Who Killed Doc Robbin
Cast & Crew
Bernard Carr
Larry Olsen
Eilene Janssen
Gerald Perreau
Ardda Lynwood
Dale Belding
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
After an explosion destroys a building on Dr. Hugo Robbin's estate, apparently killing him, Ann Loring, the doctor's nurse, is arrested on suspicion of murder. At her trial, several children--Curley, Betty, Dudley, Ardda, Speck, Dis and Dat--attempt to gain access to the courtroom, claiming they have information relevant to the case. The bailiff throws them out, but while the defense attorney is questioning Ann, the children manage to find an open window through which they criticize her testimony. The prosecuting attorney then requests permission to have the children testify, and Ardda takes the stand and recalls what happened: Ardda is at Fixit-Dan's house having a doll repaired when Ann, who has claimed that she never left the doctor's on the day of the explosion, comes to see him. Dan has a back room where he is experimenting with a prototype atomic energy machine. Curley then takes the stand and continues the story: On the same day, Dan and the kids accompany him to Dr. Robbin's office to have his sore toe examined. When the doctor asks Dan if his experiments are successful, he replies that he is ready to build a full-scale machine. Dan is about to hand over the specifications and the all-important firing chamber to Dr. Robbin when he becomes suspicious of Robbin's intended use of the apparatus. They have an argument, which the kids overhear, and Robbin takes possession of the firing chamber, but Dan holds onto the plans. When Curley concludes his testimony, Dan suddenly shows up in the courtroom and the prosecutor orders him to be held for questioning. After the kids visit Dan in jail, bringing him keys and a book of fairy tales with a water pistol concealed in it, Dan tells his defense attorney that his firing chamber could not possibly have caused the explosion. As the chamber is a key piece of evidence, the kids decide to return to Dr. Robbin's sinister house to try to find it. There, they fall into an underground chamber, discover Robbin's research laboratory and find the firing chamber, only to have it taken from them by a chimpanzee. Ann and the defense attorney, who are also looking for evidence, then show up at the house to the house. Two of the kids, Dis and Dat, investigate an industrial-sized washing and ironing machine, which starts up with Dat inside, and the chimp puts the machine through additional cycles. After several "haunted house" adventures, Speck opens a door and the body of the attorney falls out. However, the lawyer has only been knocked out and he and Ann continue their own search. The chimp eventually surrenders the firing chamber to Dudley and Speck, but they are then trapped by a gorilla. After Curley finds a phone and summons the police, "Rags," the kids's dog, helps Dan to escape from the jail. They arrive at the house as the kids are being pursued by the giant gorilla. The police shoot the gorilla, who turns out to be Dr. Robbin in a gorilla suit. Ann explains that she was suspicious of what Robbin was doing and speculates that he must have faked his own murder in an attempt to incriminate Dan and her.
Director
Bernard Carr
Cast
Larry Olsen
Eilene Janssen
Gerald Perreau
Ardda Lynwood
Dale Belding
Renee Beard
Donald King
Virginia Grey
Don Castle
George Zucco
Paul Hurst
Whitford Kane
Wilton Graff
Claire Dubrey
Grant Mitchell
Charles Gemora
Marshall Ruth
Allen Mathews
John Canady
Frank O'connor
Bill Ruhl
William Forrest Jr.
Steve Carruthers
Rags, A Dog
Crew
Albert Antonucci
William Anzer
Mary Barnard
Harry Black
John W. Boyle
Dick Burgess
Ellis W. Carter
Fern Carter
Edward Comfort
Al Cram
Omar Farrell
Loretta Francel
Maurice Geraghty
Arthur Gerstle
Mitch Grimes
Burris Grimwood
Eugene Hackley
Cliff Hutchinson
Menifee Johnstone
Fred Knoth
James Lane
Earl Leas
Robert F. Mcgowan
Robert F. Mcgowan
John H. Morse
Charles Morton
Charles Oelze
Ann Purdy
Jerome Pycha Jr.
William Randall
Dorothy Reid
Hal Roach
Hal Roach Jr.
Heinz Roemheld
Roy W. Seawright
Arthur Seid
William Stevens
Jack Temple
Sidney Van Keuren
Gordon Wells
Sam Williamson
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
Some sources list this film's title as Who Killed "Doc" Robbin?. All of the children appearing in the film had previously appeared in Hal Roach's comedy Curley. In the opening credits, actors Renee Beard and Donald King are listed twice, first by their character names "Dis" and "Dat" and then by their real names. Like Curley and The Fabulous Joe, Who Killed Doc Robbin was paired with Here Comes Trouble and released in 1948 as Laff-Time. Although designed to play as a double-feature, Who Killed Doc Robbin and Here Comes Trouble also played separately and were released as second features in some locations. Laff-Time was the last of Roach's "streamlined features," a series of short comedies. The first streamlined feature was the 1941 film Tanks a Million.
