The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936)

Director:

Frank McDonald

Writers:

Peter Milne (screenplay) &
Sy Bartlett (screenplay) ...
(more)

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 | Hospital | Police | Clue Club Series | Murder

Cast

Ricardo Cortez	...	Dr. George Lambert
Kay Linaker	...	Sally Keating
John Eldredge	...	Dr. Leo Harrigan
Mary Astor	...	Lillian Cooper
Joseph Crehan	...	Police Lt. 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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joan Barclay	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Nick Copeland	...	Nestor - Policeman and Driver (uncredited)
Roger Gray	...	Herbert - the Morgue Attendant (uncredited)
Eddie Larkin	...	Interne (uncredited)
Ellen Lowe	...	Nurse Foster (uncredited)
Stanley Mack	...	Ambulance Orderly (uncredited)
Charles Marsh	...	Ambulance Orderly (uncredited)
Ned Norton	...	Morgue Worker (uncredited)
Henry Otho	...	Martin's Detective Escort (uncredited)
Mickey Rentschler	...	Nosy Boy (uncredited)
Sam Rice	...	Bald Patient (uncredited)
John J. Richardson	...	Second Reporter (uncredited)
Mary Russell	...	Nurse Bertha (uncredited)
Ferdinand Schumann-Heink	...	Orderly (uncredited)
Harry Seymour	...	First Reporter (uncredited)
Frank Shannon	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Eddie Shubert	...	Joe - Policeman (uncredited)
Arthur Stone	...	Horace Munn - City Editor (uncredited)
Martha Tibbetts	...	Nurse Jonsie (uncredited)

Directed by
Frank McDonald

Writing credits
Peter Milne		(screenplay) &
Sy Bartlett		(screenplay)
Mignon G. Eberhart		(story)
Charles Belden		(dialogue)

Cinematography by
Arthur L. Todd		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
William Clemens

Art Direction by
Robert M. Haas

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Bernhard Kaun	....	composer: music cues (uncredited)

Other crew
Bryan Foy	....	supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (as a Warner Bros.- First National Picture) (a Clue Club picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical) (presents)
• Vitaphone Corporation, The (1936) (USA) (theatrical) (presents) (as The Vitaphone Corp.)

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:George, you have proposed to me in many different ways, and many different places, but I'll only accept you in an environment fitting of your actions.
Doctor George Lambert:Oh yeah, where's that?
Nurse Sally Keating:The psychiatric ward!

Movie Connections:

Remade as The Dark Stairway (1938)

Soundtrack:

The Lady In Red

Homicide Hospital

"The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is a glorious example of the sort of low-cost quickies Hollywood churned out in the 30s to satisfy the double feature pipeline. It is almost entirely set in what has to be the sloppiest hospital in America. Here, a doctor reschedules an operation for midnight without bothering to assemble a surgical team. Nurses haphazardly wander in and out of patients' rooms. And when the only elevator in the place stops running, nobody's much concerned until it starts up again -- and a dead body turns up inside. For comedy relief, the orderlies stomach pump the wrong patient. Oh, those wacky hospital staffers! The plot centers on an eccentric millionaire who arranges for a doctor who hates his guts to perform a delicate operation on him, using a new anesthetic that's better than ether; it puts patients out for three days so they can heal painlessly. Somewhere in this melange of mayhem and malpractice, there's Ricardo Cortez trying to save the nurse he loves from being charged with murder by the usual myopic cop. But the mystery zips along and as a throwback to a bygone era, it's at least entertaining. And for trivia buffs, there's Mary Astor in a relatively small, thankless role, purportedly her punishment for bucking the studio system.