The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943)

Director:

Eugene Forde

Writers:

Max Marcin (radio series characters), Eric Taylor

Stars:

Warner Baxter, Lynn Merrick, Gloria Dickson

Cast

Cast overview:
Warner Baxter	...	Dr. Robert Ordway
Lynn Merrick	...	Ellen Trotter
Gloria Dickson	...	Mrs. Keppler / Evelyn Fenton Cartwright
Barton MacLane	...	Detective Rief
Jerome Cowan	...	Mallory Cartwright
Reginald Denny	...	Paul Ashley
Rose Hobart	...	Mrs. Diana Burns
Virginia Brissac	...	Patricia Cornwall
Lloyd Bridges	...	Jimmy Trotter
Constance Worth	...	Betty Watson

Storyline

---

Plot Keywords:

ladder | psychiatrist | dance hall | poison | murder | 

---

Taglines:

PRIMITIVE PASSIONS THAT LED TO Murder! (original ad - mostly caps)

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dilema de Médico

Company Credits

Production Co:

Larry Darmour Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this movie, Gloria Dickson is married to a man, played by Jerome Cowan, who is habitually starting fires with carelessly discarded smoking materials. There are two scenes in the movie, including the final scene, in which he starts such fires. Her character comments, "I'm practically cremated." when describing living with him. Ironically, just two short years after this movie was released Gloria was killed in a house fire, suspected to have been caused by a carelessly discarded cigarette.

---

Connections

Followed by Shadows in the Night (1944)

User Reviews

To be taken once a year with a glass of something

There's some films that I saw over 20 years ago that if I ever get back to them after such a gap I wonder why I stayed away for so long. I think the Crime Doctor series is like that - I've had copies getting dusty for ages, and yet it's really too good to be treated like that. They were on a production par with the other Columbia stalwarts of Boston Blackie, the Lone Wolf and the Whistler - all well worth watching.

Avuncular type Warner Baxter playing Robert Ordway aka the Crime Doctor gets involved in the case of the murder by poison of a wealthy industrialist insofar as he tries to clear the name of his suspicious friend played by skinny and intense Lloyd Bridges. He leisurely sorts through a houseful of suspects much to cop Barton MacLane's irritation and who has a job keeping up with him throughout the picture. It can get a bit complicated with red herrings, a surreal dream sequence and a long flashback to precisely 31 years previous but all of it was necessary stuff. Favourite bits: Mrs Keppler's quick change vamoose; Jeremy Cowan's disposal of the fiery wastepaper basket through his window; Baxter's general imperturbable confidence; Lynn Merrick's towering hairstyle.

For those of us who mine this seam it's another fine example of the 1940's b&w detective comedy-mystery genre.