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After booting Lew Ayres out of the series, top billing was turned over to Lionel Barrymore's Dr. Leonard B. Gillespie for six more movies. Though there are most definitely enjoyable moments in these later films, something is noticeably missing without Lew Ayres. I might even go so far as to say that the series lost part of its original spunk, since young Dr. Kildare is no longer around to spar with Gillespie, and none of his 'replacements' even come close. But Lionel always delivers, in each and every scene he gets, in spite of the fact that some of said scenes are over the top corny. All that said, Gillespie was, from the beginning, the best thing about the series.
A list by barrymost
6
Items on this list59%
Average Rating8h 43m
Total Runtime$718K
Total Revenue1
Calling Dr. Gillespie
The first film without Lew Ayres, and it's not bad, at that! Genre lines become hopelessly blurred as it successfully and entertainingly combines drama, comedy, and film noir. "I'm sorry to tell you: your son's a mental case."
Movie
August 1, 1942
1h 29m
$0
2
Dark Delusion
The final entry in the series. I was pleasantly surprised by it, as it's quite an enjoyable little diversion. But I would have liked it more without two almost unbearably, painfully corny scenes. Watch it for yourself in order to decide what they were. As a sidenote: since this was the last entry, I wasn't totally sure how to respond to the ending. On the one hand, it was hilarious. On the other hand, it also made me want to scream in annoyance. Anyone up for a hand of gin rummy?
Movie
June 24, 1947
1h 30m
$718K
3
3 Men in White
"Overplaying to the balcony at the top of his lungs," as one reviewer described it, ol' Gillespie is apparently having a less than wonderful week, and no one is exempt from his hilariously ego-maniacal outbursts. That said, it's a fun entry in the series, and features a performance from a young Ava Gardner.
Movie
May 25, 1944
1h 25m
$0
4
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case
With more subplots than an insect has legs, this is one of the more outlandish installments. (And let's face it, that's saying a lot.) The main story attempts to deal with some unfinished business from the earlier film, "Calling Dr. Gillespie". But the actor who originally played the psycho of the story was replaced by someone rather less than adequate, when compared with the first actor.
Movie
May 8, 1943
1h 29m
$0
5
Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant
This one simply didn't seem as engaging to me personally, but it does feature a good performance by Susan Peters, who also had a supporting role in the Ronald Colman film "Random Harvest" that same year. Now, I would have been utterly overwhelmed if I had the opportunity to make a movie with Lionel Barrymore and a movie with Ronald Colman in the same year!
Movie
November 1, 1942
1h 27m
$0
6
Between Two Women
The main reason I consider this the worst of the Dr. Gillespie series is that Van Johnson's character temporarily takes precedence over Gillespie. Now I for one would have liked to have seen Dr. Gillespie make that speech at the medical conference in Chicago.
Movie
March 28, 1945
1h 23m
$0