vincentlynch-moonoi This was a fine beginning to the MGM Dr. Kildare series. In fact, it had been years since I had watched any of these films, and I had forgotten just how good they were for B pictures. It's great that TCM occasionally broadcasts them.This particular story features a newly graduated from medical school, Dr. James Kildare. Although he has been chosen to be the assistant of Dr. Gillespie, he has to return to his hometown and his parents...his father is a small town doctor. They expect him to partner with his father in his medical practice. However, he intends to return to Blair General Hospital in the big city. The young doctor deals with attempted suicide, errors by medical staff, and Kildare's attempt to solve the suicidal girl through some detective work. There was something special about Lionel Barrymore, even here at the age of 60, all crippled up with arthritis. Lew Ayres was a fine actor, as well, although I remember him mostly for his television roles in his old age. Naturally, medicine has changed a great deal wince 1938 when this film was made. But this film is a sort of testament to the doctors who struggled to make a difference in the early years of big city hospitals and more modern medicine.

edwagreen Enjoyable film except for the fact that Lew Ayres, our young Dr. Kildare, resorts to being a sleuth to help determine why a young heiress attempted suicide. The film should have stuck with Kildare's encounters with the irascible, contentious, cantankerous Lionel Barrymore. The latter acted the same way years later in "It's A Wonderful Life,"Knowing that he wants more out of medicine, Kildare decides to leave his father's country practice and work at a N.Y. hospital. There he shows determination and foresight, which of course is caught by the ever-nasty Gillespie. (Barrymore)We see the idea of wealthy people getting better hospital treatment and the bureaucratic side of any hospital. Nothing much has changed.

bkoganbing Although Max Brand's character of Dr. James Kildare first appeared over at Paramount's Interns Can't Take Money with Joel McCrea, the first of the classic Dr. Kildare movies was Young Dr. Kildare with Lew Ayres as the idealistic young intern. The series was done over at MGM and that most expensive of all studios gave a polished touch to even a series of B pictures.Young Dr. Kildare sets the series up with Lew Ayres newly graduated from medical school deciding to intern at Blair General Hospital in New York instead of starting practice over in the small Connecticut town with his parents Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn. While there he comes to the attention of renowned doctor Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Leonard Gillespie who spends the whole film putting him through some paces as he decides whether this young man can cut it as his new assistant.Although Ayres's main challenge with purportedly mentally ill rich girl Jo Ann Sayers is not terribly convincing in its simplistic approach to her psychiatric problems which resulted in a suicide attempt the sincere playing of Ayres, Barrymore, and the rest cover a multitude of script holes. Walter Kingsford also makes his debut in the series as the officious hospital president Dr. Carew. Although a pattern is set with the Carew character here who realizes he's just a bureaucrat with an MD and he defers to Barrymore on medical questions.The Kildare series got a decent if not outstanding debut with Young Dr. Kildare.

MartinHafer The fact that they made so many Dr. Kildare films in the 30s and 40s is more a testament to the acting of Lew Ayers and Lionel Barrymore than to the quality of the writing for this film. In so many ways, it seems like just another B-movie but somehow it managed to generate enough interest to create a series of films.Interestingly, not all of the Kildare films featured Lew Ayers in the lead, as after 1942, the series continued with Lionel Barrymore and other young doctors. Sadly, this is apparently because the public grew to hate Ayers because of his status as a conscientious objector during WWII. However, this is really unfair as when drafted, Ayers DID serve with distinction on the front lines--as a corpsman and chaplain's aid where he risked his life but was unwilling to kill. This abhorrence of violence stemmed from his role in the greatest anti-war film of all-time, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. Fortunately for Ayers, a few years after the war, his public image changed and he gained acceptance--though his career never replicated the heights of his Dr. Kildare years.Now the fact that Barrymore made fifteen films in the series is very interesting, as his character was diagnosed with terminal cancer in this first film! According to the brilliant Kildare's opinion, Barrymore (as 'Dr. Gillespie') SHOULD have died within the year! Perhaps Kildare came up with some miracle cure in some subsequent film to explain this discrepancy.This is the first film in the series. Because of that, much of the film is spent establishing who the character is, creating a back story and installing him in his new job as an intern at a big New York hospital. I liked this part of the film a lot and liked the characters.However, oddly, the actual "big cases" they created for this first film were really limp. The first was a small one that made absolutely no sense--none. While assigned to ambulance duty, a patient dies and the guy turns out to be an important politician. Kildare is accused of incompetence but the guy died because the ambulance assistant (Nat Pendleton) ignored Kildare's instructions. Why Kildare hid this from the investigating board is not only inexplicable but highly unprofessional. The second is a case involving an attempted suicide by a rich heiress. Despite having a prominent psychiatrist assigned to the case (Monty Woolley in a very tiny role), Kildare insists he knows more than ANYONE at the hospital and is insubordinate. Then, when he's suspended, he goes into action like a Charlie Chan-type character. None of this made any sense, either, and Kildare came off as a know-it-all. Not an auspicious beginning to the series! Still, despite the film's many deficiencies, it is watchable. In many ways, the relationship between Gillespie and Kildare is reminiscent of the TV series "The Paper Chase".By the way, the receptionist in the film is played by a young Blossom Rock--the same actress who played 'Grandmama' on "The Addams Family" TV show. Interestingly, she was Jeanette MacDonald's less famous sister.