Humanity

Dr. William J. "Doc" MacDonald is appointed to the New York State Medical Board after forty years of dedicated service to the poor. When his son Bill arrives home from medical school in Vienna, Doc is pleased that he will finally be able to practice with the younger Dr. MacDonald. Bill, however, returns from Europe with his fiancée, a wealthy debutante named Olive Pelton, who looks down on Doc's ghetto clientele. Soon after, Doc leaves town for a medical conference and gives Bill full responsibility for the practice. Olive, annoyed that Bill's profession interferes with their social life, insists that he attend her upcoming birthday party despite his additional work load. Later, Bill's boyhood friend Sam Bernstein asks the young doctor to help his bootlegging gang by treating their injuries without notifying the police. When Bill refuses, Sam tempts him with a $25,000 salary. Then at Olive's wild birthday party, Bill carouses with her high society friends. Meanwhile, Nancy Moore, Doc's devoted assistant and Bill's former girl friend, receives a call from pharmacist Schmiddy that his daughter Rosie, whom Doc had been treating for croop, has taken a turn for the worse. Although he is hopping from one speakeasy to the next with the others, Bill tries to be responsible by leaving his intended whereabouts with each proprietor. Nancy chases the party down by telephone, but Olive, who receives the message for Bill, decides not to inform him of the emergency. Doc returns home from his conference just in time to save Rosie's life and then scolds Bill for allowing Olive to influence him. Bill retorts that he does not want his father's poverty, after which father and son decide that Bill should practice solo. Six months later, in his fancy Park Avenue office, Bill attempts to break his agreement with Sam as he is worried about financing his practice with gangster money. Meanwhile, the police become aware that a doctor is treating gunshot cases illegally, and they call in the Medical Board, of which Doc is a member, to help locate the renegade doctor. Sam is shot during a liquor delivery, and the gangsters bring Bill to Sam's quarters to treat the injury. The police discover the hideout, however, and Sam begs Bill to bring him to Doc's office, where he will be safe. Bill complies, and as he is treating Sam's wounds, Doc enters and helps with the care. Lieutenant Mike Farley, an old friend of the MacDonalds, finds Bill's cigarette case in Sam's hideout, then goes to Doc's house, where he finds Mrs. Bernstein crying over her dead son. Bill confesses all to Doc and realizes that he has damaged his father's sterling reputation. Doc promises to deal with the Medical Board's investigation, and after he makes Bill leave town, he leads the investigators to believe that he is the renegade doctor. Later, Doc receives a letter from the Board of Medical Advisors, informing him that his license has been revoked for criminal practice but he refuses to fight the action. Bill, unable to leave his father and Nancy, comes home and finds Doc unconscious. Doc then dies in his arms, and Bill insists to Nancy that he will tell the truth. She replies that he must not turn himself in because he is needed by the people. As proof of her sage words, a call arrives from the Holy Cross Mission, and Nancy tells Bill that he must answer the summons as he is now "The Doc."