Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Harold S. Bucquet

Writers:

Max Brand (story) and
Willis Goldbeck (story) ...

Release Date:

12 April 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Young Dr. Kildare tries to help an unlucky brain surgeon and his seemingly insane patient.

Plot Keywords:

Surgeon | Hospital | Nurse | Brain Operation | Reconciliation

Cast

Lew Ayres	...	Dr. James 'Jimmy' Kildare
Lionel Barrymore	...	Dr. Leonard Gillespie
Laraine Day	...	Nurse Mary Lamont
Shepperd Strudwick	...	Dr. Gregory 'Greg' Lane
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. Stephen Kildare
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Martha Kildare
Nat Pendleton	...	Joe Wayman, Ambulance Driver
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. S.J. 'Walter' Carew, Hospital Administrator
Alma Kruger	...	Molly Byrd, Superintendant of Nurses
John Eldredge	...	Henry Adams, Amnesia Patient
Nell Craig	...	Nurse 'Nosey' Parker
Marie Blake	...	Sally, Hospital Switchboard Operator
Charles Waldron	...	Dr. 'Egghead' Squires, Messinger Inst.
George Lessey	...	Rufus Ingersoll
Tom Collins	...	Dr. Joiner

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #6095)

Company:

Loew's

Quotes:

Nurse Molly Byrd: Nurses are just like husbands. You can abuse them, insult them, work 'em to death, jump all over 'em. They'll take it. But give 'em a bad cup of coffee and you got a revolution on your hands.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch (2005)

PRIMARY INGREDIENT FOR THE SUCCESS OF THIS SERIES -- ITS CASTING.

For this fourth entry of the fifteen feature films in the much admired Dr. Kildare series, the regular assemblage of talented M-G-M supporting players enlivens a somewhat rambling plot, with acting honours shared by Lionel Barrymore as young Kildare's overseer, curmudgeonly Dr. Gillespie, and Laraine Day, cast as nurse Mary Lamont who has an eye upon James Kildare (Lew Ayres) as spousal material. James, diagnostic intern at "Blair General Hospital" finds he has a rival for Mary's affections in brain surgeon Gregory Lane (Shepperd Strudwick), whose losing streak of dying surgical subjects brings out the compassionate best from the eponymous hero who, clandestinely with Mary's aid, applies the sticky method of insulin shock (accepted at the time of filming as valid) to a Lane patient in order to correct his condition of dementia, possibly caused by Lane's procedure, while at the same time hoping to save the surgeon's waning reputation. The film was successful upon its release due to audience perception that a graphic depiction of the sanctum within a major hospital is being revealed; it benefits from splendid cinematography of John Seitz, and also the familiar sterling cast of the series including those mentioned as well as Frank Orth, Nat Pendleton and Samuel Hinds as the senior Kildare, in addition to a raft of other performing stalwarts.