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.
I will exercise my heart's toll.
The story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayers and Lionel Baraboy.
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.
Music
And now the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayers as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Baraboy as Dr. Gillespie.
Blair General Hospital, one of the great citadels of American medicine.
A clump of grey-white buildings planted deep in the heart of New York.
A center of medical progress. For great minds and skilled hands,
wage man's ever-lasting battle against death and disease.
Blair General Hospital.
Where life begins, where life ends, where life goes on.
Come in.
I just thought I'd look in and see if you had everything packed, Dr. Kildare.
Oh yes, thanks Molly, I'm all ready.
How's Dr. Gillespie doing?
He's packed and unpacked his bag twenty times.
I'll bet.
I thought you were going on a tour of the world instead of a week's hunting trip.
He likes to make a production of everything.
He's pretending that it's all a terrific nuisance and he doesn't really want to go.
But he isn't fooling anyone.
Good morning, Dr. Kildare.
Good morning, Molly. Well, dear fellow, almost ready for your holiday, are you?
Yes, Dr. Kildare, I've made my rounds. My patients, Dr. Mariman, are all in good shape.
I know Dr. Mariman can take care of anything that might come up.
I'm glad you and Dr. Gillespie are having an outing.
You both have certainly worked hard this past year. You have it coming, do you?
When do we leave for the train?
Oh, Dr. Gillespie. Oh, we have a couple of hours here.
I hate being late for trains. I like to start early and take my time.
We can start an hour from now and still be early and take our time.
Did you make any decision yet about Dr. Wheeler, Dr. Carew?
I haven't made a final decision yet, no. But I'm very upset.
Very? Every doctor on the staff of Blair General must be reliable.
Well, I certainly agree with you there, but I think Wheeler is reliable.
Any doctor who goes to pieces in the middle of an operation is not reliable.
I shudder to think what might have happened if Kildare hadn't been in there to take over.
Well, I wasn't there because I thought Wheeler was inefficient.
I simply stopped by to watch him operate, to observe his technique.
If you hadn't been there, the child might have died.
But I was there and the child's doing fine, so why can't we forget the whole thing?
And suppose it happens again when another doctor isn't present?
Well, personally, I think Wheeler's just been working too hard, that's all.
I mean, I know he was on emergency all last week.
I like Wheeler. Of course, he's young and he hasn't had a lot of experience yet,
but he's intelligent and he's got heart, and he shows great interest in his work.
I think he has a fine future in medicine.
Gentlemen, I have a responsibility to patients in this hospital.
I cannot keep a man that I no longer have confidence in.
Why, I'd be a nervous wreck every time he went into the operating room.
What explanation has Dr. Wheeler offered?
No explanation whatsoever.
The story that's going around the hospital is that he was out to a party the night before the operation
and didn't get any sleep.
Have you asked him for an explanation?
Yes, but all he said is there isn't any explanation.
He just went to pieces.
Well, now enough of that.
I'll have the matter all settled before you dear fellows return from your holiday.
Have a good time and be back a week from Monday, probably at 9 a.m.
We'll be here.
Yeah, promptly.
Have a good time.
We listen quite a jam.
What do you think the reason is?
I don't know. Let's stop by his room on the way and find out.
All right. Why don't you get your bag and I'll meet you at the elevator.
Yes?
Hello, Dr. Kildare. Dr. Gillespie.
Hello, Wheeler.
We were just leaving on our vacation. Thought we'd stop in for a minute and say goodbye.
I didn't thank you for taking over for me during the operation the other morning, Dr. Kildare.
I'm really very, very grateful.
Well, I'm glad I was able to help.
What happened, son? You performed that operation many times.
I don't know. I just suddenly couldn't hold my hand steady.
What were you doing the night before, Wheeler?
Oh, I was around.
What time did you get to bed?
I didn't get much sleep.
You want to tell us about it, Bob?
There isn't anything else to tell.
I see. Well, then I guess there isn't anything more to be said.
You know, this can turn out to be a very serious matter, Bob.
For your own good, you should be willing to talk about it, to present whatever excuse you have.
I don't have an excuse, Dr. Gillespie.
I don't think there is any excuse for what happened in that operating room.
I appreciate your concern more than I can tell you, but I just don't have an excuse.
Dr. Carew is going to fire me, isn't he?
Well, he hasn't made up his mind yet. I certainly hope not.
If you two are going to catch that train, you'd better get moving.
Oh, all right, Mommy.
Well, good-bye, Bob. We'll see you when we get back.
Good-bye. Have a good trip.
Good luck, son.
Worried about that boy.
I had your bags taken out of the front door, and there's a taxi waiting.
Where are your guns?
I hold it with our bags.
Now, for heaven's sakes, don't shoot each other.
I won't shoot him as long as he behaves himself.
As a matter of fact, our primary object in going hunting isn't to catch anything anyhow.
It's just to get outdoors.
Oh, is that so?
You listen to me, Kildare. You're talking to one of the best shots in this part of the country.
You'll take care of him, won't you, Dr. Kildare?
Oh, I'll do my best, Molly.
Take care of me. Say, do you think you're talking to a child, Molly?
Sometimes I do.
Ah, go bury your head in a tub of formaldehyde.
Why, Dr. Gillespie, that's the nicest thing you've said to me in weeks.
Have a good time.
Well, we'll be in the station in a few minutes.
You're pretty country up here. I like the mountains.
Yes, yes. I used to spend a lot of time up here with my father when I was a boy.
Nothing much to the town.
Boarding house, combination bar and grill, and a church, meeting room, that's about all.
People live in cabins scattered back through the mountains.
But the hunting and the fishing, they're wonderful.
And there's something in the air, something that makes you throw your shoulders back and start climbing.
We're getting in.
Streets are always empty, by the way. You won't see the soul around.
Now get the bags. You go ahead.
They don't stop here long.
Here, I'll jump down first.
Ah, you're not going to any Red Camp?
Red Camp? Are you kidding? Come on, pick up a bag and let's go.
Say, I thought you said there wouldn't be any people around.
Looks like quite a mob of cars and wagons over there in that building.
Certainly does.
Dr. Gillespie, Dr. Gillespie!
Well, hello, Riley. By golly, it's good to see you.
This is Dr. Gillespie, Ezra Riley, doctor.
Ah, Dr. Gillespie.
They told me at the depot what time you was doing.
What's going on over at the meeting house?
Yeah, let me take that for you, Dr. Gillespie.
Thank you.
They're waiting to see you, doctor.
See me?
They want to see both of you, as a matter of fact.
Oh, something happened?
Well, there's been some mysterious disease going around, doctor.
Five children have died in the past week.
What? Five children?
How'd they die? What happened?
Well, doc, that's what's so confoundedly peculiar about the whole thing.
Children all appeared to be perfectly healthy,
and then all of a sudden they wouldn't be able to breathe.
Little later, well, they'd be dead.
Well, what'd your local doctor say?
Well, we don't have a local doctor anymore.
The last one died a year ago.
Now, whenever anyone is real sick,
they have to go clear down the mountain to the next town,
or the doctor has to come up here.
But it's a long trip, and he's too busy where he is.
Everyone's been frightened by the epidemic,
and when they heard that you were coming up here,
well, they drove in for miles around to talk to you.
Well, we'll just leave our bags at the boarding house and come right over.
Well, we don't have any instruments with us.
We'd better phone to Blair General and ask him to send some up,
and a supply of penicillin and oreo mysin.
Sounds to me as though that's what we're going to need.
Oh, Dr. Kildare! Dr. Kildare!
What is it, Mrs. Ritchie?
It's my boy. We'll come right away, please.
He can't breathe. He can't breathe!
Where's your house? It's just up the street.
Come on, Dr. Gillespie. I'm right behind you.
Poor kid.
You've got to act fast, Kildare.
Is laryngeotachiatis all right?
What's that?
It's an inflammation of the larynx in the trachea.
It's caused by a germ similar to influenza.
It causes the opening of the larynx, causing asphyxiation.
I'm going to have to perform a tracheotomy
if your son is to live, Mrs. Ritchie.
I haven't any instruments.
Let me think.
Yes, I have a hunting knife in my pocket somewhere.
Ah, here it is.
Have you a pair of tweezers?
Yes, yes, I have.
All right, just get me some alcohol and quickly.
We'll operate with what we have.
We'll have to work without an anesthetic.
What are you going to do?
I'm afraid I'll have to cut an opening in the throat so he can breathe.
Just keep him very quiet, Mrs. Ritchie.
He'll be all right overnight.
By morning I'll have the proper tube from the hospital
to put in his throat.
I'll be back to see him later.
Well, Dr. Kildare, I'll never be able to thank him.
Oh, don't thank me.
Just thank God that we got here on time.
Come on, Dr. Gillespie, let's go over and talk to the people in the meeting house.
Please, please, please, please, quiet now.
Please listen closely.
And I'll try to explain it to you all at once.
Your children are suffering from an intertype virus.
It's easily spread from one child to another on handkerchiefs,
on books, on pencils, on drinking cups, and any number of ways.
Now, we're going to try to isolate children who have been exposed
from children who have not been exposed.
In the meantime, you must sterilize and boil all your eating utensils.
And you must keep your children at home and watch them closely
and notify us immediately if any of them become ill.
Dr. Kildare, Dr. Gillespie, you're needed right away on the other side of town.
The Martin child.
I will come right away.
Well, good morning. What are you doing up so early?
Oh, good morning.
I was just sitting down the back steps watching the forest come to life.
It is going to be a fine day.
Oh, beautiful.
You know, when I was a kid, I used to sit here
and pretend I could see Indians slipping from tree to tree.
And I used to think, oh, I'm going to be a good boy.
Pretend I could see Indians slipping from tree to tree.
Old Daniel Boone riding along on his horse,
Davy Crockett with his bear.
Sometimes when there was a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning,
I'd almost see Paul Bunyan striding across the sky.
In those days, I was going to be an explorer
and lead expeditions to new frontiers.
Well, it seems to me the scientists and doctors
are the only real explorers left in the world today.
And the frontiers of medical progress are the last real pinnacles
left for man to conquer.
You're prejudiced, of course.
Oh, yeah, sure, of course.
Medicine is my whole world
and my only really important world.
Everything else must take second place.
You know, sometimes I think it means more to be a doctor in a town like this
than in a big institution like Blair General.
Ah, ah, ah, ah!
Now, now, Jimmy, don't go getting any fool ideas like that.
Well, there are so many doctors at the hospital and not one doctor here.
Well, you can see that if there'd been a doctor last week,
five children might be alive now.
Hello there!
Whoa!
Why, it's Molly and Dr. Wheeler.
What are you two doing here?
Good morning.
Bob and I came to the rescue.
We've got penicillin, instruments, oreo, mycine, everything else.
Well, I asked for another doctor and I volunteered for the job.
And I convinced Dr. Carew that if there was an epidemic,
you certainly needed a nurse.
We certainly are glad to have you both.
Oh, thanks. Is it a bad epidemic?
Oh, pretty bad.
These kinds of cases are difficult to handle
because the child seems perfectly normal and well,
then suddenly, a few hours later, he's ill.
However, with penicillin and oreo, mycine,
I think we'll be able to check it fairly rapidly.
I'd like to have a look at the patients I operated on last night right away.
What can I do, doctor?
Would you be willing to wait around here, Bob, in case any emergencies develop?
You bet.
Well, I imagine you'll want to go upstairs and rest for a while after you drive anyhow.
Well, I would if I'm not needed.
And I would like a long, hot bath.
You just go right in and holler for Mrs. Kelly.
She'll take care of you.
May I borrow your car, Bob?
Help yourself, sure.
Thanks.
Well, come on, Dr. Gillespie, let's get to work, huh?
Oh, there you are, Larry. You're going to be up in no time.
I'll never be able to tell you what this means to me, Dr. Kildare.
Oh, I know what a boy like that must mean to a mother, Mrs. Ritchie.
What on earth is that?
Molly!
Please, please come at once.
Bob and I went out on a case.
It's a little girl, and she's in pretty bad shape.
She needs an emergency right away.
Well, doctor, we can take care of...
He asked me to get you as quickly as possible.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Dr. Wheeler can take care of you.
He asked me to get you as quickly as possible, Dr. Kildare.
I don't think he feels he can perform the operation.
All right, come on.
Bob, everything's ready for you.
Yeah.
You want me to operate?
Yes.
I want you to save this child to life.
You can do it, Dr. Wheeler.
You can do it.
We return to the story of Dr. Kildare in just a moment.
And now we continue the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayers as Dr. Kildare and Lionel
Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
I don't mind saying I'm tired.
Bob, that was a fine operation.
I'm proud of you.
It goes for me too.
Well, thanks.
Thanks for making me do that operation, Dr. Kildare.
How do you feel now?
Well, I feel fine.
I feel even better after I have that bath I thought it was going to take three hours ago.
Me too.
Well, see you later.
Call me if I need it.
You know, Dr. Gillespie, I've got a theory about that boy now.
You want to have a talk with him.
But first, I think you and I had better canvas the village and take a look at every child here.
We can give a shot of penicillin to each one that shows even the slightest symptom of anything that might turn out to be disease.
Yeah, I agree with you.
Now who in the... Oh, no.
It couldn't be.
Hello, you dear fellow.
No, it is Karoo.
Hello, you dear fellow yourself.
Surprise.
You certainly are a surprise.
I knew you'd be overjoyed to see me.
When I heard about my two fellows pitting their strength against an epidemic without their leader,
I knew my place was here in the front lines beside you, and so I came.
Thank you, Dr. Karoo.
Smoking like a general.
Yes, wasn't it?
Oh, by the way, Dr. Karoo, I'm glad you're here.
I want you to know I just watched Bob Wheeler perform a tracheotomy, and he did a very fine job, didn't he, Dr. Gillespie?
He certainly did for a fact.
Well, even so, that hardly alters the fact that the other morning he went to P.C. and I...
I think I know why now.
I'm not sure, but I think I do.
Why?
Well, let me have a talk with Wheeler, and if my reasoning makes any sense, I'll tell you all about it.
Fair enough.
Now then, what can I do to help?
Well, we were going from house to house, examining children.
Then I shall accompany you. I, too, shall risk my life.
Bravo!
Jimmy, why don't you talk to Bob while Dr. Karoo and I make the rounds?
Oh, you don't need me? No, no. Dr. Karoo will give me every possible assistance.
I will, dear chap, I will.
All right, I'll talk to Bob.
Bob, before that tonsillectomy the other day, you had chills, didn't you?
Why, I'm not sure. Did I?
Yes. Have you been having trouble with migraine, headaches?
No, no, I haven't.
Chills, hypertension?
I'll bet if I took your blood pressure right now, I'd find it was high. Emotional reaction, lack of confidence, and depression. All the symptoms are there.
I don't agree that all the symptoms are there.
Why should you try to deny it? All right. Suppose we have Dr. Gillespie examine you and see what his diagnosis is.
No. No, his diagnosis would be the same as yours. I've tried to hide these attacks for months now, but there's no use any longer.
What do you want to hide them for?
Well, I was afraid Dr. Carrew would think I couldn't be depended on. He dismissed me from the hospital.
Oh, but that's ridiculous.
Is it? How many times have you heard Carrew say, there's no room at Blair General for a man who can't pull his load?
Well, he meant that for people who are lazy, not people who are ill.
Come on, when did you start having these headaches?
While I was an intern. First they weren't very serious, and I thought they were caused from studying and losing a lot of sleep.
Later I realized they were migraines, and I began giving myself treatments.
What did you use?
Ergotamine tartrates.
Did that help?
Yes. Hadn't had an attack for almost six months, until the other day in the operating room.
I see.
This morning I thought I was getting one when I found myself faced with that tracheotomy, but it didn't materialize.
Well, migraines can be psychosomatic. You can bring on an attack sometimes simply by fearing that you're going to have one.
You should never have tried to prescribe for yourself anyway. You should have come to one of us.
Dr. Kill, isn't it true that sometimes a doctor is the hardest person in the world to persuade to see a doctor?
You're probably right about that.
I know that many types of migraine are difficult to cure, and as I said, I was so afraid of losing my position at the hospital.
Bob, I think your type of migraine can be cured. Of course, I'll have to examine you thoroughly, but you show all the indications of having the type of migraine that's caused by a lack of histamine.
If I'm right, we can cure you permanently with injections.
Yes, I read about it.
It's a new treatment. They've had some wonderful results with it.
Now, how about it? Will you put yourself in our hands, Bob?
I certainly will, Dr. Kildare.
Good. You want to stay at the hospital permanently?
Well, not forever. What I'd really like to do some day is to get a little town of my own.
Oh, well, how about this one?
This one?
Well, yes, indeed. Here's a town that really needs a doctor, and you're a doctor that needs a town just like this.
You think they'd have me?
They'd welcome you with open arms.
Well, let's find out.
Well, Dr. Wheeler, Blair General will miss you.
I was very happy indeed to learn from Dr. Kildare that the incident in the operating room was due to illness and not to negligence.
By the way, Dr. Wheeler is going to practice right here, Dr. Carew.
Yes, I know. And I think that's very commendable of you, Wheeler. Very commendable indeed.
Well, thank you, Dr. Carew.
And as for you, Dr. Kildare, Dr. Gillespie, I must say you men have done a magnificent job.
Magnificent?
You are a credit to Blair General Hospital.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir. Oh, now, now, don't twit me.
I know how you feel about flattery, but I must pass it out when it is merited, and you have merited it.
The epidemic is checked. The emergency is over. I return to town well contained.
Now have your holiday. Enjoy yourselves.
We only have three days left.
Do we still have to be back at the hospital at nine Monday morning?
Well, you haven't had much of a rest, have you?
Tell you what, don't come in until noon on Monday.
Thank you.
Don't mention it. Goodbye. Goodbye. Goodbye, Molly.
Bye.
Well, you haven't got much time to hunt now, have you?
How long are you staying, Molly?
Oh, Dr. Carew was very generous.
He said I didn't have to be back at the hospital until tomorrow morning at nine.
The old fossil.
And my train leaves in half an hour, so I'd better get my bag.
Why didn't you drive back with Carew?
That is a fate worse than death.
See you later.
Oh, it's that beautiful day. I'm going to hate to leave.
I don't blame you, Dr. Kildare.
Come on, both of you. Let me show you around my town.
Thanks, Bob. We'd like very much to have you show us around your town.
In just a moment, we will return to the story of Dr. Kildare.
I'm sorry.
And now, once again, the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres as Dr. Kildare
and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
Nice country.
I'd like to come up here sometime for a vacation.
We didn't have much of a vacation at that, did we?
Wouldn't you think that old goat Carew would have given us a few extra days?
Carew never gives away anything except advice.
You know, as hard as we worked all week, I still feel as though I had a rest.
Oh, so do I. I guess that comes from living in fresh air and hiking and all that.
No food ever tasted better, I'll tell you that.
I was really hungry.
Well, I wonder what's waiting for us back at the hospital.
I don't know, but knowing Carew, I guarantee there'll be plenty of work to do.
Well, there's no rest for the wicked, Dr. Kildare.
Quite so, Dr. Gillespie, quite so.
You have just heard the story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.
This program was written by Gene Holloway and directed by William P. Russo.
Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Schuman.
Supporting cast included Eleanor Audley, Ted Osborne, David Ellis, Isabel Jewel, and Ken Christie.
Dick Joy speaking.
Thank you.