The story of Dr. Kildare.
Whatsoever house I enter, there will I go for the benefit of the sick.
And whatsoever things I see or hear concerning the life of men, I will keep silence thereon,
counting such things to be held as sacred trusts.
I will exercise my heart solely for the good of the sick.
The story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.
Metro-Goldwyn-Beyer brought you those famous motion pictures.
Now this exciting, heartwarming series is heard on radio.
In just a moment, the story of Dr. Kildare.
But first, your announcer.
Now the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
Blair General Hospital, one of the great citadels of American medicine.
A clump of gray-white buildings planted deep in the heart of New York.
The nerve center of medical progress.
Where great minds and skilled hands wage man's everlasting battle against death and disease.
Blair General Hospital.
Where life begins, where life ends, and where life goes on.
Parker, I'm bored.
Right up to the back teeth, just plain downright bored.
Well, now that's just too bad, Dr. Gillespie.
You can't have excitement all the time, so you might just as well relax and enjoy it.
Enjoy being bored?
Parker, according to Schopenhauer, the most general survey shows us that the two foes of human happiness are pain and boredom.
That's very interesting, Dr. Gillespie. And who is Schopenhauer?
Ugh, who is Schopenhauer? Parker, you are an idiot.
Well, I can't remember every doctor who comes into this hospital.
I could hold a more intelligent conversation with an anthropoid ape.
I beg your pardon, Dr. Gillespie.
Yes, sir.
Well, come in, Pythagontropus erectus.
Huh? Well, I don't follow you, Doc. Sir, I mean.
Never mind, Wayman. What do you want?
Well, I was looking for Dr. Kildare. They told me to bring him this here lab report, and I thought...
Lab report? Oh, here. Let me see it.
Yes, sir.
Hmm. Hey, Parker, do you recall any patient of Kildare's named Barbara Lane?
Why, no, Dr. Gillespie.
Hey, that's the dame I'm bringing about noon. Emergency call from a hotel a couple of blocks down the street. She had an overdose of sleeping pills.
Hmm. That's a very interesting report. Was she unconscious, Wayman?
Sure. Out cold. Limp is a wet noodle. We found a half a bottle of pills in her room. Dr. Keering was the intern.
Remarkable. Now, how in the world could... Oh, Kildare. Come in, come in, come in. I got something here to show you. What's up?
Hey, hey, hey, might as well look at this. It's for you.
No. Oh, it's the lab report on Miss Lane. Young Keering asked me to check her over, but I haven't had time yet.
She's in an emergency case. Acute barbatoid poisoning from an overdose.
From an overdose of what?
Concentration in bloodstream, three parts. Wayman, I understand you and Keering found this girl in a state of coma.
Coma? Limp is a wet noodle.
Oh, well, yes, she was.
Why, that concentration is no more than she'd have from taking one tablet.
One tablet, Doc? I'm telling you, the bottle was half empty.
Nevertheless, this girl hasn't taken more than one or maybe two tablets. So why was she in a state of coma?
Of course, there could be an idiosyncrasy in her reaction to barbatoid.
Ah, yes, there could be, but the odds are against it. You know, Jimmy, this Lane girl may have deliberately faked the case of barbatoid poisoning.
But why? She went through some pretty rough treatment when she was brought in here. Stomach pump, mag salt, the fedrin shots. She couldn't have enjoyed it.
No, no, no, but she might put up with it if she had a reason.
What reason?
Oh, I don't know yet. Maybe you'd better have a talk with it, Jimmy.
I'm going to.
Dr. Kildare, don't you pay any attention to him. He's just trying to stir up excitement because he's bored. He said so.
Ah, Parker, I can only think of one reason why I go on putting up with you. The fact that you stuff breed a habit in a man.
Oh, you and your show-pin-how.
You know, when you come right down to it, Miss Lane, we don't know very much about you.
No, I suppose you don't, Dr. Kildare.
The hotel clerk said you registered the day before yesterday from Chicago. That's all he knows about you.
Except that one of the maids found you unconscious in your room around noon today.
Yes, that's right. I can't really understand what happened.
Don't you have any relatives or friends here whom you'd like us to notify?
No, no, I don't know anyone in New York. I just got in a couple of days ago. I came here to look for work.
Without any luggage?
Well, it's checked at Penn Station.
Where's the baggage check?
Well, it's in my purse. I guess it is.
The nurse says there was nothing in your purse but some money and a lipstick.
Well, then I must have lost it somewhere. Why do you keep asking me questions? I don't have to answer you. I haven't done anything.
No, Miss Lane.
You don't have any right to persecute me like this. I didn't ask to be brought here. I don't have to tell you anything.
Miss Lane.
I haven't done anything to be treated this way. I can't stand it and I won't. I can't even...
Miss Lane, stop it.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get all upset like that.
It's all right. I'm sorry too. I guess I wasn't very tactful.
It's just that I'm... I'm nervous and jumpy. After effects, I guess.
After effects of what?
Well, of all those sleeping pills, of course.
How many, would you say, Miss Lane?
Well, I don't know. A whole lot, I guess. I don't know.
As a matter of fact, didn't you only take one?
I... I don't remember.
What's the last thing you can remember before you were brought here?
Well, I... I couldn't sleep all night. I was upset.
And this morning I decided to take a sleeping pill and the next thing I woke up here in the hospital.
Well, I guess that's all. How do you feel now?
Oh, I feel all right, I guess.
Good. Sure you don't want us to notify your family?
I don't have any. My parents are both dead.
I see. Well, ring for the nurse if you want anything.
Dr. Kildare, what... what are you planning to do with me?
Well, in view of the circumstances, we'll keep you here tonight for observation.
If you still feel all right tomorrow, you'll be discharged. Is that okay with you?
Why, of course. Sure, it's okay. Why not?
I can't understand Miss Lane's attitude, Dr. Gillespie.
She's... she's antagonistic, on guard, and she flies apart at the slightest pressure.
That girl's up to something, Jimmy. Although she has been.
She's afraid she'll give herself away.
Maybe so. And I still don't know any more about it than I did before I talked to her.
Doesn't make any sense, any way you look at it.
Confounded, Jimmy.
Ordinarily, I don't pay much attention to hunches,
but there's something about this case that keeps nagging at the corner of my brain.
Excuse me, Dr. Gillespie, but...
Ah, what is it, nosy?
I am not, and I... Oh! Is Mr. Lane here to see you?
Lane?
Lane. That's the girl's name. Send him in, Parker.
You may go in, Mr. Lane.
She told me she didn't have any family.
Good afternoon, gentlemen. Good afternoon.
Sit down, Mr. Lane, sit down. Now, what can we do for you?
I came here to see my daughter Barbara, gentlemen.
They told me downstairs that I'd better talk with you first.
She is here, isn't she?
Yes, she's here, Mr. Lane.
Do you know the circumstances of the case?
Yes. My agents had traced her to the hotel last night,
and when I went there to get her this afternoon, the clerk told me what had happened.
You see, gentlemen, my daughter ran away from home a week ago.
Do you have any idea why she decided to come here to New York?
Come to New York? She was in New York.
I have an apartment at 271 Park Avenue.
Well, your daughter seems to have quite an active imagination, Mr. Lane.
Well, I must confess that I... I don't understand that girl, gentlemen.
This isn't the first time she's run away, you know,
and yet I've given her everything money can buy.
Oh, by the way, this package, some clothes and things for Barbara,
is it all right if I take them to her?
Oh, sure, sure, sure. Parker!
Yes, Dr. Gillespie?
Show Mr. Lane up to 512, Parker.
Of course. She'll come with me, sir.
Thank you. Good afternoon, gentlemen.
And I'm sorry for all the trouble my daughter has caused.
No trouble at all. Goodbye.
Well, there goes the end of a good hunch.
Jimmy, I'm not so sure.
The girl found out her father had located her.
She knew she was in for it, so she staged this act for sympathy.
Seems to fit.
Yes, but there's one thing that doesn't fit.
That haunt your mind. And Jimmy, I've still got that hunch.
Well, Dr. Gillespie, sir, I thought you wanted me to get right up here
and tell you what I found out.
Well, then why didn't you? It must be nearly midnight.
No, sir, it's only about ten o'clock, sir.
Wayman, don't start an argument.
Yes, sir. No, sir.
Confounded, I want Kildare.
Well, Sally's already calling him on the public address system.
Now, Wayman, get out of here.
Yes, sir.
Parker!
Oh!
Sorry, Miss Parker. Jeepers, just let me get out of here.
Dr. Gillespie, I was just going up to the ward room
to have tea and sandwiches with the girls,
and if you want something, you can just wait. I won't do it.
Well, so it's mutiny, is it?
Well, I certainly don't see any reason why once in a while I can't...
Oh, Kildare, come in, come in, come in.
Well, I'll be back later, Dr. Gillespie.
Parker, don't you leave this office.
You can lift your pinky some other night.
Oh! Horrible man.
I understand you've been looking for me. What's up?
It's about that Lane girl, Jimmy. Have you talked to her again?
No, but the nurse just told me she's been in good spirits
ever since her father was here this afternoon.
Aye, indeed you have.
Yes, she's been cheerful, talkative, babbled the whole story.
That's what we thought. Play for sympathy from her father.
Remarkable.
Because you might be interested in knowing that Mr. Lane is not her father.
No.
Or at least he's not who we claim to be.
I sent Wayman out to that Park Avenue number he gave us,
and there's no such address.
But it doesn't make sense.
She planned to get into this hospital, Jimmy, but why?
One moment, Mr. Holmes. I'll bring the needle.
Where does Lane fit...?
Needle?
Yes, you remember Sherlock Holmes' one great weakness.
Morbid and depressed earlier, semi-hysteria, feelings of persecution,
and after her father came, buoyant, cheerful, talkative.
Why?
Because he brought her a morphine shot.
Oh, now wait a minute.
Jimmy, Jimmy, Barbara Lane is a drug addict.
You could be right.
The emergency treatment she went through could have covered the symptoms.
Has she asked for a narcotic of any kind?
No, not even a sedative. An addict always do.
But that must be the reason she planned to get in here.
And you watch. She'll pull something else and stay here.
Pardon me, Dr. Kildare.
What is it, Parker?
The dispensary clerk on the fifth floor is here.
That's fine, but I...
Well, here I am, Dr. Kildare. Came down as quick as I could.
Maxie? What are you talking about?
Well, I don't know.
You phoned me about five minutes ago and said to get down to him right away.
I didn't phone you.
But you said it was you or whoever it was said it was.
Now, wait a minute. Did you lock the dispensary?
Well, sure. I always lock it whenever I...
Never mind. Let's get up there fast.
Kildare, what's all this about?
I don't know yet, but Barbara Lane's room is on the fifth floor
in the same wing as the drug dispensary.
Come on, Maxie, let's go.
We return to the story of Dr. Kildare in just a moment.
We continue with the story of Dr. Kildare,
starring Lou Ayres as Dr. Kildare
and Lionel Barabour as Dr. Gillespie.
Well, the dispensary door's still closed, Dr. Kildare.
Everything looks okay from here.
I could be wrong, of course.
Jeepers, boys, I can't get over it.
A slick little girl like that being the half-head.
Well, we'll soon know whether she's been here or not.
The door's still locked.
Open it up, Maxie.
Just a second.
Everything seems to be in order.
Better check the narcotics cabinet.
Yeah, that's what I was saying.
Locked tight.
What a relief.
I guess I'd better take a look inside just to make sure.
Boy, if she want, I should go see if Dr. Gillespie found her in her room.
No, wait a minute, Wayman, I want to see if...
Dr. Kildare.
Yeah.
It's empty.
There's no doubt now what she was up to.
Wayman, get down to the first floor and block off the stairways.
Okay, Doc.
And don't let anyone up or down unless you know who they are.
Got you, boss.
Nobody goes neither way, even if it's over my dead body.
How did she do it, Dr. Kildare?
Both doors are locked and I swear they haven't been forced.
I guess it's that Papa brought her a set of skeleton keys,
along with a morphine shot and some clothes.
He must be the one who phoned me and said it was you.
Yes, they seem to know our routine around here pretty well.
They picked the one time in the evening when all the nurses were off the floor.
How much stuff did you have in the cabinet?
Full quarter.
I refilled it right after I came on duty.
Gosh, that's about 3,000 bucks worth of morphine gun.
It's worth over 100,000 to a peddler.
They cut it about 40 to one on the black market.
Only it's not gone yet and it's not going to be.
Well, I don't know. It looks to me like...
The elevator operator said Barbara Lane hadn't come down.
With Wayman there now, she's trapped somewhere up here.
Maybe you'd better get out and help Wayman.
Okay.
And tell the night supervisor to warn all the nurses.
I'll check with her after I see what Gillespie's found out.
Look, Dr. Gillespie, here's a hospital robe hanging in the closet.
Why, she... she'll catch a death of cold, to say the least.
Parker, you can drop that tone of outraged morality.
The girl's fully clothed.
That was what was in the package her alleged father brought her this afternoon.
Well, I only thought that after all, she...
I know what you thought I always do, ten minutes before you think it.
Well...
According to the eminent philosopher,
the fundamental fault of the female character is that it has no sense of justice.
In your case, Parker, it's merely a matter of no sense at all.
Oh, don't you quote at me anymore.
You've been shoppin'-howling me all day.
Any sign of her, Dr. Gillespie?
No, Jimmy, no, no. She apparently got dressed and skinned out.
Well, the narcotics are gone.
She probably used a skeleton key.
I've got Maxie and Wayman guarding the elevator in the stairs.
Good, good, good.
She's somewhere on these upper floors and she can't get out, but we've got to find her.
Then it might be a good idea to call the police.
Yes, I guess we'll have to if we don't locate her in the next ten minutes or so.
I suppose we ought to notify Carew.
Yeah, well, we'll regard that as the last resort.
Jimmy, I've been trying to figure out just what plan this girl had in mind.
Well, we know what the first part of it was,
to steal a narcotic supply from the dispensary.
After that, she must have planned to get it out of the hospital.
But how did she plan to get herself out, too?
You mean she may intend to come back with it?
Yeah, that stuff could be tossed out of a window.
That's it, that's it.
Maybe she meant to get rid of it and then come back here and go to bed as though nothing happened.
Ordinarily, the drugs wouldn't be missed for several hours.
Elaine is probably waiting outside somewhere.
But if that is it, she couldn't use this room.
All these windows overlook the street there right above the sidewalk.
Well, how about the east side where the ambulance drive comes in?
That's right.
There's a lot of shrubbery next to the building.
No access on this floor, though, except private rooms.
But right below here, the fourth floor terrace, stark out there.
It'd be perfect.
Well, there's just a bare chance, all right.
We can't let any chances slip past. I'm going out there.
Good, good. I'll call Wayman and send him out along the drive where that monkey wrencher is.
Go do it, Jimmy.
Hmm, dark out here.
Miss, Miss Lane?
Who is it?
Oh, there you are.
Dr. Kildare.
Ralph, somebody's here.
Watch out, I've got a fraud.
Stop, don't.
There it comes.
You little fool.
Wayman, over to your left. He's there in the bushes.
There, boss. I see him.
All right, you drop it.
Stay back.
Careful, he may have a gun.
Well, it ain't gonna do him no good.
Nice going, Wayman.
Is he knocked out?
Sure, Josh. Hold it. I'm marrying that as having.
Well, get him over to the ambulance entrance and call the police and hang on to that package.
Okay, boss. Just leave it to me.
I ain't lost the thing.
What are you talking?
Hey, Miss Lane, get down off that parapet.
Get any closer. I'll jump if you do.
Miss Lane, you wouldn't.
What have I got to lose?
What is your life?
Is that all? You don't know very much, do you?
I know that you're a drug addict, if that's what you mean, and I know it isn't your fault.
Tell that to the cops. See if they believe.
I think they'll consider it at least, especially if I stand by you, and I will.
I have a great deal of sympathy for a drug addict, Miss Lane,
and I know this man who posed as your father was probably your source of supply.
That's right, as well as my boss.
A peddler can always give orders to an addict who has to depend on him.
You're so wise, Doctor. Maybe you know everything that can mean.
For one thing, it probably means he forced you into helping him with his theft tonight.
I've seen a lot of addicts, Miss Lane. I've cured a lot of them, too.
How noble of you. And now you're all for saving poor, innocent little me.
You fool. I'm 19 and I've been on the stuff for three years.
Oh, what of it? If you're willing to cooperate with me, I'll...
Dr. Kildare, I've warned you. If you come any closer, I'll jump.
All right. I'll stay where I am, but please listen to me.
Kildare?
Over here, Dr. Gillespie.
Make him stay back, too. I'm warning you.
She's up on the pair if it threatens to jump.
Think she'll do it, Jimmy?
She will if she gets excited.
Any ideas?
No, no. Keep her talking.
Well, what's the plan, boys?
Are two doctors a match for one lousy hophead?
I think that's your own title. I wouldn't call you that.
No? And what would you call me, Dr. Kildare?
I call you a very lovely young girl who's managed to get herself
mixed up in some very nasty trouble before she's even had a chance
to find out what life's all about.
Oh, I know what it's all about, all right. Plenty.
What, a case history for your files, Doc?
I... What's that?
It's the police. After your partner.
Keep her talking, Jimmy. They may have nets.
I would like to hear your story. As a matter of fact, how did it happen?
Oh, you're just stalling. You don't care? Not really?
Yes, I do. Oh, come on now. Tell me. Where did you live and grow up?
Chicago. I ran away from home when I was 15 and came to New York.
I was broke and I couldn't get a job and I kicked around a lot.
Yeah, go on. Guy I knew got me to try a poppin'.
Within a month, I was on the stuff. I've been on it ever since.
We can change that if you'll let us. You think I haven't tried?
Do you know how it feels to try sweating it out, leaving that stuff alone?
Thinking you're going crazy, biting your hands to they blade to keep from screaming?
You can't do it alone. Of course you can't. You need help, medical help.
But I'll see that you get it. Oh, you're lying.
You're only saying that because you don't want me to jump.
Because you want to turn me over to the cops.
Confounded crazy kid. It's no use.
You're like everybody else and you're lying. That's what you're doing.
Whatever we do, it's got to be fast. I won't listen anymore because you don't mean it.
Sometimes you can hit their vanity. I don't know.
You want to trick me and fool me like everybody else.
Miss Lane, you listen to me for just one moment now. I won't.
Afterwards you can go ahead and kill yourself if you want to.
But have you ever seen the body of one who's jumped off a building?
What are you talking about?
Bones break up and it smashes like a piece of ripe fruit.
And the face never looks like a face anymore. Your face is very pretty the way it is now.
Stop that. Stop talking like that.
And another thing, we're not very high up here, you know.
And it's about an even chance you go on living with your face all smashed up.
Stop it. I won't listen to you. Stop saying those things.
I don't know, Jimmy. It's 50-50.
Miss Lane, if you'll step down off that parapet and trust me,
I'll see you through this and I'll ask the court to be given your parole.
And then if you're willing to cooperate with me, I'll cure you.
On my oath as a doctor and by everything in this world I believe in, I promise you that.
Now what about it? Come on, will you take a chance?
If only... If only I could.
Come on, Nason, she's going to jump. She can't. She can't.
I'll take that chance, Dr. Kildare.
Good, good.
When can we start?
You've taken the first step now, Barbara. We've already started.
In just a moment we will return to the story of Dr. Kildare.
And now, once again, the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayers as Dr. Kildare and Lionel
Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
I guess I forgot to mention it, Dr. Gillespie. I had a letter this morning from Bradley up
at White Hill Sanitarium.
Oh, yeah? And how is the Lane girl, Jimmy?
Very enthusiastic about her. Calls her that courageous little Lane kid.
She's apparently still determined to fight it out.
Good, I see.
Those first two weeks are the hard ones.
I hope she makes it. Caught by the drug habit at her age. Beaten before she even had a chance.
Yeah, same old story. Just this once for a thrill.
If they only knew the penalty before they started.
Dr. Gillespie, something terrible is happening.
Oh, well, what's Karoo Dunn now, Barbara?
Oh, no, it has nothing to do with Karoo Dunn.
It's your watch that I was supposed to take to the jewelers last month.
I just found it at my desk. I'd forgotten all about it.
Jimmy, we have here a living proof of a very interesting biological fact.
Oh, what's that?
That the human organism is capable of surviving without a brain.
Oh!
Oh, what? Did you deny that you're a nincompoop?
When?
I've just been waiting for the next time you insulted me like this.
And I would like to inform you that intellect is invisible to the man who has none.
Oh, well, by the great horns.
Where'd you find that?
Why, Dr. Gillespie, don't you remember? That's from Schopenhauer.
You have just heard the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayers and Lionel Barrymore.
Dr. Kildare is presented by arrangement with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer,
producers of Key to the City, starring Clark Gable, Loretta Young, Frank Morgan, and Marilyn Maxwell.
This program was written by Les Crutchfield and directed by William H.
Russo. Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Schuman.
Supporting cast included Virginia Gregg, Ed Max, Barley Bear, Tom Brown, and Barbara Ruick.
Dick Joy speaking.
refreshment music