Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941)

Director:

Harold S. Bucquet

Writers:

Max Brand (characters)
Ormond Ruthven (story) ...

Release Date:

22 August 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

It is a week before Dr. Kildare's wedding to pretty Nurse Mary Lamont. The hospital is a-buzz with preparation for the big day...

Plot Keywords:

Hospital | Nurse | Orchestra | Wedding | Medical

Cast

Lew Ayres	...	Dr. James 'Jimmy' Kildare
Lionel Barrymore	...	Dr. Leonard Gillespie
Laraine Day	...	Mary Lamont
Red Skelton	...	Vernon Briggs
Alma Kruger	...	Molly Byrd
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Dr. Stephen Kildare
Nils Asther	...	Constanzo Labardi
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Walter Carew
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Martha Kildare
Miles Mander	...	Dr. John F. Lockberg
Nell Craig	...	Nurse Parker
Frank Orth	...	Michael 'Mike' Ryan
George Reed	...	Conover (as George H. Reed)
Marie Blake	...	Sally
Margaret Seddon	...	Mrs. Bartlett

Also Known As:

Mary Names the Day (UK)

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #7506)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Several actors with their character names listed in studio records and/or casting call lists were not seen in the movie. These were Fay Holden (Mrs. Bartlett, replaced by Margaret Seddon),Joe Devlin (Clancy), Charles Williams (Pickins), Bill Chaney (Boy on Horse), Billy McClain (Joseph), Chester Clute (Ainsworth Lee), 'Tom Stevenson' (Mr. Richards) and Grace Stafford (Mrs. Richards). The latter two were in the sequel Dr. Kildare's Victory (1942).

Movie Connections:

Follows Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940)

Soundtrack:

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

The usual hospital shenanigans and a weepy love story too...

Sorry, but these Dr. Kildare pictures have about as much resemblance to real life as any childhood fantasy. Gruff DR. GILLESPIE is really given too much footage in this outing and frankly, LIONEL BARRYMORE's grumblings get a bit tiresome after the first half-hour. He's the man who makes Ayres realize that despite his grief, he's still first and foremost a doctor.

LEW AYRES and LARAINE DAY do their usual competent jobs as the romantic leads in the series, with Ayres unable to find the time to attend to all the pressing details of an upcoming marriage. Laraine Day was so sick of her Kildare assignments at MGM, that the writers were assigned to write her out of the series so she could go on with her career in more than this one-dimensional role.

The nice supporting cast always helped make the series at least minimally entertaining. RED SKELTON's participation, however, seems a bit out of place in an extended gag scene with him guarding a whole bunch of suitcases while a possible thief watches silently nearby.

ALMA KRUGER, MARIE BLAKE, SAMUEL S. HINDS, MILES MANDER, FRANK ORTH and others give good support, while NILS ASTHER has the most interesting supporting role as a musical conductor who needs medical attention.

Summing up: A trifle of a B-film, the kind that played the lower half of a double bill in the '40s.