Crime Doctor's Warning (1945)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

William Castle

Writers:

Max Marcin (radio series characters)
Eric Taylor (story)

Release Date:

27 September 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery

Tagline:

A KILLER WITHOUT A PAST! (original ad - all caps)

Plot Keywords:

Mother Son Relationship | Blackmail | Carnival | Painting | Artist

Cast

Warner Baxter	...	Dr. Robert Ordway
John Litel	...	Inspector Dawes
Dusty Anderson	...	Connie Mace
Coulter Irwin	...	Clive Lake
Miles Mander	...	Frederick Malone
John Abbott	...	Jimmy Gordon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kit Guard	...	Extra in Street Corridor (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Doctor's Warning (UK)

Runtime:

70 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Company:

Larry Darmour Productions

Movie Connections:

Follows Shadows in the Night (1944)

The crime doctor is on another case

Warner Baxter reprises his role as the "Crime Doctor" in "The Crime Doctor's Warning," one of the later entries into the series. The director this time is William Castle.

In this episode, Dr. Ordway is trying to help a young artist who has blackouts, during which one of his models is killed.

I have to disagree with those who found this fast-paced. For me, it moves slowly, though the story is interesting. These Crime Doctor films generally have off-beat stories, but not the budget or quality directors to bring them up a level. In this case, Castle is an effective director, all right, but some of the acting is awful particularly from Coulter Irwin, who apparently was told to act like a vegetable.

Warner Baxter, so frenetic in "42nd Street," is much more relaxed as Dr. Ordway, probably because he suffered a nervous breakdown. In any event, he's very natural and a likable character.

These movies aren't great, but they sure did come up with some wild plots.