The story of Dr. Kildare.
Whatsoever house I enter, there will I go for the benefit of the sick.
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 art solely for the cure.
The story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Verimonde.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 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 Verimonde as Dr. Gillespie.
Bel Air General Hospital, one of the great citadels of American medicine.
A clump of gray-white buildings planted deep in the heart of New York.
A nerve center of medical progress, where great minds and skilled hands wage man's everlasting battle against death and disease.
Bel Air General Hospital, where life begins, where life ends, where life goes on.
Come in.
Oh, good evening, Mrs. Murphy.
Good evening to you, Dr. Kildare.
I hate to ask it of you, and I hope you'll forgive me, but would you mind very much if I cleaned up in here now?
No, it's all right, Mrs. Murphy. Go right ahead.
Aren't you here a little early, though? I thought you started work around midnight.
Well, usually I do, but I have to go to court tomorrow morning.
Ah, now what have you been doing?
It isn't me, sir. It's my grandson, Terry.
Oh, well.
He's 14, Dr. Kildare, and I've tried so hard to raise him upright for 10 years now,
ever since my son and his wife, Terry's parents, were killed in an auto-wreck.
Well, what's happened, Mrs. Murphy? What's Terry done?
He stole a revolver from a sporting goods store.
Revolver?
I don't know why he did it.
And now they're holding his trial in juvenile court at 10 o'clock in the morning.
I'm sorry, sir.
Oh, there, there now. Things always look worse before they happen.
But I'm all alone and I don't know what to do.
Look, Mrs. Murphy, suppose I go to court with you in the morning. Would that help any?
Dr. Kildare, if you only would.
Well, then it's settled. Now you go on home and leave the rest of this cleaning for tonight.
I'll meet you in juvenile court in the morning.
Yes, sir, and thank you.
Good morning, Dr. Gillespie.
Kildare, when are you ever going to learn to stop shouldering the responsibilities for other people's troubles?
So your stooges have started work already this morning, huh?
What if you mean Mrs. Murphy? I haven't shirled any responsibility.
But Millie offered to help. She hasn't anyone else to turn to. Somebody has to help her.
And somebody will. But it doesn't require getting emotionally involved in a problem that's of no concern to a doctor.
Well, now, this is quite interesting, coming from a man who's spent most of his life doing just that.
Why, I would confine myself entirely to the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
Except in a few rare cases, of course.
Shall I mention two or three dozen of those rare cases?
That's beside the point. And anyway, this is different.
Now, if it were medical help, yes. Yeah, but this isn't.
Apparently not. Well, I'm still going to see whether there's anything I can do to help. There may not be, of course, but...
Pardon me, gentlemen, but Dr. Carew is here to see you.
Oh? Well, send him in, Father. Yes, Dr. Galasty.
What in sunderation does he want?
Good morning, gentlemen. Good morning, Dr. Carew.
Dr. Kildare, I have just been informed that you're planning to interfere in this trial of Mrs. Murphy's grandson this morning.
Well, I don't know about interfering, Dr. Carew, but I... Well, I am going to see if there's any way I can help the boy.
Well, I really must ask you not to. It's for the best interests of the hospital, you understand?
Of what?
I hardly see the necessity for you wasting several valuable hours on this matter when there are, after all,
competent authorities appointed to deal with such situations.
Now, wait a minute.
Carew? I am shocked and amazed at your attitude.
Now, Dr. Galasty, I don't believe that this has...
Mrs. Murphy has worked here for a good many years now. She needs help, and it's up to us to give it to her.
If it were medical help, yes, but...
Ah, medical, financial, spiritual, any kind of help. It's a matter of loyalty. Kildare is absolutely right.
Thank you, Doctor.
Oh. Now, I don't believe I agree with you.
Barker?
No, I simply don't agree with you, and that's all there is to it.
Yes, Dr. Galasty.
Barker, get my hand cold.
All right, Doctor.
Let's assume the matter is settled, then. We won't discuss it any further.
You mean, what time is the case called?
Ten o'clock.
And now, gentlemen, I have another little business matter I'd like to discuss with you.
Carew? You better postpone your discussion till this afternoon.
What?
Kildare and I have to be over at juvenile court in 15 minutes.
Oh, dear.
I order the court recessed for ten minutes.
Participants and witnesses in the case will please remain in their seats.
Gentlemen, if you'd care to step into my chambers there, we'll go over the case as it stands now.
Thanks, Judge Byron. Dr. Galasty, after you.
Thank you, Jimmy. Thank you, thank you, Jimmy.
Take those chairs by the window. They're more comfortable.
Oh, thanks.
Well, I'm very interested in hearing your opinions.
Oh, you better talk to Kildare, Byron. I'm merely a late rival at this party.
Well, Doctor?
I may be wrong about a judge, Byron, but I think there's more to this than just a matter of stealing for profit.
Oh, what do you mean, Dr. Kildare?
Well, according to the testimony, Terry wasn't in any need of spending money.
In fact, he'd started the savings account from the earnings on his paper roof.
That's true enough.
And here's something else that ties in with it.
Until about a year ago, Terry seemed completely normal.
Above average in his schoolwork, pleasant, cooperative, and well-liked by his classmates.
But both his teachers and his grandmother say he's changed a lot during the past year.
He's grown, well, sullen and defiant, been inattentive in his classes and made failing grades.
He seemed almost stupid at times.
Yes, I think I see your point, Dr. Kildare.
You're suggesting a psychological cause for the theft.
That's right. A growing feeling of insecurity and consequently a need to reaffirm self-importance.
The theft of the gun was a means of displaying his, well, his bravery, you might say, to his friends.
Well, if you're right, this insecurity apparently started around a year ago.
Do you have any ideas how it started?
No, but I'd like to try to find out if you could let me work with the boy.
I'd be grateful if you would.
Of course, it would be necessary for you to assume joint custody together with his grandmother.
Oh, I'd be glad to.
Kildare!
I suppose it's really up to Mrs. Murphy, though.
Oh, I don't think there'll be any difficulty about it.
Suppose we find out.
Pardon me, gentlemen.
Well, Jimmy, so you weren't planning to shoulder any responsibility.
There was nothing else to do, Dr. Gillespie.
You saw that boy while Judge Byron was questioning him.
Scared, unsure of himself. He was like a trapped animal.
Oh, yeah, there was something bothering him, all right. I agree with you on that.
And it's up to somebody to find out what that is before it's too late.
Well, Dr. Kildare, Mrs. Murphy not only agrees, but she's most thankful for your interest in the boy.
You haven't changed your mind.
I haven't even thought of changing it.
Good. I'll have to reconvene the court and announce disposition of the case officially.
Be with you in a few minutes.
Well, congratulations on your 14-year-old son, Papa.
My dear doctor, if you're fishing for a cigar, you may as well relax.
You know, there's one blind spot in this psychological theory of yours, Jimmy.
Oh, what?
Well, it could be that Terry stole that revolver because he needed it for some purpose of his own.
Some purpose, it may require a gun.
I know. I thought of that. It's one of the first things we've got to find out.
Here you are, Dr. Kildare. I finally got done filling out all those old questions.
Some of them sure sounded awful crazy.
Those questions were invented by a scientist for the purpose of helping us measure intelligence.
Huh. I guess you won't find much of that in my head.
What makes you think so?
Well, didn't you hear all them teachers there in court saying what a dummy I am?
A teacher can be wrong, though. Sometimes a fellow just isn't trying or always worried about something.
All the kids pick on me and say I'm a dope and everybody laughs.
Then I get soaring. I wouldn't have stole that gun if they hadn't always been making fun of me.
I figured maybe it'd shut them up if I'd done something like that that they was all scared to do.
Yes, I can understand how you felt all right, but you did take the wrong way out, you know.
Yeah, I knew it the minute after I'd done it. Only I didn't stop to think.
Terry, how did you happen to pick a gun?
Well, no reason, I guess. It just happened to be the first thing I saw when the owner went to the back of the store.
I see. How do you get along with your grandmother? Like her all right?
Well, sure, she's okay. Only she's always after me lately because I don't do better in school and stuff like that.
All the teachers, too, Dr. Kildare, they say I don't pay attention.
And do you pay attention?
Well, sure I do, just as much as anybody. I can't help it if I don't always know what they mean.
They don't have to keep saying I'm stupid. It's not my fault if I am.
You're right, Terry, it isn't your fault. And I don't think you're stupid.
I think there's some other reason for this, and I'm going to find out what it is.
Well, we won't worry anymore about it now. You go on, take care of your paper route.
But come right in after school tomorrow afternoon. Will you do that?
I sure will.
Oh, and on the way out, will you ask Miss Parker to come in here when she has a moment?
Okay. Gee whiz, Dr. Kildare. If the rest of them had only treated me like you do, all this wouldn't even have happened.
Thanks, Terry. That's quite a compliment.
Confounded, Parker. Settle down here and try to talk sense.
I am talking sense, Dr. Gillespie. That boy took it as sure as I'm standing here. I'm positive. It couldn't have been anyone else.
All right, all right. But settle down.
But he stole it, I tell you.
Who stole what, Parker?
That boy. That boy, Dr. Kildare. Terry Murphy. He stole a brand new scalpel off my desk when he left here this afternoon.
Parker, are you sure?
I'm positive of it. I was just unwrapping a new box of a dozen when he came out of your office.
He wanted to know all about what they were for and how sharp they were and everything.
And finally he asked me if he could have one, and I told him no.
Well, how do you know he took one?
He was still there when I came into your office and I just now happened to count the scalpels and one of them's gone.
No one else has been in here for the last hour and a half, Jimmy. I'm afraid the boy must have taken it all right.
I guess he did. Look, Parker, look up Mrs. Murphy's home address in the file, will you?
All right, Dr. Kildare, but I know just as sure as I'm standing here that that boy...
All right, Parker.
Well...
Would you go with me, Dr. Gillespie?
Yes, yes, of course, Jimmy. First a gun and now a scalpel.
I don't know what this is all about, but I think we'd better get over there right away.
We return to the story of Dr. Kildare in just a moment.
Now we continue with the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayres as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barabour as Dr. Gillespie.
Here it is, Dr. Gillespie, number 422.
Yeah. Well, ring the bell, Jimmy.
Come on, kid, why couldn't you have used his head?
I don't know. He seems determined to cross himself up.
Good evening.
Why, it's Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie.
Good evening, Mrs. Murphy. May we come in?
Of course, come right in, gentlemen. This is quite a surprise.
We wanted to see Terry for a couple of minutes if we could. Is he here?
Oh, yes, he's in his room there at the end of the hall. Is anything wrong, Dr. Kildare?
Just a misunderstanding at the hospital. Will it be all right if we go on down to his room?
Well, I can call him.
No need to be a torment, Mrs. Murphy. Suppose you and I just wait here.
Come in.
Oh, hello, Terry.
Why, Dr. Kildare. Gee whiz, I wasn't expecting you this evening.
I wanted to check up on something, Terry.
Yeah? What do you mean?
Do you happen to remember some little knives on Miss Parker's desk at the hospital this afternoon?
Oh, sure, them scalpels. Hey, she gave me one of them, Dr. Kildare.
She gave you one?
Yeah. Boy, it's really sharp. I was cutting some pieces of wood with it a while ago.
You didn't lose it, did you?
No, it's in my sweater pocket hanging there on the chair. Is that what you wanted to check up on?
Yes. You see, Miss Parker sort of, uh, made a mistake. These scalpels aren't supposed to leave the hospital.
Oh, gosh, I just asked her if I could have one, and she gave it to me. I didn't know.
No, of course not. I guess I'd better take it back, though.
Anyway, these things aren't too good for whittling.
We'll see if we can't find a carving set when you come over tomorrow afternoon.
Oh, swell. We can have some more tests and stuff like that?
Yes, I imagine we'll have to try a few more yet.
Terry, you, uh, you are sure that Miss Parker gave this to you?
Oh, yeah. You don't think that... gee whiz, Dr. Kildare, I wouldn't steal nothing from you.
I don't care what the boy says, Dr. Kildare. I most certainly did not give him that scalpel.
I could hardly imagine you doing it, Parker, but anyway, that's Terry's story.
It's a plain downright lie, nothing else.
I guess it is. Odd, though, because he didn't make the least attempt to cover up the fact he'd taken it.
Well, Parker may have given it to him and then forgotten about it. She's just that scatterbrain.
Well, I like that.
Or she may have miscounted. A dozen is a pretty high number for such a limited mentality.
After all, Dr. Gillespie, I don't have to stand here and be insulted like this.
Parker, you have anticipated my next center.
Well, if you wanted me to leave, you could have asked me to.
I am asking you to. Now, get out.
Oh, horrible man.
Well, I don't know, Dr. Gillespie, it leaves me completely up in the air.
Parker didn't give him the scalpel, of course, and yet he did take it.
At the same time, he's quite open and frank about the whole thing. Doesn't hang together.
No sign of any emotional disturbance, as far as you've discovered?
No, no, except for his resentment at everyone picking on him as he calls it.
Persecution, maybe.
No, no, it's justified all right. He isn't imagining it.
Only, what caused this?
Well, you can find some amazing things hidden down deep in human psychology.
And sometimes you can't find them, or you can't handle them when you do.
Well, we keep trying. That's all we can do.
All right, Terry, only a few more left now. Here we go.
Dog?
Cat.
Man?
Big.
School?
Hate.
Weapon?
Revolver.
Sister?
Well, let's see your...
Now, don't stop to think. The first word that comes into your head, we'll skip that one.
Now, here's the last word. Hospital?
Doctor.
Good. Now, that's all for today.
Hey, do you think I did all right, Dr. Kildare?
Well, that isn't quite the idea, Terry.
You see, we use a word association test to find out something about the way a person's mind works.
Yeah? What'd you find out about mine? Is it working okay?
Sure, it's clicking right along on all eight.
Oh, come in, Dr. Gillespie.
Well, Kildare, how's your patient coming along?
Fine. He hasn't yelled once.
Oh, it don't hurt none. Just answer questions.
Then we'll do some more of it tomorrow, Terry.
Okay. I guess I'd better get going on my paper off.
Oh, by the way, Terry, we were having a little argument that maybe you could help us settle.
Do you remember exactly what was said when Miss Parker gave you the scalpel yesterday?
Well, let's see. I was saying how I'd sure like to have one of them, and she said, I bet you would.
Then I asked her, could I maybe? And she said, well, of course you can.
And then she started to come in here, and I said thanks, and picked one out, and took it. Is that what you mean?
Yes, I think that answers it all right. I will see you tomorrow, then.
Okay, Dr. Kildare. So long.
Goodbye, Terry.
That's quite an imagination, Jimmy, if he made up that whole conversation.
Well, we can find out. Parker?
Someone calling me.
Yes, yes. Come in here a second, Parker.
Do you remember just what was said yesterday when young Terry Murphy asked you for that scalpel?
I most certainly do, Dr. Gillespie. He asked me if he could have one, and I said, well, of course you can't.
And then I came in here.
Do you remember him saying thank you or something like that?
Why, yes, now that you mention it. I certainly don't know what he was thanking me for.
Tarnation, Jimmy. It was nothing but a misunderstanding. The boy thought she said, of course she can, so he thanked him and took it.
I think you're right, Dr. Gillespie. Only it still doesn't explain what's wrong with Terry, unless... possibly.
Wait a minute.
No, why didn't I think of it? I'm the only stupid one around here.
Jimmy, what are you talking about?
Psychology. I'll give you a 10 to 1. This is a straight medical case.
Here, Parker, let me have that phone.
By thunderation. It could be. It could be all right.
Sally, Sally, this is Kildare. Have you seen a redheaded boy about 14 years old go out through the lobby in the last couple of minutes?
Well, watch for him, will you, and send him right back up here.
Gee whiz, Dr. Kildare. I don't know. I never noticed it, I guess. Or if I did, I never thought about it.
If it came on gradually, Terry, as it usually does, you probably wouldn't have noticed it.
Maybe that's how come they all laugh when I start to answer some questions in class.
And the teacher always says it's because I wasn't paying attention.
And as I told you, teachers can be wrong. Doctors too, for that matter.
Suppose we make sure of it now, Terry.
Okay, sure.
I brought one of the standard watches in, Kildare. Here you are.
Thank you. Now, Terry, as you can see, this is just an ordinary pocket watch.
I'm going to hold it up close to your ear, and I want you to tell me whether you can hear it running.
All right. Yeah, I can hear it all right.
Now, I'm going to move away slowly, and you stop me as soon as you can't hear it any longer.
Okay.
All right.
There. I can't hear it any more there, Dr. Kildare.
About a third the normal distance.
All right, Terry. Now, Terry, you can stop worrying. You're not stupid.
There's nothing wrong with you that can't be cured by the end of the week.
Yeah, but partial deafness, that's all.
Gosh. You mean I could get myself all lost up just from not hearing so good?
Exactly. You couldn't hear questions correctly in school, so you gave ridiculous answers.
And when everyone kept laughing at you, it made you more and more awkward, and things went from bad to worse.
Yeah, but maybe you can't cure it, Dr. Kildare.
Oh, yes, yes, we can cure it all right, now that we know what's wrong.
It's just a matter of removing a polyp or congestion from the canal.
Well, we'll know better after a complete examination.
Can you be here at nine in the morning, Terry? I'll give you a note to your teacher.
You bet I can. Gosh, and then people will stop picking on me.
I got to get home and tell Grandma about this, if it's okay for me to leave.
Sure, Terry. See you in the morning.
Yeah. So long.
Well, Jimmy, that boy has a lot better life ahead of him than he did two days ago.
Yes, it should be a simple operation, too.
Isn't it funny? Just a few strokes of a knife making the difference between a normal, intelligent kid and a dull-witted, laughing stock, even a criminal.
Yep. Medical miracles, if you want to call them that.
They've kept me fascinated by this profession for a good many years now.
Purely an academic interest, you could call it.
Why, she's purely academic. Nothing emotional about it.
Merely as a matter of scientific curiosity. You mean nothing more?
Excuse me, Dr. Gillespie, but the sporting goods store just sent over that catcher's mitt you ordered.
Well, doctor, are you taking up baseball?
Well, I...
Scientific curiosity, I suppose.
Ah, Father.
You know, when you come right down to it, you're nothing but a sentimental old fraud.
In just a moment, we will return to the story of Dr. Kildare.
And now, once again, the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
Well, twelve more reports to go, Jimmy.
Want to finish up tonight, or leave the rest of them for tomorrow morning?
Oh, let's go through them. Get it over with.
All right, let's see now. Come in.
Good evening, Mrs. Murphy.
Gentlemen, I didn't know anybody was working this late.
Well, we'll be through in about twenty minutes. Now, if you don't mind waiting that long.
Oh, no, I'll just clean up some of the other offices first.
I haven't really had the chance to thank both of you for what you did for my grandson.
Oh, thank you, Mrs. Murphy. I didn't have anything to do with it.
How's Terry getting along now?
Oh, just perfect, Dr. Kildare. His grades are all good, and he's just like what he used to be.
Fine, and that's all the thanks anybody needs.
I haven't dropped in and see you some afternoon.
I will. He'd love to.
Well, I'll come back later, gentlemen. Good night.
Good night.
Well, I'm glad the boy came out of it all right, Jimmy. Bright little fellow. Unlikeable, too.
Yes, quite a kid.
Yeah, man misses a lot by not having a family.
Once years ago, if things had worked out different, well...
Yes, I know, Dr. Gillespie.
If medical science had only been able to do then what it can now.
She was as lovely as a field of John Kills in the springtime.
Thirty-nine years ago.
Ah, unfounded Kildare, let's get on with these reports.
Don't you think a man my age needs any sleep?
You have just heard the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.
This program was written by Les Crutchfield and directed by William P. Russo.
Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Schuman.
Supporting cast included Virginia Gregg, Jerry Farber, Peggy Webber, Ted Osborne and Norman Field.
Dick Joy speaking.
Music