The People vs. Dr. Kildare
Brief Synopsis
An ice skater sues a young doctor for malpractice.
Cast & Crew
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Harold S. Bucquet
Director
Lew Ayres
Dr. James Kildare
Lionel Barrymore
Dr. Leonard Gillespie
Laraine Day
[Nurse] Mary Lamont
Bonita Granville
Frances Marlowe
Alma Kruger
Molly Byrd
Film Details
Also Known As
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Genre
Drama
Release Date
May
2,
1941
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Max Brand.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 18m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,019ft
(8 reels)
Synopsis
Skater Frances Marlowe, who has just signed a lucrative contract with an ice show, is driving with her manager, Dan Morton, when her car crashes into a truck. Dr. James Kildare and his fiancée, nurse Mary Lamont, see the accident and help the victims, who are only slightly hurt, except for Frances, who has a fractured leg and a ruptured spleen. Because Jimmy is certain that Frances will die from internal bleeding if he does not operate immediately, he performs the surgery before the ambulance arrives. Back at Jimmy's hospital, New York's Blair General, Jimmy gives her a transfusion under the watchful eye of his mentor, Dr. Leonard Gillespie. Meanwhile, Morton arrives with an insurance investigator and overhears switchboard operator Sally and orderly Vernon Briggs joke about finding a half-empty whiskey bottle in the car Jimmy was driving, unaware that Jimmy used the whiskey for an impromptu antiseptic. Eight weeks later, the cast is taken off Frances' leg, but she is unable to move it. She then becomes hysterical and screams accusations that her paralysis is Jimmy's fault. Jimmy and Gillespie have no idea what is causing the paralysis and are shocked when Frances changes hospitals and sues Jimmy for malpractice in the amount of $100,000. Jimmy must face a trial and Gillespie is worried that a jury of laymen will side with the patient instead of the doctor. After several staff members are served with subpoenas, hospital administrator Dr. Walter Carew wants to settle the case out of court, but Jimmy insists on going through with it. Realizing that if he had let Frances die on the road, he would not be facing a trial, Jimmy feels that he must uphold the physician's right and duty to operate under emergency circumstances. During the trial, it is established that the liquor bottle was found in the car and Reynolds, Frances' attorney, suggests that Jimmy had been drinking. Further testimony makes Jimmy's case seem hopeless until Vernon suggests that the bottle in the car came from "a drunk driver." Kildare goes to see the other driver in the accident, trucker Bob Hackley, and learns that he placed the bottle in the car because he did not want to be accused of driving drunk. Hackley also says that Frances might have prevented the collision but "seemed paralyzed" when she saw his truck. Jimmy then theorizes that Frances was suffering from a congenital spinal condition, and evidence indicates that her condition may have flared up after several falls on the ice just prior to the accident. Frances is convinced to undergo a new examination that seems to confirm Jimmy's diagnosis, but Reynolds urges her to postpone any operation until after she wins the case. Gillespie's impassioned testimony for a physician's freedom to attend a patient under emergency conditions results in the jury's request to adjourn the case until after the operation is performed. If it is a success, they will find for Jimmy, if not, they will award Frances the entire $100,000. Sixty days after Frances agrees to the surgery, her recovery is complete and she joyfully looks forward to resuming her career.
Director
Harold S. Bucquet
Director
Cast
Lew Ayres
Dr. James Kildare
Lionel Barrymore
Dr. Leonard Gillespie
Laraine Day
[Nurse] Mary Lamont
Bonita Granville
Frances Marlowe
Alma Kruger
Molly Byrd
Red Skelton
Vernon Briggs
Paul Stanton
Mr. Reynolds
Diana Lewis
Fay Lennox
Walter Kingsford
Dr. Walter Carew
Nell Craig
Nurse Parker
Tom Conway
Mr. Channing
Marie Blake
Sally
Eddie Acuff
Clifford Genet
George H. Reed
Conover
Chick Chandler
Dan Morton
Frank Orth
Mike Ryan
Gladys B. Lake
Maisie
Leonard Mudie
Dr. Sterling
George Carleton
Judge
Hugh O'connell
Process server
James Flavin
Bob Hackley
Henry Roquemore
Onlooker
Lester Dorr
Onlooker
Earle Hodgins
Onlooker
Pat O'malley
Onlooker
Eddie Fetherstone
Onlooker
Grant Withers
Policeman
Rand Brooks
Dr. Young
Jane Drummond
Mrs. Badger
Jessamine Newcombe
Mrs. Wigmore
John Archer
Intern
Gus Schilling
Intern
Dick Wessel
Blood donor
Byron Shores
Mr. Hodges
Barbara Bedford
Secretary
Gladden James
Court clerk
William Edmunds
Sven Bergstrom
Joe Devlin
Cook
Elliott Sullivan
Taxi driver
Paul E. Burns
Postman
William Haade
Iron worker
Ralph Peters
Bailey
Anna Q. Nilsson
Juror
Dick Rich
Hank
Jack Gardner
Sailor
Raymond Bailey
Father
Bill Carey
Father
Dave Willock
Father
Fred "snowflake" Toones
Father
Dwight Frye
Jury foreman
Bess Flowers
Nurse
Crew
Lawrence P. Bachmann
Based on an Original story by
Max Brand
Based on an Original story by
Howard Campbell
Associate (Art Direction)
Clyde De Vinna
Director of Photography
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Willis Goldbeck
Screenwriter
Kalloch
Gowns
Harry Ruskin
Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
David Snell
Music Score
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Ralph Winters
Film Editor
Dolph Zimmer
Assistant Director
Photo Collections
1 Photo
The People vs. Dr. Kildare - Title Lobby Card
Here is the Title Lobby Card from MGM's The People vs. Dr. Kildare (1941), starring Lew Ayres and Lionel Barrymore. Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.
Film Details
Also Known As
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
Genre
Drama
Release Date
May
2,
1941
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on characters created by Max Brand.
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 18m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
7,019ft
(8 reels)
Articles
The People vs. Dr. Kildare
An ice skater sues a young doctor for malpractice.
The People vs. Dr. Kildare
An ice skater sues a young doctor for malpractice.
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film, which was the seventh in the "Dr. Kildare" series, was Dr. Kildare's Crisis. This film marked the first appearance in the Dr. Kildare series of Red Skelton, who portrayed orderly "Vernon Briggs." For additional information on the series, please consult the Series Index and see the entry for Young Dr. Kildare in AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40; F3.5251.
