IMDb > Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940)

Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
6.0/10   150 votes
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Director:
Harold S. Bucquet
Writers:
Max Brand (story) and
Willis Goldbeck (story) ...
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Contact:
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Release Date:
12 April 1940 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama more
Plot:
Young Dr. Kildare tries to help an unlucky brain surgeon and his seemingly insane patient. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Comments:
Life at Blair General as it was then more (7 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
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
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
77 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Black and White
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
USA:Approved (PCA #6095)
Company:
Loew's more

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Dr. Leonard Gillespie: Well, Mr. Ingersoll, good morning, and how are you feeling today?
Rufus Ingersoll: Never felt better in my life!
Dr. Leonard Gillespie: Oh ho, that's fine. That's fine...because your system's in a state of collapse. Siddown before you fall down!
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Movie Connections:
Featured in The Lady in Question Is Charles Busch (2005) more

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User Comments

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7 out of 7 people found the following comment useful.
Life at Blair General as it was then, 3 June 2007
7/10
Author: blanche-2 from United States

Growing up in the '60s, my Dr. Kildare was Richard Chamberlain, but my mother's Dr. Kildare was the attractive Lew Ayres. In the MGM serial, Dr. Kildare was called Jimmy by his nurse girlfriend (later his wife) Mary Lamont, played by lovely Laraine Day. His boss, Dr. Gillespie, was played by Lionel Barrymore.

In this entry into the series, Kildare attempts to save the reputation of a neurosurgeon (Sheppard Strudwick) who has had a streak of bad luck, i.e., his patients have died. When a patient makes it through surgery but appears to have become demented, Kildare administers insulin shock therapy, an accepted form of treatment until the 1950s to treat psychotic disorders. The treatment put the patient into a coma and upon awakening, saline was given as well as glucose to terminate the treatment. Insulin shock therapy had some efficacy in schizophrenia that was of less than 2 year duration. Kildare's explanation of how it worked and what it treated deviated somewhat from the above description.

The subplot is Kildare's hesitance to ask Mary to marry him because it would entail waiting awhile, and his competition for her affections from the aforementioned doctor.

Barrymore as Gillespie seems a lot more irascible around Kildare than he did when the series revolved around him later on. Lew Ayres created a huge hoopla when he became a conscientious objector during World War II, and MGM got rid of the Kildare character; theaters were refusing to show Ayres' films. Ayres did serve in the military as a medic on the front lines and resumed his career, winning an Oscar nomination for "Johnny Belinda." He worked almost until his death in 1996. But post-war, he only played Dr. Kildare on the radio in the early '50s.

The very likable and excellent cast elevates the series, and this is one of the better Kildare films.

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