The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Frank McDonald

Writers:

Mignon G. Eberhart (story)
Peter Milne (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 January 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Plot:

Crotchety hospital administrator Peter Melady, self-proclaimed developer of a new wonder anaesthetic...

Plot Keywords:

Surgery | Police | Hospital | Reporter | Nurse

Cast

Ricardo Cortez	...	Dr. George Lambert
Kay Linaker	...	Sally Keating
John Eldredge	...	Dr. Leo Harrigan
Mary Astor	...	Lillian Cooper
Joseph Crehan	...	Police Lieut. Lamb
Frank Reicher	...	Dr. Coate
Anita Kerry	...	Agnes Melady
Phillip Reed	...	Dr. Simon
Robert Strange	...	Peter Melady
Mary Treen	...	Nurse Margaret Brody
Bill Elliott	...	Kenneth Martin (as Gordon Elliott)
Don Barclay	...	Jackson - the Drunk
Johnny Arthur	...	Mr. Wentworth
Joan Blair	...	Ina Harrigan

Runtime:

USA:67 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #1156) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The part of Nurse Sally Keating was originally intended to be played by Mary Astor. When Astor refused to play the role, Warner Bros. signed Broadway actress Kay Linaker to play Keating, and as punishment, the studio forced Astor to play a supporting part in the film.

Quotes:

Nurse Sally Keating: What do you expect to find at the morgue?
Doctor George Lambert: What do you usually find at a morgue?
Nurse Sally Keating: A lot of your patients!

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Dark Stairway (1938)

Soundtrack:

The Lady In Red

Calling Dr. Harrigan, Dr. Lambert, Dr. Harrigan!

A Warner's "Clue Club" presentation, this short (just over one hour) murder mystery will satisfy the hidden sleuths in the audience. As with so many murder thrillers then and now, "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is set in a hospital where nurses compete for recognition, advancement, and romance with the handsome physicians, especially Dr. Harrigan (John Eldredge) and Dr. Lambert (Ricardo Cortez, being groomed by the studio as a Latin lover). The popularity of this type film led to the highly successful Dr. Kildare series later in the decade and much later to TV's popular "Marcus Welby, M.D." Countless other imitations have appeared and are still popping up from time to time.

The mystery is extremely complex for its day and time. Suffice it to say that a medicinal sleeping formula is being touted by several members of the hospital staff including the administrator, Peter Melady. That he has the completed formula works to his disadvantage since his rivals are determined to claim it for their own. Melady is preparing himself for an operation while his wife, Agnes (Anita Kerry), is in the same hospital with a broken arm. She is surreptitiously being entertained by her paramour, Kenneth Martin (Gordon "William" Elliott--maybe this is how he got his epithet "Wild Bill"). Peter Melady asks his arch rival, Dr. Harrigan, to perform the operation. This is like asking Jack the Ripper to perform an appendectomy on a lady of the evening. To make a long synopsis short, Dr. Harrigan ends up stabbed to death, Dr. Melady ends up missing in action, and an African-American winds up being taken to the morgue, leaving a covey of suspects lurking in the corridors.

The romantic angle is almost as confusing. Dr. Lambert is lusting after vivacious nurse, Sally Keating (Kay Linaker), who in turn is lusting after him. Nurse Lillian Cooper (Mary Astor) is lusting after one of the suspects in the case, plus is burdened with a secret revealed at the end of the flick. Nurse Brody (Mary Treen) lusts after a funny line. And Agnes Melady, needless to say, is still lusting after Wild Bill.

Besides Nurse Brody, humor is provided by the patients, particularly Wentworth (Johnny Arthur) as a whiner with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who is staying in the hospital for a much-needed rest but keeps being bothered by nurses, doctors, plumbers, the police, and other patients; and by Jackson (Don Barclay), a harmless dipsomaniac who drinks rubbing alcohol and runs amok.

"The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is worthwhile for those of us who love a good mystery. This is a short entertaining programmer in the Warner's "Clue Club" series, which included the popular "While the Patient Slept."