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 Dr. Kildare Goes Home More at IMDbPro »

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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Dr. Kildare tries to set up a clinic to ease his father's workload., 12 September 1998
6/10
Author: Arthur Hausner (ahausner16@gmail.com) from Pine Grove, California

A good entry in the Dr. Kildare series, with some aspects surprising me. First was the idea of a clinic to which people subscribe for medical care, paying ten cents a week. I had no inkling the medical insurance concept was around back in 1940. I wondered what the doctors of the era thought about that. Second, was the treatment of one of the black characters in the film, Dr. Marsh, played by Jack Carr. He is intelligent, articulate, and gets praise from Dr. Gillespie for an accurate diagnosis based on very little evidence. This was a very uncharacteristic treatment of blacks in 1940. It's a short scene that has little to do with the main plot, but it made me appreciate the film so much more.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
cool film, 2 March 2008
7/10
Author: blanche-2 from United States

"Dr. Kildare Goes Home," made in 1940, is a particularly interesting entry into the series. Kildare, made a staff doctor, realizes that his dad (Samuel S. Hinds) is exhausted from keeping up with his practice and wants to help him. He takes some doctors who can't find jobs and they start a clinic in one of Kildare Sr.'s practice area. The idea behind it is that everyone pays ten cents a week for medical care. This will keep the salaries paid and support the work needed on the ill people. Also, the emphasis of the clinic is on prevention and staying healthy. This is health insurance today, which wants everyone to stay healthy and not need medical facilities. Instead of a dime, though, it's thousands per year. I did find that whole subject matter in 1940 fascinating.

The next fascinating thing is that Dr. Gillespie goes to watch a rare operation done by a brilliant black doctor (Jack Carr). Carr, a very well spoken actor, is uncredited in the film. This is a different kind of depiction of blacks than one is used to seeing in these old movies, and it's similar to "Crash Dive," where a black member of the submarine unit is the same as everyone else.

These things make "Dr. Kildare Goes Home" a cut above, and the story moves along with Kildare and Mary setting the date. I love the scenes between Mary Boyd (Alma Kruger) and Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) the best. When he compliments her appearance, he says, "You must have lost 15 pounds." She says, "I've gained eight. What do you want me to do that's illegal?" Highly entertaining.

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Dr. Kildare graduates from being an intern into a staff doctor, 19 December 2007
8/10
Author: Robert Gold (mgmstar128@gmail.com) from United States

I too enjoyed this entry into the world of neophyte doctor, Dr. Kildare.

It's nice to see his parents once again, as in several of the earlier films, playing such important roles in his life. Both his parents are fine, but his mother is simply adorable.

I was also surprised at Dr. Marsh's depiction. A "colored" man (the terminology of the time) who happens to be an amazing doctor and one who speaks standard English. I would imagine this scene was often cut in the South since it doesn't directly impact the main plot, but it was fascinating to see.

A nice addition to the Dr. Kildare series.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Parkersville Gets A Clinic, 28 December 2010
6/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Dr. Kildare Goes Home finds Lew Ayres being furloughed from Blair General Hospital in order to help out his ailing country physician father Samuel S. Hinds. With few other practicing physicians in the area Ayres has his hands full.

But in a truly bizarre twist, Ayres also finds three fellow doctors doing other kinds of work because they can't get a practice started. That part of the film is truly dated unless they're people from a third world country in America today. But such is the case in 1940.

What to do, but Ayres hits on the idea of establishing a clinic in his home town of Parkersville with these three. Of course the town's resistant to the idea because they think if medicine is good, it has to be expensive. That notion is certainly not dated. Leading proponent of that idea is Gene Lockhart who always seems to be playing these naysayers against progress when he's not a villain.

Like it does in so many medical dramas today on the small screen, it all comes together. The Dr. Kildare series was the forerunner of all the TV medical dramas from Medic to Marcus Welby including the small screen adaption of Dr. Kildare.

Ayres and Laraine Day as nurse Mary Lamont move ever closer to the wedding day with crusty old Lionel Barrymore as Kildare's mentor Dr. Gillespie giving his blessing. An OK programmer from this series out of MGM.

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1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
A bit better than the last few Kildare films, 16 May 2009
7/10
Author: planktonrules from Bradenton, Florida

While the characters in the Dr. Kildare films are quite likable as is the dialog, a major problem in some of the early films in the series is that Kildare just doesn't behave very logically and yet the films work out in the end (sort of like Curious George, now that I think about it). In one, the doctor treats a gunshot victim and doesn't disclose this to the police--even though this violated the law and should have resulted in either criminal prosecution or loss of license or both. In two others, Kildare behaves like a psychiatrist, even though he has no training in the field and once again, he's right and everyone else is wrong. It seems that there is nothing that this young doc can't do! In DR. KILDARE GOES HOME, fortunately, there is a greater sense of logic to the film and as a result, this film didn't make me want to throw something at my TV.

The film begins with Kildare calling home to talk with his father. However, once again, the older doctor isn't home. Due to his mother's tone of voice, he assumes something is amiss despite her assertions that everything is fine, so he hops a train home. There, he finds that his dad is working himself to exhaustion because a nearby town has lost their doctors and so he now has a ton of new patients. Young Kildare comes up with an idea to create a clinic in this town to relieve his father's burden. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lot of resistance and the town seems quite happy working Kildare, Sr. to death! What will they do?! Overall, a very good addition to the series as logic (for once) prevails.

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0 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Home in Connecticut, 26 December 2007
6/10
Author: sol1218 from brooklyn NY

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

(SOME SPOILERS) Becoming a resident physician at Blair General Hospital Dr. Jimmy Kildare, Lew Ayres, happily calls home in Dartfort Conn. to tell his parents the good news. It turns out things aren't going so well back home with Jimmy's father Dr. Stephen Kildare, Samuel H. Hinds, not at home to answer the phone. Taking the first train to Dartford Jimmy finds out at his father is working himself into the ground with a caseload of patients in both Dartfort as well as neighboring Parkersville.

Knowing that his old man is not up to the job Jimmy decides to help him with his work jeopardizing his job as Dr. Lenoard Gillespie's, Lionel Barrymore, assistant back in Blair General. It's then that Dr. Jimmy Kildare come up with this fool-proof solution of establishing a single payer health insurance program with everyone in both Dartford and Parkersville paying .10 a week to finance it. Jimmy goes so far as recruiting a number of interns who couldn't pay their tuition to work at the free clinic that both he and his father founded.

As we could expect the people of Dartford and Parkersville were anything but thrilled feeling that both the weekly donation of .10 was too small to cover their doctor's bills and at the same time raising it was totally out of the question. A classic symptom of schizophrenia if there ever was one.

It turns out that the biggest stumbling block to both Dr. Kildare's plan is Parkersville's top citizen George Winslow, Gene Lockhart. Winslow's only claim to fame, as far a I could see, is that he reached the age of 60 and still has all of his teeth.

Talking to Winslow Dr. Jimmy Kildare notices that he's a bit under the weather and may be suffering from a dangerous case of meningitis. It took almost heaven and earth to move the stubborn and grouchy Winslow to donate a sample of his blood for Dr. Jimmy Kildare to be able to finally find what was ailing him. It turned out that Winslow bet Jimmy to the punch collapsing and going into a coma where the meningitis, with him having a temperature of 107, being confirmed.

With Winslow now completely cured he become the biggest supporter of the Kildare's, both Jimmy & Stephen, clinic and it's that support that turns the residents of both Dartford and Parkersvill around voting unanimously for it at the conclusion of the film.

With his job done and his old man getting the help he needed, the free clinic, Jimmy Kildare goes back to New York City and Blair General Hospital for more adventures in medical history as well as his plans to marry his sweetheart Nurse Mary Lamont, Laraine Day, the following June. Tragically Mary, in a future Doctor Kildare movie, would never live to see her wedding day.

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