Alias the Doctor (1932)

Director:

Michael Curtiz
(more)

Writers:

Emric Foeldes (play)
Houston Branch (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

26 March 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Karl is the workaholic adopted son while Stephan is the lazy one. They both go to Munich to study medicine...

Plot Keywords:

Operation | Adopted Son | Death | Prison | Valedictorian

Cast

Richard Barthelmess	...	Karl Brenner
Marian Marsh	...	Lotti Brenner
Norman Foster	...	Stephan Brenner
Adrienne Dore	...	Anna
Lucille La Verne	...	Martha Brenner, Karl's foster mother (as Lucille LaVerne)
Oscar Apfel	...	Keller
John St. Polis	...	Dr. Niergardt
George Rosener	...	Dr. Franz von Bergman
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Erville Alderson	...	Professor at the University (uncredited)
Reginald Barlow	...	The Professor (uncredited)
Harry Beresford	...	Dr. Schwarz (uncredited)
Frederick Burton	...	President of the University (uncredited)
Allan Cavan	...	Medical Board Member (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	Dr. Kleinschmidt (uncredited)
Max Davidson	...	Anna's Landlord (uncredited)
Nigel De Brulier	...	Autopsy Surgeon (uncredited)
Claire Dodd	...	Mrs. Beverly (uncredited)
Robert Farfan	...	Franz - Lottie's Friend (uncredited)
Betty Jane Graham	...	Girl with Broken Arm (uncredited)
Sherry Hall	...	Gallery Observor (uncredited)
Lillian Harmer	...	Anna's Landlady (uncredited)
Arnold Lucy	...	The Deacon (uncredited)
Harold Waldridge	...	Willie - Karl's Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz
Lloyd Bacon		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Emric Foeldes		(play "A Kuruzslo")
Houston Branch		(screenplay)
Charles Kenyon		(dialogue)

Original Music by
Bernhard Kaun		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Barney McGill		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Frank Magee		(as Frank McGee)
William Holmes		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Anton Grot

Sound Department
Charles David Forrest	....	sound (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mack Elliott	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Kenneth Green	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
William P. Whitley	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	conductor: Vitaphone Orchestra
Sam Perry	....	composer: waltz theme (uncredited)

Other crew
Harry Martin	....	technical director (as Dr. Harry Martin)

Production Companies

• First National Pictures
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (as Vitaphone)

Distributors

• Warner Bros (1932) (USA) (theatrical) (uncredited)
• First National Pictures (1932) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Vitaphone Orchestra  music performed by

Also Known As:

Runtime:

61 min | UK:69 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate number not assigned at release)

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Several actors are in studio records/casting call lists as cast members, but do not appear in the movie. These are (with their character names): Boris Karloff (autopsy surgeon), Claire Dodd (Mrs. Beverly) and Reginald Barlow (professor of the university). Karloff was replaced by Nigel De Brulier when he was not available for retakes and the British censors objected to the gruesomeness of his scenes.

Movie Connections:

Alternate language version of Le cas du docteur Brenner (1933)

Soundtrack:

Academic Festival Overture in C, Opus 80

Magnificent obsession

They don't do melodramas such as this one anymore.Had Sirk seen it in the fifties,he would perhaps have thought of a remake .There's everything in this short movie (hardly more than an hour):two brothers,both students, one of them studying day after day to get his diploma,the other one wasting his time with alcohol and semi-whores .Both come from the country,but only the "bad" boy is the true son of the peasant mother who dreams of a better life for her son(s).All that follows is melodrama ,only melodrama and nothing but melodrama:the good boy unfairly thrown into jail ,imposture (but do not panic ,for good reasons)the good doctor who cures the poor for peanuts and charges the wealthy outrageously ,who is a saint in a hospital ,but who's got secrets to conceal.The only ambiguous character is the mother:does she urge his son to take his brother's name for the sake of suffering humanity or for personal ambition? Probably both.

Best scene:Barthelmess ,screaming in front of the medical board :" let me operate her!She's my mother! don't be inhuman! I'm the only one she puts her trust in!".If you hold back your tears ,you do not like melodramas.I do love them.Michael Curtiz wanted to be John M.Stahl and he pulled it off brilliantly.