The role of Dr. Kildare was originated onscreen by Joel McCrea in the Paramount picture Interns Can't Take Money (1937), but MGM purchased the rights in the hopes of having another bankable series character like Andy Hardy or Maisie. Ayres was leery at first of being identified so strongly with one character, but after a starlit stroll where the deeply religious actor maintained he heard a voice from the sky say "Yes, do it!", he signed on for what became the defining role of his career. In this, the fourth Dr. Kildare movie, our doctor wants to marry Nurse Lamont (Laraine Day), but earning enough money to do so would mean accepting a job away from his curmudgeonly mentor Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore). When Kildare makes the hard decision to postpone marriage, his relationship with Lamont is threatened by the appearance of disgraced brain surgeon Dr. Lane (Shepperd Strudwick). Can Kildare keep his personal and professional life separate when he's asked to help restore Lane to medical competence? This movie is also remarkable as a time capsule into no-longer-accepted medical practices, like using insulin shock as a treatment for mental illness.

By Violet LeVoit