Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942)

Dr. Gillespie is called in to investigate when a young man suffering from mental problems disappears on a killing spree.

Director:

Harold S. Bucquet

Writers:

Max Brand (characters), Kubec Glasmon (story)

Stars:

Lionel Barrymore, Donna Reed, Philip Dorn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lionel Barrymore	...	Dr. Leonard Gillespie
Philip Dorn	...	Dr. John Hunter Gerniede
Donna Reed	...	Marcia Bradburn
Phil Brown	...	Roy Todwell
Nat Pendleton	...	Joe Wayman
Alma Kruger	...	Molly Byrd
Mary Nash	...	Emma Hope
Walter Kingsford	...	Dr. Walter Carew
Nell Craig	...	Nurse 'Nosey' Parker
Ruth Tobey	...	Susan May 'Susie' Prentiss
Jonathan Hale	...	Frank Marshall Todwell
Charles Dingle	...	Dr. Ward O. Kenwood
Marie Blake	...	Sally, Receptionist
Nana Bryant	...	Mrs. Marshall Todwell
Eddie Acuff	...	Clifford Genet

Storyline

Dr. Gillespie is contacted by his old friend Emma Hope, headmistress of a prestigious girls school. She's concerned about Roy Todwell, the young man one of her girls, Marcia Bradburn, has been seeing. Todwell has shown serious bouts of violence over the most minor event and working with a colleague, Dr. Gerniede, Gillespie concludes that the young man is suffering from serious mental illness. He has little success in convincing Todwell's parents of the seriousness of it all - they prefer to take the opinion of their own physician who thinks psychiatry is just a lot of mumbo jumbo - and the young man's condition deteriorates. Todwell soon sets out for New York with only one goal in mind - to kill Dr. Gillespie.

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Plot Keywords:

mental illness | crime wave | nurse | whistle | toy | 

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Taglines:

Meet This New Romantic Man in White!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

Passed

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ninth entry in MGM's long-running "Dr. Kildare" franchise, and the first of them not to feature Kildare or Lew Ayres playing the part. The series would continue for several more films, each centered on Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Leonard Gillespie, but it would never regain the popularity it had previously enjoyed.

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Quotes

Dr. Leonard Gillespie: To be successful in love you've got to be a doggone good liar. I mean it, both before and after marriage.

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Connections

Followed by Between Two Women (1945)

User Reviews

One of the better in a series of Kildare movies...

PHILIP DORN steps in for LEW AYRES who had been the chief doctor at Blair General Hospital in a series of Dr. Kildare movies. Here Dorn is the new doctor assisting Dr. Gillepsie in a search for a serial killer who is committing crimes within the confines of the hospital posing as a doctor.

Definitely one of the better in MGM's series of B-movies with LIONEL BARRYMORE doing his gruff stuff as the blustery Dr. Gillespie and ably supported by the usual staff members at the hospital. The last half-hour moves swiftly toward a predictable but interesting climax. Comic relief is supplied by Nat Pendleton as a husky assistant prone to fainting spells.

DONNA REED does nicely as the girlfriend of the killer and if you look closely you'll spot AVA GARDNER getting some exposure in an early role. Sensitive looking Phil Brown makes an interesting homicidal maniac and in some scenes bears a startling resemblance to--of all people--Lew Ayres.

Summing up: Nice little B-melodrama from Metro.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

August 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dr. Kildare's Triple X

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1