Calling Dr. Gillespie (1942)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Harold S. Bucquet

Writers:

Max Brand (characters)
Kubec Glasmon (story)

Release Date:

August 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Nurse | Amnesia | Hospital | Medical | Mental Illness

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Dr. Kildare's Triple X (USA) (original script title)
Marked in Scarlet (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #8257) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Loew's

Trivia:

Two cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names): Buddy Messinger (Messenger boy) and George Reed (Conover). In addition, Mitchell Lewis and Robert Emmett Keane were mentioned in news items as cast members, but they also did not appear in the movie.

Movie Connections:

References Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant (1942)

A Very Good Entry In The Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie Series

This is an almost quaint film from the World War II era when pseudo-psychology was all the rage. Alfred Hitchcock was to take it to the limits and turn it into an art form in his fabulous "Spellbound." Though this film has moments of hilarity there are also supposedly serious parts that today are unintentionally funny, for example, when Dr. Gillespie tells Roy Todwell's parents, "I'm sorry to say but your son is a mental case." Other parts of the flick hold up well and it is still worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of the series or if you are unfamiliar with the Max Brand Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie stories, so popular in the late 30's and early 40's on both radio and the big screen.

The stories ran almost like a big soap opera with each one connected to the others in characters and many times even in plot. The entry following this one, "Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case," is actually a continuation of "Calling Dr. Gillespie" with Roy Todwell now in prison but escaping and holding Dr. Gillespie and others hostage. As most readers know because of the hoopla it created in the media, Lew Ayres was dropped from the series as Dr. Kildare because he declared himself a conscientious objector and served as a medic in the war rather than as a soldier. Though "Calling Dr. Gillespie" ignores Lew Ayres, its sequel "Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case" spotlights a dismembered survivor of Pearl Harbor who is depressed about his condition and hesitates about trying out his new pair of legs. Dr. Gillespie gives the veteran preferred treatment and makes a patriotic statement against the Japanese, even quoting the Bible. It's as if MGM was slapping Lew Ayres in the face and calling him a traitor, even though Dr. Kildare's name is not mentioned.

In "Calling Dr. Gillespie," the blend of romance, humor, the fatherly figure of Lionel Barrymore in a wheelchair (like our President at the time), murder and mayhem, and corn pone philosophy all seem to mesh and make the film a success. This was not true of its successor, "Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case." So I recommend this film for those interested in the Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie series. I do not recommend the sequel, though you may want to see it out of curiosity to learn how the story of Roy Todwell ends.