnificently bringing a rather incredulous story to the screen. In real life even if he succeeded in his treatment, young Dr. Kildare would have probably lost his medical license and been hit with a malpractice suit that some dial a shyster lawyer. And I'm sure the rest of Blair General Hospital would not have been left out.

What does Kildare do and how does it come out. For that you see Dr. Kildare's Strangest Case.

Yup, that's right folks... in a supposed sterile hospital, a speedy little mouse dashes across the top of the dividing curtain right behind the beautiful face of of nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) exactly 40min into the movie. Although MGM did not plan this squeekers debut, it was certainly no less jarring than the act of doctors and nurses lighting up cigarettes here, there and everywhere including the surgery suite! But the weirdest whopper is a stunner when they instantly diagnose "insanity" after only hearing a few words the patient mumbles within seconds of waking in an post - anesthetic haze following a serious brain operation. After half a sentence is uttered they pronounce "this man has lost his mind". It's all par for the course in 1940's era medicine gone mad film fun. Incredibly "insulin shock" was actually a viable therapy for mental illness decades ago ...INCLUDING the procedure's ghastly contortion descriptions and its outlandish " backwards evolution" premise. It's staggering to observe Dr. Kildare (Lew Ayers) basically sleepwalk through actions that defy all ethical, moral, and legal codes today, ... and which naturally makes it a terrific watch!

The supporting cast of character actors deliver some hilarious lines. Although Kildare's Sherlock style investigations on behalf of Dr. Lane (Sheppard Strudwick) are altruistic, I can't understand why they didn't just run a "do you know this man?" picture in the newspapers or even call the police?.

Give this mangled medical drama a peek. It's short and certainly has many angles of interest and especially behold the quips that spring from Dr. Kildare's mother.

Did anyone else see a mouse run across an upper molding in the hospital scene after surgery.

This chapter, towards the center of the Dr. Kildare films, stars Lew Ayres, as usual. and of course, hospital cohorts Lionel Barrymore and Laraine Day. The Doc gets a new job opportunity which would be a step up, but likes the job (and pretty nurses) right where he works now. Also in the plot, a crazy patient with a tumor. And anyone who has watched five or ten films will recognize big, goofy sidekick Nat Pendleton, who always hangs around. No surprises in these Kildare movies, but they are good clean fun. Barrymore is the senior doctor, belligerent as always, storming around the hospital, but always coming out as the older, wiser fatherly type. Ayres was nominated for Johnny Belinda in 1948, playing... what else... a doctor. Directed by Harold Bucquet, who direct a boatload of Kildare films. and two of Bucquet's last several films were with Katharine Hepburn. Then he died in 1946, at the young age of 54, but the cause doesn't seem to be listed anywhere.

If you like Mash you will like this series. Familiar from a cloudy memory of the TV series I knew there had been a film series and a radio series that included the great Barrymore. Drew's genes are so apparent when one views this film. From the great B to even the most limited characters these films are a joy to watch and with the most memorable lines. And yes I found myself caring about the characters. Charming from a bygone era, and yet timeless. Take a break from today's nutty world and get hooked on these series. And you just might see a character actor just getting started in their youth. Barrymore is in fine form and Kildare's Mom can not be missed.