Lionel Barrymore is the omniscient Dr. Gillespie in this episodic entry into the popular Dr. Kildare/Dr. Gillespie series. The overworked doc has two ambitious men working under him, cute Van Johnson and charming Keye Luke, and they both want to be his top man. Donna Reed is a beautiful young woman who comes to Gillespie for advice as the film begins - she wants to get married, but she's worried about a crazy man, crazy about her, who is now in jail for murder. Gillespie endeavors to get the man institutionalized. He helps give a young man who lost his legs during the war have the will to continue; he saves four little girls in the children's' ward; wrecks Van Johnson's love life - it's all just business as usual for Dr. Gillespie of Blair General.
The cast is charming but this film is just too sweet for words, and Dr. Gillespie is a real fantasy character even for 1943. I suppose with the war on, this is what America wanted to see. It's interesting that like our President at the time, Gillespie is also in a wheelchair, in a position of power, and larger than life.
The cast is charming but this film is just too sweet for words, and Dr. Gillespie is a real fantasy character even for 1943. I suppose with the war on, this is what America wanted to see. It's interesting that like our President at the time, Gillespie is also in a wheelchair, in a position of power, and larger than life.