I usually really enjoy the Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie movies, but this installment of the series was pretty stinky. With Lew Ayres working as a medic in WWII, he was replaced by Dr. Red Adams, played by Van Johnson. But all the drama went with him, and these few movies in the mid-40s were light and comical. Lew's steady girl, Nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day), also left the cast. Van's steady girl was Marilyn Maxwell, and in this movie the running gag is that he doesn't want to kiss her. In one scene, she has to buy 100,000 war bonds at a fundraiser to gain a kiss. Keenan Wynn is the emcee of the fundraiser, and at least everything he says is very funny.
The side plot involves Gloria DeHaven, a nightclub singer, suffering from starvation, and one of the hospital phone operators, Marie Blake, getting misdiagnosed. When Van finally corrects his mistake, you know what he tells her? "If you'd told us about the pain earlier, it would have been a lot easier." Great bedside manner: blame the patient. Lionel Barrymore isn't given anything to do but make jokes with the nurses. It really doesn't feel like a Dr. Kildare movie, so if you like the regular series, you're going to be disappointed.
The side plot involves Gloria DeHaven, a nightclub singer, suffering from starvation, and one of the hospital phone operators, Marie Blake, getting misdiagnosed. When Van finally corrects his mistake, you know what he tells her? "If you'd told us about the pain earlier, it would have been a lot easier." Great bedside manner: blame the patient. Lionel Barrymore isn't given anything to do but make jokes with the nurses. It really doesn't feel like a Dr. Kildare movie, so if you like the regular series, you're going to be disappointed.