Young Dr. Kildare (1938) User Reviews

First of the popular series

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 25 February 2008]

Lew Ayres is "Young Dr. Kildare" in this 1938 film that began the popular "Dr. Kildare" series. Later, "Dr. Kildare" would become a TV series and launch Richard Chamberlain.

Here we meet Dr. K and his parents (Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn). Kildare's father is a country doctor, and James decides against partnering with him. He wants to intern at Blair General Hospital. As the film unfolds, he wonders if this was the wisest choice.

Kildare spends most of the movie in trouble up to his eyeballs, first with the attempted suicide of a society woman that he interferes in, and secondly with Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore), who's a real bear. Gillespie becomes a lot mellower as the years go on, but in this initial episode, watch out! Kildare spends most of the film on the verge of being suspended, and he just got there.

Though sometimes the series did approach correct medical treatment and terms, "Young Dr. Kildare" misses that boat with its suicide case. I guess no one had ever heard of anyone being emotionally disturbed - this poor young woman was almost institutionalized because the head psychiatrist in the hospital thinks she's a schizophrenic. Kildare challenges his notion and runs all over town trying to find out why she attempted suicide. The reason is pure 1930s Hollywood.

One reason these films are fun is that MGM used them as a training ground for some of its young stars - Van Johnson, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner and Margaret O'Brien, to name a few. In this film, Monty Wooley - not young, but still in the small part phase of his career - makes an appearance.

The "Dr. Kildare" series continued into the late 1940s, in 1942 becoming the "Dr. Gillespie" series with the same cast minus Lew Ayres, persona non grata at MGM for being a conscientious objector during World War II. Ayres did serve as a medic and chaplain on the front lines, but his principles garnered a lot of publicity and were not popular with the public, so the studio got rid of him. After World War II, he received an Oscar nomination for his role in "Johnny Belinda" and he worked until 1994, two years before his death. In 1950-51, he was Dr. Kildare on the radio. He nearly became a television Dr. K, but the network refused to honor his request for no cigarette sponsorship. When you have the courage to stand by your beliefs, as Ayres did, you soon find yourself out of a job.

Hats off to Mr. Barrymore!

[OldHatCinema · 7/10 · 28 June 2019]

Dr. Jimmy Kildare, a young medical school graduate, takes an internship at the Blair General Hospital, only to get into deep trouble when he starts involving himself in the case of a suicidal young heiress who has, to all appearances, gone crazy. He is also subjected to a rigorous, and at times embarrassing, testing of his knowledge by the hospital's top dog, Dr. Leonard Gillespie. (Who is relatively tame in this first entry, increasing the irascibility as the series went on. There are instances in the next few films when he is definitely over the top! But we're talking about the brilliant Lionel Barrymore, and playing a grouch is one of the things he does best!)

This first installment of the long-running series is very enjoyable to watch. The chemistry between Lew Ayers and Lionel Barrymore is perfect, and you can definitely tell that Barrymore was having a lot of fun with his role. The good, snappy script is amusing, and while I wouldn't rank it among some of the "great" films of the era, it's quite good, and a lot of fun.

There's one serious rumor I would like to knock out here real quick: Lionel Barrymore was given the role of the wheelchair-bound Dr. Gillespie after two separate accidents, in which he broke his hip twice. He could still walk a little after it healed, but it was rather difficult for him. However, he did not have arthritis, which I noticed is the reason many sources list for the necessity of the wheelchair. In his autobiography, We Barrymores, he states outright that he did not have arthritis. His only ailment was a twice-broken hip. Years later, he also performed his role in "Down to the Sea in Ships" (1949) with only a pair of crutches.

Anyway, I just wanted to deal with that briefly. Bottom line is, "Young Dr Kildare" is an overall good movie, and I would definitely recommend.

"Whenever you're in doubt about what ails a patient, give him bicarbonate of soda and see what develops in the morning."

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 13 December 2014]

Dr. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) is fresh out of medical school and expected to take over his father's small town practice. But Kildare decides instead to go to New York and work as an intern at Blair General Hospital. There he catches the interest of crotchety old Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) and gets into trouble trying to prove a suicidal heiress isn't crazy.

The first in MGM's wonderful Dr. Kildare series. Paramount had released a Kildare movie the year prior to this with a different cast but that's unconnected to this series. This movie, like the rest that followed, is a classy medical drama with terrific actors and good writing. Lew Ayres was perfectly cast as the compassionate and idealistic Kildare. As would be the case in most of the series, Lionel Barrymore steals the show as the grumpy but wise Dr. Gillespie, who was so integral to the series' success that when Ayres got the boot during WW2, they handed the series over to Barrymore's Gillespie. Many of the regulars who would make up the fine supporting cast in the series appear here -- Joe the ambulance attendant (Nat Pendleton), Sally the hospital receptionist (Marie Blake), bar owner Mike Ryan (Frank Orth), and hospital administrator Dr. Carew (Walter Kingsford). Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn play Kildare's parents. Nurse Lamont and Molly Byrd don't show up until the next film, though Byrd is mentioned by name in one scene. Solid performances by everybody.

It's a great movie that spawned many sequels and a (much) later TV series. Definitely something you will want to see if you're into medical dramas. Overlook the reviewers who nitpick the dated medical knowledge. That's such a ridiculous thing to complain about I can't even wrap my head around it. It's such a shame they didn't have time machines in 1938 so they could make movies that had 21st century knowledge and technology in them. Oh, well, if they had then we wouldn't be able to snark at those old primitives. God knows what a tragedy that would be! Sarcasm aside, I find the "flaws" with the medical stuff part of the appeal of the film. It gives us insight into the way such things were understood back then. That's always been a part of why I love older films -- they provide a window into the past.

A young doctor's dreams and HIPPA hijinks

[AlsExGal · 7/10 · 19 November 2020]

People, if they remember Dr. Kildare of the 30s and 40s at all, tend to think of this series of films. Most people don't know that there was a film before this series, Internes Can't Take Money, starring Joel McCrea and Barbara Stanwyck made over at Paramount in 1937.

This was the first of the Dr. Kildare series of movies which segued into the Dr. Gillespie series of films after Lew Ayres left to serve as a medic in WWII. Lew Ayres plays Dr. James Kildare, fresh out of medical school. His father, Dr. Stephen Kildare (Samuel S. Hinds), as well as his mother, (Emma Dunn) think that he is going to practice in their small town, and they've bought a plaque with his name on it and set up an office for him in their parlor. The girl next door - literally - seems ready to pick out her wedding dress.

But James has other ideas. He wants to practice medicine in a big hospital because he's not sure what specialty he is interested in, and has already accepted an internship at Blair Hospital in New York City. How this leaves James and the girl next door is left in limbo.

In New York Kildare meets the famed Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) who seems to immediately dislike him, he gets blamed for negligence that caused the death of a famous politician that was not his fault, AND he has a clue as to why a wealthy family's grown daughter tried to commit suicide. The hospital wants him to say what he knows, but he feels what he was told by her was in confidence and faces being fired for insubordination because he stays mum, figuring he can figure out the mystery himself and maybe save the girl's mind and spare her any embarrassment. It's funny how the hospital, the girl's family, and the specialist all feel like they have a right to discuss confidential medical information about the grown woman, but never bother to discuss it with her. Kildare is decades ahead of his time, seemingly, in medical ethics.

Not many supporting cast members that were staples of the later films are brought in here, with the exception of the telephone operator and Nat Pendleton's orderly and their long running low key romance.

MGM does something unusual at the end. There is a small segment tacked on where Lionel Barrymore and Lew Ayres mention that this film is the first of a series that will be made.

The Kildare films are especially slick and entertaining for a set of B films- the very genesis of the med-centric programming that has ruled network TV for decades. In fact, if you compare this series with early 2000's TV series "Scrubs", there seem to be lots of comparisons and even direct character-to-character correlations between the two. And with the studio system at full throttle, MGM could throw their stable of talent in as individual "guest stars" in each entry. Barrymore is just terrific in these films as the irascible and somewhat omniscient Gillespie . I'd recommend them as a great time passer. And remember that the key to enjoying these films is to not play 21st century armchair physician here, just sit back and let the drama unfold.

A good start to a great film series

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 7 June 2018]

This was a fine beginning to the MGM Dr. Kildare series. In fact, it had been years since I had watched any of these films, and I had forgotten just how good they were for B pictures. It's great that TCM occasionally broadcasts them.

This particular story features a newly graduated from medical school, Dr. James Kildare. Although he has been chosen to be the assistant of Dr. Gillespie, he has to return to his hometown and his parents...his father is a small town doctor. They expect him to partner with his father in his medical practice. However, he intends to return to Blair General Hospital in the big city. The young doctor deals with attempted suicide, errors by medical staff, and Kildare's attempt to solve the suicidal girl through some detective work.

There was something special about Lionel Barrymore, even here at the age of 60, all crippled up with arthritis. Lew Ayres was a fine actor, as well, although I remember him mostly for his television roles in his old age.

Naturally, medicine has changed a great deal wince 1938 when this film was made. But this film is a sort of testament to the doctors who struggled to make a difference in the early years of big city hospitals and more modern medicine.

Unintentionally funny for outdated medical drama

[ejj1955-1 · 6/10 · 29 November 2007]

Though this is a serviceable drama about a young doctor, the medical details are ludicrous--in the pre-CPR days, Kildare massages the back of a girl thought to be dead, instructing an onlooker to hold a mirror to her mouth to see if she's breathing. Eventually she does--after 15 or 20 minutes--without a suggestion of possible brain damage. Then the troubled girl is put into the hospital, tries to kill herself a second time, is saved by Kildare again, and then promptly diagnosed (apparently without any observation) by the resident psychiatric expert as schizophrenic. "But wait," I'm saying to myself at home, "she hasn't shown any symptoms of schizophrenia"--not even 1938-era understanding of schizophrenia.

Fortunately young and earnest Dr. Kildare is able to protest this diagnosis and rapidly discover the real reason she's tried to commit suicide--which he debunks, leading all to a happy conclusion and no further cause for concern. Uh huh, it was all a misunderstanding and everything will be rosy henceforth--the formerly suicidal girl pops out of bed and falls into her fiancé's arms, all smiles.

Right.

Blair General's New Intern

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 30 July 2011]

Although Max Brand's character of Dr. James Kildare first appeared over at Paramount's Interns Can't Take Money with Joel McCrea, the first of the classic Dr. Kildare movies was Young Dr. Kildare with Lew Ayres as the idealistic young intern. The series was done over at MGM and that most expensive of all studios gave a polished touch to even a series of B pictures.

Young Dr. Kildare sets the series up with Lew Ayres newly graduated from medical school deciding to intern at Blair General Hospital in New York instead of starting practice over in the small Connecticut town with his parents Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn. While there he comes to the attention of renowned doctor Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Leonard Gillespie who spends the whole film putting him through some paces as he decides whether this young man can cut it as his new assistant.

Although Ayres's main challenge with purportedly mentally ill rich girl Jo Ann Sayers is not terribly convincing in its simplistic approach to her psychiatric problems which resulted in a suicide attempt the sincere playing of Ayres, Barrymore, and the rest cover a multitude of script holes. Walter Kingsford also makes his debut in the series as the officious hospital president Dr. Carew. Although a pattern is set with the Carew character here who realizes he's just a bureaucrat with an MD and he defers to Barrymore on medical questions.

The Kildare series got a decent if not outstanding debut with Young Dr. Kildare.

Fine set-up of a great series.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 3 January 2011]

I have to recommend this film highly on daytime soap opera terms, as if you watch the series in sequence, there is a serial like element to the film. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) is the son of a small town Connecticut doctor (Samuel S. Hinds) who assumes he will join him as a partner upon graduating from medical school. But the young Dr. Kildare (hense the title) has already been selected to join the group of interns at New York's Blair Hospital under the watch of two stern taskmasters, chief physician Dr. P. Walter Carew (Walter Kingsford) and the elderly Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore), a grumbling and sarcastic medic who has continued his career in spite of bad legs. Now confined to a wheelchair, Dr. Gillespie rolls around, barking at nurses and interns, with only Nurse Molly Byrd (Nell Craig) able to stand up to him. In this film, Molly is a minor character, but once Alma Kruger took over the part in the second film, the character became someone to be reckoned with. Imagine a voice-over, as on soap operas, saying, "The role of Molly Byrd is now being played by.....", as it would have when Lewis Stone took over the role of Judge Hardy from Barrymore in the "Andy Hardy" series.

As young Dr. Kildare begins to learn not only his job but the ways of the city he works in as well, he matures greatly, and eventually it is apparent he will have the respect of Dr. Gillespie. Jo Ann Sayers makes her first of two appearances as Ayres' small town love interest, who will fade away once Laraine Day's nurse is introduced in the next film. The presence of Nat Pendleton as the Ambulance assistant and Marie Blake as the Emergency Room receptionist add for all sorts of hilarity. Blake's wisecracking nurse would become famous in the later films for such quotes as "I may work in a hospital, but I don't know anything about medicine. My brother works on a chicken farm, but still can't lay an egg", or "My brother works at the zoo with the monkeys, but can't hang by his tail." My favorite line of hers in the series though was, "They are blaming the hospital for us treating a patient for appendicitis and dying of consumption. When our patients are treated for appendicitis, they die of appendicitis!" (The quote may not be right on, but you get the idea....) As for Gillespie, Barrymore will steal every single scene he is in. As Ayres discovers, Gillespie may seem like a mean old grump, but he has his own agenda, which includes Kildare in every detail. Barrymore in this series is a treasure. Kildare's parents (Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn) are his own Ma and Pa Hardy, typical of Louis B. Mayer's homage to the American parents, and will make appearances in several of the films. The big medical crisis in this film involves a young suicidal socialite whom Ayres must find a reason to bring to her to continue to have the will to live. How he does it is quite interesting and is a nice set up for what the rest of the series (even the later ones without Dr. Kildare) would have to live up to.

Start of An Outstanding Series

[Captain Ken · 10/10 · 8 April 2002]

One of the great series shown on TV in my youth was Dr. Kildare with the outstanding Lionel Barrymore as the wise Dr. Gillespie. Each film gave insight into human nature and the medical profession without sex or swearing. Just plain good stories.It is a shame all Dr. Kildare films are not available on VHS. I do not understand why not Dr. Kildare always had great acting and great advice. America needs films like these today

I don't care what nationality a man is, as long as he's Irish

[sol1218 · 7/10 · 23 December 2007]

(There are Spoilers) Just graduating from medical school young Doctor James or Jimmy Kildare, Lew Ayres, comes back to his roots in the little sleepy town of Dartford Connecticut to open up a practice with his old man Dr. Stephen Kildare, Samuel H. Hinds.

It doesn't take long for Jimmy to leave Dartford and his parents Mr. & Mrs. Kildare, played by Emma Dunn, as well as his long suffering girlfriend Alice (Lynn Carver), who's been waiting for him all this time, for the big city's, NYC, Balir General Hospital. Dr. Kildare want's to make his mark as a diagnostician and the best place is Blair where the world renowned Dr. Leonard , or Lenny, Gillespie, Lionel Barymore, is in charge not only of the diagnosis but the surgery department as well.

Things don't go as well as Jimmy expected in him being chewed out by Dr. Gillespie the first day he started his residency at Blair in front of all his fellow interns. In no time at all Dr. Kildare makes a name for himself in being able to diagnose on the spot illnesses and cure them with almost miraculous medical powers. This makes the grumpy Dr. Gillespie take notice of the young Doctor Jimmy Kildare even though he acts like he's not at all that impressed with Jimmy's almost unearthly healing skills.

Dr. Kildare being the morally-minded person that he is get's himself in hot water later in the movie by after first rescuing heiress Barbara Chanler, Jo Ann Sayers, he refuses to reveal the reason for her attempted suicide. Barbara breaking up with her fiancée Jack Hamilton, Truman Bradley,over him not taking her to the Blue Sawn nightclub ended up with horse owner Albert Foster, Leonard Penn, who got her juiced, inebriated, and left her almost dead drunk in one of the clubs private gambling rooms. Staggering out semi conscious into the street Barbara ended up in this Bowery flophouse where she tried to kill herself by turning on the gas oven in her room without lighting it.

It seems that Barbara even though the movie doesn't spell it out, it leaves it to the viewers imagination, felt that Foster took advantage of her while she was drunk. The shock of her fiancée Jack finding out that she's isn't a virgin on their wedding night was just too much for Barbara to take and thus decided, in what later turned out to be for the wrong reason, to take her own life.

Being a doctor Jimmy Kildare knew that Barbara, after examining her, was not at all the "damaged goods" that she thought she was. It was Dr. Jimmy Kildare's sweet and caring, as well as private, doctor patient relationship that put Barbara off from killing herself again. This in the end cured Barbara of the fears she had in what Foster did, which in fact he didn't, to her. In keeping the truth about Barbara from his superior the administrator of Blair General Dr. P Walter Carew, Walter Kingsford, almost got Jimmy kicked out of the place.

It turned that Dr. Lenny Gillespie came to the young and besieged, on all sides, Dr. Kildare's rescue by offering the startled young man a chance to be his assistant which he, at first thinking that the old guy was going to chew him out, snapped up without a moments hesitation. The future now looked bright for Young Doctor Kildare but at the same time looked very ominous for old man Gillespie in that he's suffering for a bad case of melanoma, skin cancer, and he knew his days were numbered. It's in the short time that he had left Dr. Gillespie planned to teach his young potage, Jimmy Kildare, all he knows about medicine before the final curtain comes down on him.

P.S Amazingly the movie had Dr. Kildare examine Dr. Gillespie on his condition, melanoma, and he predicted that Ol'Lenny still had some ten years of life left in his gas-tank. Gillespie putting Dr. Kildare down on how ridicules his prognosis is it in fact turned out to be right on target! Old and feisty Dr.Gillespie would out last young Doctor Kildare, or actor Lew Ayres who played him, in the Doctor Kildare series by some five years! That's exactly tens years since Dr. Kildare diagnosed the old man telling him that he'll overcome his cancerous condition. In fact after the Doctor Kildare movies came to an end in 1947 Dr. Gillespie, with his portage Dr. Kildare no longer around, was still very much alive and as healthy as he was when the series first started back in 1938!

The origins of Dr. Gregory House

[RedCupCoffee · 10/10 · 2 February 2023]

Charming and smart. A terrific story about the desire for establishing your intellectual reputation and proving oneself. It reminded me of The 'Dr. Gregory House' character on the medical drama 'House', with the Sam cantankerous, grouchy doctor and the young and scrappy intern that's looking to impress. Literally the same mellow dramatic template, loveable and interesting. The actors are wonderful, deep, charming and thoughtful, right down to the intern who traces his patient's last steps to find out where she went and who she talked with. I loved this movie, it's a nice story for anyone who likes medical drama.

Nice Young Man Saves Troubled Lady.

[rmax304823 · 31 July 2011]

Lew Ayres returns from medical school to his family. Dad is a doctor himself -- it runs in families -- and expects him to set up his office in the spare room so they can have a joint practice at home. But Ayres sadly informs his father that he's accepted an internship at famous Blair Hospital in New York, because, well, he feels there's more he wants to do than become a simple small-town practitioner. Dad nods understandingly. "It's true you can't make much money as a country doctor." The film doesn't pause long enough for the laughter to expire at this point.

Well, Blair Hospital is a tough place, let me tell you. There are hide-bound administrators, elderly and out-of-touch specialists, and then there is Dr. Gillespie. That would be cranky old Lionel Barrymore bound in his wheelchair. He has a lot of juice around Blair Hospital and takes no guff from anybody. He treats new interns the way Mr. Murdstone treated David Copperfield.

Ayres works his butt off, rushing around in ambulances, treating drunks and children, until he runs into a mysterious young woman who has attempted suicide. She won't reveal her identity but she has obvious class. She comes up with an archaic expression in French, so you can tell.

Aside from Ayres' relationship with the home town girl we are absolutely certain is going to snag him, this is the big conflict. Who is this society dame and why did she try to off herself? Everybody else at Blair is convinced she's psychotic and they want to put her away, but Ayres believes she's quite sane and is suffering from genuine guilt.

He's right, of course. But before he can prove it and get all the rewards coming to him, the movie must turn into a detective story in which the fresh-faced Ayres, accompanied by the affably physical Nat Pendleton, uncovers the secret she's hiding. It was all a misunderstanding. The classy babe melts into the arms of her sweetheart and Ayres takes off with the Homecoming Queen of Cockaigne.

I don't know why this was so popular in its time. The cast is likable enough. Lew Ayres is youthful and handsome. (He was to come under a cloud a few years later for being a conscientious objector during the war. Kids, that's World War II. He served as a medic and was under fire but it didn't help much.) Lionel Barrymore is good as the whiny voiced curmudgeon. Still, this was the movie that launched a thousand sequels and there's nothing special about it. I suppose they were cheap enough and, in the absence of TV, audiences enjoyed seeing characters they were already familiar with.

The story is by Max Brand, of all people. He wrote for Western pulp magazines mostly. A few of his stories became films, most notably "Destry Rides Again."

The plot has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese, but terrific acting made it work

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 March 2009]

The fact that they made so many Dr. Kildare films in the 30s and 40s is more a testament to the acting of Lew Ayers and Lionel Barrymore than to the quality of the writing for this film. In so many ways, it seems like just another B-movie but somehow it managed to generate enough interest to create a series of films.

Interestingly, not all of the Kildare films featured Lew Ayers in the lead, as after 1942, the series continued with Lionel Barrymore and other young doctors. Sadly, this is apparently because the public grew to hate Ayers because of his status as a conscientious objector during WWII. However, this is really unfair as when drafted, Ayers DID serve with distinction on the front lines--as a corpsman and chaplain's aid where he risked his life but was unwilling to kill. This abhorrence of violence stemmed from his role in the greatest anti-war film of all-time, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Fortunately for Ayers, a few years after the war, his public image changed and he gained acceptance--though his career never replicated the heights of his Dr. Kildare years.

Now the fact that Barrymore made fifteen films in the series is very interesting, as his character was diagnosed with terminal cancer in this first film! According to the brilliant Kildare's opinion, Barrymore (as 'Dr. Gillespie') SHOULD have died within the year! Perhaps Kildare came up with some miracle cure in some subsequent film to explain this discrepancy.

This is the first film in the series. Because of that, much of the film is spent establishing who the character is, creating a back story and installing him in his new job as an intern at a big New York hospital. I liked this part of the film a lot and liked the characters.

However, oddly, the actual "big cases" they created for this first film were really limp. The first was a small one that made absolutely no sense--none. While assigned to ambulance duty, a patient dies and the guy turns out to be an important politician. Kildare is accused of incompetence but the guy died because the ambulance assistant (Nat Pendleton) ignored Kildare's instructions. Why Kildare hid this from the investigating board is not only inexplicable but highly unprofessional. The second is a case involving an attempted suicide by a rich heiress. Despite having a prominent psychiatrist assigned to the case (Monty Woolley in a very tiny role), Kildare insists he knows more than ANYONE at the hospital and is insubordinate. Then, when he's suspended, he goes into action like a Charlie Chan-type character. None of this made any sense, either, and Kildare came off as a know-it-all. Not an auspicious beginning to the series! Still, despite the film's many deficiencies, it is watchable. In many ways, the relationship between Gillespie and Kildare is reminiscent of the TV series "The Paper Chase".

By the way, the receptionist in the film is played by a young Blossom Rock--the same actress who played 'Grandmama' on "The Addams Family" TV show. Interestingly, she was Jeanette MacDonald's less famous sister.

Extremely naive, but nevertheless charming first addition to the series...

[moonspinner55 · 5/10 · 30 July 2011]

Well-scrubbed medical student from the sticks interns at a New York City hospital and quickly gets on the wrong side of the Chief of Staff, as well as crotchety veteran old Dr. Gillespie (who insults everyone from his wheelchair!). The character of Jimmy Kildare was first introduced in Paramount's "Interns Can't Take Money" from 1937, with Joel McCrea in the role; MGM took over from there, turning the rather ordinary medical scenario into a long-running movie series. Lew Ayres is calm and patient as Dr. Kildare, though his exceptionally sane demeanor comes off as rather maddening alongside the many hotheads who dot the supporting cast (most of whom overact shamelessly). Kildare doesn't even react after his superiors strip him of his duties--instead, he glows with quiet pride in the knowledge that he did his job properly. Lionel Barrymore gives the film a bit of spark and sass as Gillespie, and some of the dialogue is sharp and amusing, but the subplot about a suicidal heiress is ridiculously summed up and topped with an unconvincing bow. ** from ****

Has some curiosity value!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 11 June 2018]

Copyright 12 October 1938 by Loew's Inc. A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer picture. New York opening at the Radio City Music Hall: 27 October 1938 (ran one week). U.S. release: 14 October 1938. Australian release: 9 February 1939. 8 reels. 81 minutes.

COMMENT: Although exceptions were occasionally made for Blondie, Charlie Chan, Sherlock Holmes and The Saint, series films were rarely contenders for even a supporting slot on all-important Saturday nights in Britain and Australia. Dr Kildare had a further impediment in that the setting itself had few glamorous associations for Australians - and still less for Britishers - during the dark days and nights of WW2.

This one has some curiosity value, being the first of the M-G-M series. It was also the first feature film directed by Harold S. Bucquet, a graduate of the studio's shorts department. Bucquet's background was in scene design, but his directorial (or perhaps his health) problems surfaced in 1942 when Dr Kildare's Victory had to be completed and largely re-shot by W.S. Van Dyke. On the other hand, Bucquet did such sterling work on The Adventures of Tartu in 1943, he was handed two other prestige assignments, Dragon Seed (1944) and Without Love (1945), before his death in 1946 at the comparatively early age of 54.

Alas, Young Dr Kildare is also saddled with a weak script. True, it does have a few interesting moments (Kildare peering through the door at his revived patient), but even some of these are ruined by Bucquet's mawkish tendency to over-emphasize. Only Nat Pendleton's gustoish playing of a muscle-bound ambulance driver and Monty Woolley's stuffed-shirt psychiatrist have any real appeal.

And Introducing: Old Dr. Gillespie

[dfloro · 6/10 · 25 September 2020]

This would be the start of a series that would ultimately comprise nine "Young Dr. Kildare" movies co-starring Lee Ayers in the title role, and the one-and-only Lionel Barrymore as the curmudgeonly Dr. Gillespie. After Ayers was sent off to WWII, Barrymore would continue in the Gillespie role for six more films (three co-starring up-and-comer Van Johnson as a different "young doctor" character). And after this decade-long run finally came to an end, the Dr. Kildare concept would continue on TV starring a young Richard Chamberlain as the title doctor.

As for this particular installment, it is only notable for setting up the premise (ie., the promising young son of a well-respected country doctor decides to go to intern in a big-city hospital, and then much to his surprise, is mentored by an old crank of a doc with much to teach). Oh, and having a perfectly ridiculous plot involving a female patient's sanity and social/familial reputation at stake. For me, and I'm sure for plenty of others as well, it's the wheelchair-bound Lionel Barrymore's lovable-in-spite-of-himself performance as old Dr. Gillespie that makes these movies at least tolerable, if not always thoroughly enjoyable.

Dr. Gillespie

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 4 March 2023]

Dr. James Kildare (Lew Ayres) returns home after graduation. Everybody expects him to join his father in his country doctor practice. He surprises them by announcing his internship at a large New York hospital. Cantankerous, famed, wheelchair-bound Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) becomes his mentor. He gets into trouble with some high profile cases.

It's a medical drama which starts a franchise. It's not the first with Dr. Kildare, but this one is the one which starts the series. Lew Ayres is fine as the lead, but it's Barrymore who elevates. The medical stuff is not going to compare with modern TV shows. Barrymore is the one who compares favorably no matter what.

"I hear you're bringing the dead back to life again."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 19 July 2023]

This film had been a public domain staple for years and I used to sell a ton of copies when I was doing flea markets and ebay. However, I never watched it until today courtesy of Turner Classics. You can see how this story would have been the catalyst for an entire series of Dr. Kildare films, not to mention the popular TV series starring Richard Chamberlain in the early Sixties. It has the handsome Lew Ayres in the title role, fresh out of medical school, with an already made shingle ready to post underneath his own father's practice in the mythical town of Dartford near New York City. That's where young Kildare decided to take up his profession at prestigious Blair General Hospital, met with approval by his parents and girlfriend, even if they would have liked him to stick around the old neighborhood.

For all of his getting off on the wrong foot with the higher-ups at Blair, Dr. Kildare makes his mark while subtly impressing the likes of gruff Dr. Leonard Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) and hospital administrator, Dr. Walter Carew (Walter Kingsford). It takes some doing though, especially when Kildare bucks the professional opinion of noted psychiatrist, Dr. Lane-Porteus (Monty Wooley), in the treatment of a suicidal young woman (Jo Ann Sayers). After being suspended and later discharged, Gillespie does a little bucking of his own to hire Kildare on as his medical assistant, noting how the young doctor had the courage of his convictions and didn't become an MD for fame or riches. Amusingly, while wrestling with his own personal decisions about his future, Kildare had the loyal backing of ambulance driver Joe Wayman, humorously portrayed by brawny ex-wrestler, Nat Pendleton.

Even with the tenuous story line regarding the suicidal patient, one can understand the appeal this medical film might have had on audiences of the day. Upon conclusion of the film, Lionel Barrymore wheeled himself out to pronounce a series of upcoming movies in the Kildare franchise with Lew Ayres by his side. Actually, Barrymore wound up outlasting Dr. Kildare at a certain point with the introduction of new doctors joining the series. All the more amazing since he was only given a year more to live in this one!

A beautiful set-up to the series

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 16 October 2019]

Young Dr. Kildare is a must-see, if you're going to watch the very entertaining film series that spawned the popular television program in the 1960s. Joel McCrea played the famed doctor in an independent 1937 film, but the official series started the following year, with Lew Ayres taking over.

In this first installment, the set-up is brilliantly executed. Lew Ayres graduates from medical school and comes home to his small town. It's a very touching sequence, with his mom and dad proudly displaying his shingle on the outside of their home. Everyone is so proud of him and expects him to become the town's country doctor. Lew gets accepted to practice in a big city hospital, and he tries it out to see which lifestyle he likes. While in the big, bustling hospital, he meets the grizzly perfectionist: Lionel Barrymore. Poor Lew, he's not nearly as fondly remembered as Lionel's creation of Dr. Gillespie, even though they both went on to the extremely popular radio series The Story of Dr. Kildare in the 1950s. Lionel has that lovable crotchety-ness that endears him to the audience so they know even when he's grouchy, he's grouchy for a good reason that he'll explain later. Just like Dr. Kildare himself, you'll come to know and love the regulars at the hospital, including the telephone operators and the ambulance drivers. Nat Pendleton made his living acting in just as many of these Dr. Kildare films as the main characters! Watch this first volume, whose guest star is Monty Woolley, to see if you get hooked; I know you will.

10/10

[verakomarov · 10/10 · 17 October 2021]

Just after graduating from medical school, young Dr. James Kildare decides to get a job at a large New York hospital instead of joining his father's rural practice. In New York, he meets the famous Dr. Leonard Gillespie, who becomes his mentor. Kildare finds himself in serious trouble when he rescues a suicidal woman who turns out to be the heiress with a powerful family.

Worth a Watch for the Origin of the Series

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 8 September 2014]

It Might Come as a Surprise to Very Young Fans of TV's "House" or Pay TV's "The Knick" that Medical Dramas with High Personality Doctors were Around and Popular Even in the Thirties. This was a Long Running Series of B-Movies from MGM and this was The Origin Story.

Lew Ayers Plays Kildare with a Great Voice and a Sombre Pretty Face and Not Much Else but He is Acceptable and lets Lionel Barrymore's Sarcasms and Put Downs Steal the Show. Nat Pendleton is the Comedic Companion, an Ambulance Driver.

Spicing Up Things is a Detective Like Inquiry out of the Hospital and a Psychiatric Case that is Pure Bunkum. Overall Worth a Watch for this is the Initial Entry and if You Like it there are Many More to Follow. Average as These Things Go, but it was a Very Popular Series.

Note...Richard Chamberlain brought the Character to TV in the early Sixties and competed with Vince Edwards as Dr. Ben Casey on a rival Network.

Young Dr. Kildare-Keep to the Medicine and Stop with the Detective ***

[edwagreen · 20 August 2011]

Enjoyable film except for the fact that Lew Ayres, our young Dr. Kildare, resorts to being a sleuth to help determine why a young heiress attempted suicide.

The film should have stuck with Kildare's encounters with the irascible, contentious, cantankerous Lionel Barrymore. The latter acted the same way years later in "It's A Wonderful Life,"

Knowing that he wants more out of medicine, Kildare decides to leave his father's country practice and work at a N.Y. hospital. There he shows determination and foresight, which of course is caught by the ever-nasty Gillespie. (Barrymore)

We see the idea of wealthy people getting better hospital treatment and the bureaucratic side of any hospital. Nothing much has changed.