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The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939)
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Overview
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Release Date:
24 November 1939 (USA)
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Plot:
Dr. Gillespie's cancer has gotten worse, and to force him to take a rest instead of pursuing a sulfa-drug/pneumonia study...
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Kildare tries to help Gillespie and a young woman
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Lew Ayres | ... | Dr. James 'Jimmy' Kildare | |
| Lionel Barrymore | ... | Dr. Leonard Barry Gillespie | |
| Lionel Atwill | ... | Paul Messenger | |
| Helen Gilbert | ... | Nancy Messenger | |
| Nat Pendleton | ... | Joe Wayman | |
| Laraine Day | ... | Nurse Mary Lamont | |
| Sara Haden | ... | Nora | |
| Samuel S. Hinds | ... | Dr. Stephen Kildare | |
| Emma Dunn | ... | Mrs. Martha Kildare | |
| Walter Kingsford | ... | Dr. S.J. Carew | |
| Grant Mitchell | ... | John Xerxes Archley | |
| Alma Kruger | ... | Head Nurse Molly Byrd | |
| Robert Kent | ... | Charles Herron | |
| Marie Blake | ... | Sally, Telephone Operator | |
| Martha O'Driscoll | ... | Mrs. Roberts |
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Runtime:
84 min
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1.37 : 1 more
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Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
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Follows Internes Can't Take Money (1937)
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In 1939's "The Secret of Dr. Kildare," the young doctor is faced with a tough decision. Dr. Gillespie's cancer has exacerbated, and he cannot continue his lab experiments as he once did. Of course, he's refusing to stop. So Kildare quits, knowing Gillespie can't do the work without him. He takes over instead the care of a young woman, Nancy Messenger (Helen Gilbert), who has some emotional issues. Her father (Lionel Atwill) isn't sure what to do about her, so Kildare gains her confidence and tries to get to the bottom of her problems. Meanwhile, Kildare's parents (Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn) come to visit. It turns out that the senior Dr. K has a potentially terminal heart problem and has come to New York for a second opinion. This, too, is a Secret of Dr. Kildare - because he doesn't tell his son.
What made this series a great success was the interrelationships of the characters. Lionel Barrymore is a great Dr. Gillespie, and his relationship with Kildare, with his head nurse, Molly Byrd (Alma Kruger) and Dr. Carew (Walter Kingsford) are lively ones of affection cut with bellowing. Laraine Day is Mary Lamont, who's in love with Kildare, but things haven't really heated up between them yet. She, too, has her moments with Gillespie. At one point while recuperating from a weak spell, he asks her to order him a steak, baked potato and apple pie. Lamont never changes expression, picking up the phone to get him gruel and weak tea.
Though the plot line involving Nancy Messenger is oversimplified and not terribly realistic, this is nevertheless a good episode in the Kildare series. Some trivia - Helen Gilbert, who plays Nancy, in real life was married for one year to gangster Johnny Stompanato, Lana Turner's boyfriend who was killed by her daughter Cheryl.