Society Doctor (1935)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Melodrama from MGM has intern Dr. Morgan (Chester Morris) getting fired after he lets his mouth tell another doctor what he feels about his old-fashioned ways. Morgan is eventually brought back but he has an elderly woman (Billie Burke) offer him a position of a society doctor but he also has to deal with a nurse (Virginia Bruce) who loves him and a friend (Robert Taylor) who loves her. This drama is in the same fashion as the studios previous efforts like NIGHT NURSE and MEN IN WHITE, although this one here came after the pre-code era so this here isn't nearly as racy. What the film does have is some very good performances but in the end you can't help but feel the story is incredibly silly. It's funny but I had never heard of Morris until TCM started playing his Boston Blackie movies and today he's one of my favorite actors and I try to catch anything he's done. He once again turns in a very strong performance here as we believe him as this smart doctor who does worry about morals. Morris really delivers the passion of the doctor but also manages to be very charming. Bruce gets a pretty thankless role but she manages to turn in a nice performance as does supporting players like Henry Kolker, Raymond Walburn and Donald Meek. The up-and-coming Taylor also turns in a fine performance even if the screenplay doesn't do him any favors. The first forty-minutes of this thing contains some pretty good drama and the moral lesson about integrity is pretty good but things go pretty bad during the final twenty-seven minutes. The film really goes crazy the final ten as all sorts of side plots enter the picture and how the film ends is pretty silly and hard to believe. I'm really not sure why the screenwriter decided to take a mild drama and then turn it into a crazy, over-thought psycho ward but it doesn't work. The actors stay true to form but the story just doesn't do anyone any favors. Fans of the cast will certainly want to check this out but it's a shame a better conclusion wasn't thought of.
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Melodrama from MGM has intern Dr. Morgan (Chester Morris) getting fired after he lets his mouth tell another doctor what he feels about his old-fashioned ways. Morgan is eventually brought back but he has an elderly woman (Billie Burke) offer him a position of a society doctor but he also has to deal with a nurse (Virginia Bruce) who loves him and a friend (Robert Taylor) who loves her. This drama is in the same fashion as the studios previous efforts like NIGHT NURSE and MEN IN WHITE, although this one here came after the pre-code era so this here isn't nearly as racy. What the film does have is some very good performances but in the end you can't help but feel the story is incredibly silly. It's funny but I had never heard of Morris until TCM started playing his Boston Blackie movies and today he's one of my favorite actors and I try to catch anything he's done. He once again turns in a very strong performance here as we believe him as this smart doctor who does worry about morals. Morris really delivers the passion of the doctor but also manages to be very charming. Bruce gets a pretty thankless role but she manages to turn in a nice performance as does supporting players like Henry Kolker, Raymond Walburn and Donald Meek. The up-and-coming Taylor also turns in a fine performance even if the screenplay doesn't do him any favors. The first forty-minutes of this thing contains some pretty good drama and the moral lesson about integrity is pretty good but things go pretty bad during the final twenty-seven minutes. The film really goes crazy the final ten as all sorts of side plots enter the picture and how the film ends is pretty silly and hard to believe. I'm really not sure why the screenwriter decided to take a mild drama and then turn it into a crazy, over-thought psycho ward but it doesn't work. The actors stay true to form but the story just doesn't do anyone any favors. Fans of the cast will certainly want to check this out but it's a shame a better conclusion wasn't thought of.