L'Étrange Cas du docteur Kildare

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.