Still affected by the events of the last movie, Dr. Kildare (Lew Ayres) tries to move on with his career, if not his life. He spends most of this movie trying to help out a young intern (Robert Sterling) and his nurse girlfriend (Jean Rogers) who violate hospital policy to save lives. Meanwhile, Kildare attracts the romantic interest of flirty socialite Cookie Charles (Ann Ayars) after he removes a shard of glass from her heart.
The ninth and final Dr. Kildare movie from MGM. The reason for Lew Ayres' departure, as probably everyone reading this knows, was that pacifist Ayres was a conscientious objector during WW2. This didn't sit well with the public so the studio removed him from the series. Ayres did later serve as a medic and chaplain's assistant under combat conditions in the Pacific. He would return to acting after the war and was nominated for an Oscar for Johnny Belinda. The series would continue on with Lionel Barrymore's Dr. Gillespie as the star. Most of those movies wouldn't be quite up to the standard of the Kildare ones but they were, for the most part, very enjoyable medical dramas.
All of the returning players are good. Nurse Parker (Nell Craig) gets a couple of really funny moments. She's one of the more under-appreciated talents in the fine cast this series had. The new faces are a mixed bag. There was undoubtedly some hope by MGM that Sterling might be able to take over for Kildare at some point but he's just so bland and forgettable that was never going to work. There would be more like him in the Gillespie series. Jean Rogers does much better but this is also her only entry in the series. She's very beautiful. Barry Nelson overacts as a drunk who's proud of being from Philadelphia. Ann Ayars is no Laraine Day and her character is annoying and that's all I'll say about that. It's not the best of the series or even in the top five but it is entertaining.
The ninth and final Dr. Kildare movie from MGM. The reason for Lew Ayres' departure, as probably everyone reading this knows, was that pacifist Ayres was a conscientious objector during WW2. This didn't sit well with the public so the studio removed him from the series. Ayres did later serve as a medic and chaplain's assistant under combat conditions in the Pacific. He would return to acting after the war and was nominated for an Oscar for Johnny Belinda. The series would continue on with Lionel Barrymore's Dr. Gillespie as the star. Most of those movies wouldn't be quite up to the standard of the Kildare ones but they were, for the most part, very enjoyable medical dramas.
All of the returning players are good. Nurse Parker (Nell Craig) gets a couple of really funny moments. She's one of the more under-appreciated talents in the fine cast this series had. The new faces are a mixed bag. There was undoubtedly some hope by MGM that Sterling might be able to take over for Kildare at some point but he's just so bland and forgettable that was never going to work. There would be more like him in the Gillespie series. Jean Rogers does much better but this is also her only entry in the series. She's very beautiful. Barry Nelson overacts as a drunk who's proud of being from Philadelphia. Ann Ayars is no Laraine Day and her character is annoying and that's all I'll say about that. It's not the best of the series or even in the top five but it is entertaining.