Crime Doctor (film)

Last updated
Crime Doctor
Crime Doctor FilmPoster.jpeg
theatrical poster
Directed by Michael Gordon
Written by C. Graham Baker
Louis Lantz
Jerome Odlum
Based on Crime Doctor
1940-7 radio series
by Max Marcin
Produced byRalph Cohn
Starring Warner Baxter
Margaret Lindsay
John Litel
Cinematography James S. Brown Jr.
Edited by Dwight Caldwell
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Mischa Bakaleinikoff (uncredited)
Production
company
Columbia Pictures
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date
  • June 22, 1943 (1943-06-22)
Running time
66 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Crime Doctor (1943) is a crime film adapted from the radio series of the same name. The film stars Warner Baxter as a man with amnesia determined to remember his past. [1] As with the radio series, the film deals with the complex issues of mental health and moral responsibility in the criminal-justice system. The film was released by Columbia Pictures.

Contents

Nine low-budget sequels followed from 1943 through 1949, all starring Baxter as the Crime Doctor. [2] The sequels are more conventional mysteries than is the original film, with the main character working as a psychiatrist to rehabilitate lawbreakers while also solving crimes as an amateur sleuth. Baxter finished his career with the series before suffering a nervous breakdown and severe arthritis. He died two years after the final Crime Doctor film. [3]

Plot

During the Great Depression, a man is ejected from a speeding car. When he regains consciousness in a hospital, he has amnesia. He is visited by a man who accuses him of faking his condition. The stranger calls the patient Phil and demands to know what happened to a valise, then flees when Phil summons a nurse for help. When the man recovers, he assumes the name Robert Ordway after a hospital benefactor.

Ordway's doctor John Carey wants to continue treating him and allows Ordway to live at his house. When all attempts to discover Ordway's identity fail, he begins to research his condition. After ten years, he has become a successful psychiatrist, in partnership with Carey. Ordway begins treating prison inmates. He is so successful that he is named head of the state parole board.

While on a date in a nightclub with social worker Grace Fielding, Ordway is recognized by two men from his past, Joe Dylan and Nick Ferris. Along with a third man, Emilio Caspari, the men are unsure if Ordway is their partner in crime. They convince convict Pearl Adams, their associate's ex-girlfriend, to apply for parole. At her hearing, she calls Ordway Dr. Morgan. Ordway badgers her until she reveals that he is Phil Morgan, the mastermind of a $200,000 payroll robbery from which the money was never recovered.

To trigger his memory, he contacts the three men and reenacts the events of the day on which he lost his memory. Tempers flare and the men fight, and during the struggle, Ordway is struck on the head, triggering memories of his past. With the men at gunpoint, he calls the police and has them arrested.

Morgan insists on a trial for the robbery. He admits his wrongdoing but takes pride in his accomplishments since the crime. The jury finds him guilty but recommends clemency. The judge sentences him to the minimum term of ten years but suspends the sentence, saying, "We need men like you."

Cast

Crime Doctor Films

Related Research Articles

David Clennon is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Miles Drentell in the ABC series thirtysomething and Once and Again, as well as his role as Palmer in the John Carpenter film The Thing. He has been frequently cast in films directed by Hal Ashby, Costa-Gavras and Jordan Walker-Pearlman.

<i>Crime Wave</i> (1954 film) 1954 film by André de Toth

Crime Wave is a 1954 American film noir starring Sterling Hayden and Gene Nelson, and directed by Andre de Toth. It was adapted from a short story which originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post - "Criminal Mark" by John and Ward Hawkins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Litel</span> American actor (1892–1972)

John Beach Litel was an American film and television actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Carey</span> American actor (1929–1994)

Timothy Agoglia Carey was an American film and television character actor who was typically cast as manic or violent characters who are driven to extremes. He is particularly known for his collaborations with Stanley Kubrick in the films The Killing (1956) and Paths of Glory (1957), and for appearing in the two John Cassavetes directed films Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). Other notable film credits include Crime Wave (1954), East of Eden (1955), One-Eyed Jacks (1961), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), Head (1968) and The Outfit (1973).

<i>Big Jim McLain</i> 1952 film by Edward Ludwig

Big Jim McLain is a 1952 American film noir political thriller film starring John Wayne and James Arness as HUAC investigators hunting down communists in the postwar Hawaii organized-labor scene. Edward Ludwig directed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Morgan</span> American actor (1883–1956)

Raphael Kuhner Wuppermann, known professionally as Ralph Morgan, was a Hollywood stage and film character actor, and union activist. He was a brother of actor Frank Morgan as well as the father of actress Claudia Morgan.

<i>Man in the Dark</i> 1953 film by Lew Landers

Man in the Dark is a 1953 film noir drama 3-D film directed by Lew Landers and starring Edmond O'Brien, Audrey Totter and Ted de Corsia. It is a remake of the 1936 Ralph Bellamy film The Man Who Lived Twice.

<i>Just Before Dawn</i> (1946 film) 1946 film by William Castle

Just Before Dawn (1946) is the sixth Crime Doctor film produced by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by William Castle and written by Eric Taylor and Aubrey Wisberg. The film stars Warner Baxter, Adele Roberts, Mona Barrie and Martin Kosleck. It is also known as Exposed by the Crime Doctor.

The Crime Doctor is a fictional character created by Max Marcin. Criminal Phil Morgan suffers amnesia and becomes criminal psychologist Dr. Ordway. He uses his expertise to solve crimes as well as to help patients.

<i>Crime Doctors Warning</i> 1945 film by William Castle

Crime Doctor's Warning is a 1945 American mystery film directed by William Castle, and fourth in the Crime Doctor series of ten films produced between 1943 and 1949.

<i>The Millerson Case</i> 1947 film by George Archainbaud

The Millerson Case is a 1947 American mystery drama film directed by George Archainbaud and starring Warner Baxter, Nancy Saunders and Clem Bevans. In the 8th film of Columbia's Crime Doctor series, Dr. Robert Ordway is vacationing in the Blue Ridge Mountains district of West Virginia when a Typhoid fever epidemic breaks out. Three deaths occur, with the first two being typhoid-caused. The death of the third person is from poisoning.

Crime Doctor is a radio crime drama in the United States. Sponsored by Philip Morris cigarettes, it was broadcast on CBS August 4, 1940 – October 19, 1947.

<i>Millionaires in Prison</i> 1940 American film

Millionaires in Prison is a 1940 American crime drama film directed by Ray McCarey and written by Lynn Root and Frank Fenton. The film stars Lee Tracy, Linda Hayes, Raymond Walburn, Morgan Conway and Truman Bradley. The film was released on July 12, 1940, by RKO Pictures.

<i>They All Come Out</i> 1939 film by Jacques Tourneur

They All Come Out is a 1939 American crime film directed by Jacques Tourneur, written by John C. Higgins, and starring Rita Johnson, Tom Neal, Bernard Nedell, Edward Gargan, John Gallaudet and Addison Richards. It was released on August 4, 1939, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case is a 1943 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Warner Baxter, Lynn Merrick and Gloria Dickson. It is the second in a series of Crime Doctor films made by Columbia Pictures.

Shadows in the Night is a 1944 American mystery film directed by Eugene Forde and starring Warner Baxter, Nina Foch and George Zucco. It is part of the Crime Doctor series of films made by Columbia Pictures. It is also known by the alternative title of Crime Doctor's Rendezvous.

<i>The Crime Doctors Courage</i> 1945 film by George Sherman

The Crime Doctor's Courage is a 1945 American mystery film directed by George Sherman and starring Warner Baxter, Hillary Brooke and Jerome Cowan. It is part of the Crime Doctor series of films made by Columbia Pictures.

<i>Crime Doctors Man Hunt</i> 1946 film by William Castle

Crime Doctor's Man Hunt is a 1946 American mystery film directed by William Castle and starring Warner Baxter, Ellen Drew and William Frawley. It is part of the Crime Doctor series of films made by Columbia Pictures.

<i>The Crime Doctors Gamble</i> 1947 film by William Castle

The Crime Doctor's Gamble is a 1947 American mystery film directed by William Castle and starring Warner Baxter, Micheline Cheirel and Roger Dann. It is part of the Crime Doctor series of films made by Columbia Pictures.

<i>The Crime Doctors Diary</i> 1949 film by Seymour Friedman

The Crime Doctor's Diary is a 1949 American mystery film directed by Seymour Friedman and starring Warner Baxter, Stephen Dunne and Lois Maxwell. It is the last of the Crime Doctor series of films made by Columbia Pictures.

References

  1. ↑ Blottner, Gene (2011). "Crime Doctor". Columbia Pictures Movie Series, 1926–1955: The Harry Cohn Years. McFarland. ISBN   9780786486724.
  2. ↑ "The Crime Doctor" (notes) on TCM.com
  3. ↑ Arnold, Jeremy "The Crime Doctor" on TCM.com
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.