Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case is an American film drama in black and white led 1943 Director of the Year Willis Goldbeck wrote the screenplay Martin Berkeley , Harry Ruskin and Lawrence P. Bachmann . The main roles were played by Lionel Barrymore , Van Johnson and Keye Luke . Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case is the twelfth film by Dr. Kildare series by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the third without Dr. Kildare.
action
At Blair General Hospital in New York , Dr. Leonard Gillespie and his two competing assistants Dr. Randall Adams and Dr. Lee Wong Howe with three different, simultaneous events.
There is Marcia Bradburn, who wants to marry Sergeant Patrick J. Orisin but fears the reaction of her former fiancé Roy Teadwell. In calling Dr. Gillespie had Dr. Gillespie diagnosed with this dementia praecox . Roy was sentenced to life imprisonment after several murders. Dr. Gillespie reassures Marcia, answers and Dr. Adams promptly asked for a visit to the prison. There he examines Roy and speaks to him, assuring him that he cannot remember any of his crimes. Dr. Gillespie continues to argue with the prison director that Roy belongs in a sanatorium and not in prison, even though the judges in Roy’s trial had come to a different conclusion. Therefore, Dr. Gillespie and Dr. Adams weeks later, back in prison, with the director and the prison committee, but Dr. Gillespie didn't believe it. They call for Roy, who had just read about Marcia's engagement in the newspaper. But he's armed and he has two accomplices with him. When a committee member picks up the phone, Roy shoots him and takes the others hostage. So he can escape from prison. But soon he gets into a police lockdown, so that he flees with the hostages to a hut in the forest. Soon the hut is surrounded by the police. Dr. Gillespie manages to convince Roy that he has a mental health problem that will keep turning him into a criminal. Roy then disarms his accomplices and leaves the hut. He shoots indiscriminately at the police, so that he is soon shot.
Dr. Meanwhile, Lee treats Alvin F. Peterson, a US Air Force soldier who lost both legs in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . He is also depressed and listless when prosthetic legs are surgically attached to him. He burns the letters that he receives from his fiancée unread. Dr. Lee swaps one of these letters and hands it to Dr. Gillespie. When he reads that the fiancée is still by Peterson, he asks head nurse Molly Byrd to answer the letter. There is a reply, but that doesn't motivate Peterson. One day, Dr. Lee gave him Mr. Coleman, a good friend of Dr. Gillespies. He paid for the operation and tells Peterson about his life. As a boy, a tram ran over both legs, whereupon he lost it. Now he is living well and successfully with his prostheses, which he willingly shows. Right now, Peterson is so motivated for his exercises that Dr. Lee can't get him back on the exercise machine quickly enough after a fall.
In the children's ward, four girls, all of whom have just been operated on, have erysipelas . They develop a high fever, so the ward has to be quarantined . In addition to two nurses, Dr. Gillespie and his two assistants in the restricted area. They fight for several days to keep the girls alive, and they succeed. However, one of the nurses becomes infected and dies shortly afterwards.
Ruth Edly, who works as a social worker at the hospital, has now been with Dr. Adams invited to her apartment. For the first two invitations, ambulance driver Joe Wayman picked him up to leave for prison every few minutes. This meeting turns into a surprise birthday party for Dr. Gillespie, to whom the clinic director Dr. Carew, Molly Byrd and Dr. Lee come with his girlfriend. The newly married Marcia also comes with her husband, as do the four girls and Alvin Peterson, who is dancing a waltz with Molly Byrd.
background
Occupation and technical staff
After he was involved in the script in the first eleven parts of the series and in the previous film Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant had also directed, Willis Goldbeck limited himself to Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case on the directorial work. Donna Reed stepped out again in her role Calling Dr. Gillespie , while Phil Brown was replaced by John Craven in the role of Roy Todwell . Marilyn Maxwell made her first appearance on the series.
For the production design in Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case were Cedric Gibbons and Edwin B. Willis responsible. The costume designer was Irene .
Filming
The production of Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case ran from November 23, 1942 to mid-January 1943. The film was shot in the MGM studios.
Premiere
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case premiered in New York on May 4, 1943 and was distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . There is no German version of the film.
reception
Reviews
Contemporary reviews
The critics of the Motion Picture Review found Dr. Gilliespie's Criminal Case were entertaining and spoke of a well-balanced mixture of humor and human interest. In Harrison's report is of a below-average result of the speech. The film skips from one story to another, and these stories are barely related. The story of the soldier who lost his legs is presented intelligently, but it is not what viewers want to see in times of war. The story with the sick children is too heartbreaking to be entertaining. On the other hand, the scenes in which Dr. Gillespie is kidnapped. In addition, the rivalry between his assistants is a little amusing. The effect of the amputated leg story on the cinema audience is also deepened in an editorial in Harrison's Reports . Something like this might be possible in war films where nothing else is expected, but it is out of place in a hospital film. The audience also wanted to be distracted by the war and would not want to see something like that. This also explains that some cinema owners have already complained that many of their regular audiences do not come. There was harsh criticism from Variety : the story was weak, as were the dialogues. The film was badly edited and way too long, it was boring from the start. The really good cast doesn't help either. The performance of William Lundigan is highlighted . There are also very good prospects for Marilyn Maxwell .
Modern reviews
Leonard Maltin gave the film 2½ out of 4 and noted that the episode was unusually serious. Hal Erickson found Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case too long. Paul Mavis panned the film. He saw five stories at once. Among them is propaganda that should show how much the country cares for seriously wounded war returnees. It also shows how Donna Reed struggles to find a reason why her character would act the way she does. And then there is the strange love story between Dr. Adams and Ruth Adly, in which no motivation for Ruth can be seen and in which Dr. Adams looked like he was fainting every time Ruth advances. It is also incomprehensible why the two meet every time in the apartment in which Dr. Adams would be called from the hospital. In summary, he thinks the film is seriously stupid.
Web links
- Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case at Turner Classic Movies (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Frank Miller: Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943) - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies . Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
- ↑ a b Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943). In: AFI Catalog. American Film Institute , accessed April 11, 2020 .
- ^ Allan R. Ellenberger: Margaret O'Brien: A Career Chronicle and Biography . McFarland, Jefferson 2000, ISBN 0-7864-2155-X , pp. 57–62 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed April 11, 2020]).
- ↑ Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case . In: The Women's University Club in the American Association of University Women (Ed.): Motion Picture Reviews . May 1943, p. 6 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed April 11, 2020]).
- ↑ “Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Calse ”with Lionel Barrymore . In: Harrison's Reports . May 8, 1943, p. 76 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed April 11, 2020]).
- ^ A Lack of Consideration for the Public's State of Mind . In: Harrison's Reports . May 8, 1943, p. 73 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed April 11, 2020]).
- ↑ Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case . In: Variety . May 5, 1943, p. 16 (English, online at Archive.org [accessed April 11, 2020]).
- ^ Leonard Maltin : Leonard Maltin's Classic Movie Guide . Plume, New York 2015, ISBN 978-0-14-751682-4 , pp. 183 (English).
- ↑ Hal Erickson : Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943). In: AllMovie . Retrieved April 11, 2020 (English).
- ^ Paul Mavis: Dr. Gillespie Film Collection (Warner Archive Collection). In: DVDTalk. November 12, 2014, accessed April 11, 2020 .