The wedding of Dr. Kildare (Lew Ayres) and Nurse Mary Lamont (Laraine Day) is fast approaching. There's excitement and happiness in the air as everybody prepares for the big day. But an unexpected tragedy leaves Kildare devastated. It's up to Dr. Gillespie (Lionel Barrymore) to try and help the young doctor recover.
The eighth Dr. Kildare movie is the penultimate one for Lew Ayres, who would be forced out of the series after the next one. You would think that MGM knew far ahead of time that this would be the case, given how Lionel Barrymore dominates the screen time. The big news is that this was the last of the movies Laraine Day appeared in. MGM wanted to move her on to bigger and better things. Whatever the reason behind it, it was a bold choice to go the direction they went. The series had pretty good continuity and the events of this movie would still affect Kildare in the next film. The cast of regulars are all wonderful, going from comedy to tragedy without skipping a beat. Love the little girl who wants to marry Kildare and justifies the age difference because "hillbillies do it." It's probably Ayres' finest hour in the series, dramatically speaking. Red Skelton provides most of the comic relief. At one point in the film Dr. Gillespie relates the story about a composer he once loved. He plays some of her music on the piano. Barrymore wrote this music himself.
This is one of my favorite Kildare movies. The medical case isn't a big deal but the wonderful characters are what sell the story, as usual. Good writing, directing, acting....it's one of the best of the series. By the way, in the scene where Mary is trying on her dress and talking with Jimmy's mother, listen to the funny way the cook pronounces mayonnaise. Little things like that always give me a kick when watching older films.
