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 trust.
I will exercise my arts only for the cure of my...
The story of Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.
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 Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
Hello, Dr. G.
Well, where have you been, Jimmy? I haven't seen you all morning.
I've been giving Walter Benton a final check-up before his release.
You mean he's ready to go home?
Oh, yes, he's fine. Cardiac surgery's tricky, but it certainly worked for him.
You'd never know there'd been anything wrong with his heart.
Well, Jimmy, that's splendid. Must make you feel pretty good.
Oh, it does. He's well all right.
Told me the first thing he's going to do when he gets out of here is buy a box of cigars and a chain-smoker.
Have you seen Parker around anyplace?
No, why?
Well, I can't find some of my charts. The old witch is always disappearing when I need her.
You can blame me for that. I asked her to go bring Benton's clothes to him so he could get dressed.
She should be back any second.
I can't find anything. The way she upsets things.
Oh, Dr. Gillespie, is Dr. Kildare here?
Is Dr. Kildare here? No, Parker, Dr. Kildare's in Honolulu.
Who the devil do you think that is, Napoleon Bonaparte?
Well, if you didn't have so much junk on your desk all the time, I might be able to see who was on the other side of it.
You're lucky you can see who's on the other side of the plate glass window. Now what do you want?
Well, if your royal highness doesn't mind, the desk needs Dr. Kildare's signature on this release for Mr. Benton.
Oh, give it here, Parker. Is he ready to go?
Yes, he's all dressed. I called a taxi for him. He's sitting up in his room just humming and waiting.
Well, that's fine. There.
Hey, you ready to go to lunch, Dr. G?
Yes, Jimmy, yep. I'm hungry.
Oh, Parker, while we're gone, try and clean up that mess you made at my desk.
Mess I've made? Well, I've all of it.
Oh, where do you want to eat, Sullivan's or Sullivan's?
Where do we always eat? It's the only rest of the day.
What was that?
It sounded like Parker screaming from your office. Come on.
Oh, Dr. Gillespie, Dr. Kildare, I saw it. It went right past the window. A man's body.
A man's body? Someone must have fallen from the upper stories.
I don't see anything down there.
Well, there is something moving in the bushes along the driveway.
Oh, it's only Wayman. He's trying to drag somebody.
Hey, Wayman!
Doc, you better come quick to stay. He fell!
See, see, I told you. I saw him.
Well, we better get down there.
Wonder who it is.
I know who it is, Dr. Gillespie. I saw the suit he was wearing when Wayman moved the bushes.
It's Walter Benton.
Well, he's dead, Jimmy.
Yes. I guess we couldn't expect anything else after a seven-story fall.
Was it a fall or a jump?
Oh, why would he jump? When he was ill and depressed, yes, but not now.
Not when he was well and ready to go out and enjoy life.
Did you see the fall, Wayman?
No, I just heard him hit.
I was sitting over there in the ambulance entrance reading a paper and I heard it.
That's all.
I guess I was the only one. I ran right over to him and tried to drag him out of the bushes.
Well, I realize you meant well, Wayman, but you know better than to touch a body until the police arrive.
I didn't know how far he fell, Doc. I thought maybe he'd still be alive.
Well, even so, no one should touch him except the doctor. You especially know this.
Well, yes, Doc. I was only trying to help.
Well, the police will want a detailed report, Jimmy.
You better get complete statements from Wayman and Parker.
Meanwhile, I'll go up to the seventh floor and see what information I can get from the floor nurse.
Then you don't think he jumped, Miss Madden?
No, Doctor. My desk faces his room. I couldn't help seeing him moving around in there this morning.
He seemed very cheerful, called out to me that he was leaving today and said he'd send me some candy.
Well, what else did you see? Was anybody with him? Any visitor?
No. After Parker gave him his clothes, he closed the door to dress.
Then the cashier brought an envelope to him.
He took it and came out into the hall to use my pen to sign a receipt and then went back into his room again.
Where were you when he fell? Did you hear any sound from the room?
Well, I'm afraid I must have been away from the desk for just a moment.
A patient at the other end of the corridor just out of surgery rang for me.
She was just barely coming to, groggy, and I stayed with her for a while.
I see. Oh, here's Dr. Kildare. You finished downstairs, Jimmy?
Yes, but nobody saw anything. Benton must have fallen.
Well, Miss Madden agrees with that theory. She said Benton seemed very cheerful.
Well, that doesn't prove anything.
A police squad car was here. They reported to their headquarters and Detective Kerner is being sent over.
Well, Kerner, what do you think? Fall or jump?
I'll go along with Dr. Kildare's theory. My official report will say a fall, but there's something else that must be cleared up.
These are the personal effects we took from Benton's body. Keys, papers, six dollars and 81 cents.
Uh-huh. Well, what about it?
Dr. Kildare, how long was it between the time your ambulance driver, Wayman, reached the body and the time somebody else got there?
Why, I don't know. Couldn't have been more than a minute or so. Why?
Wayman all alone with the body during that minute?
Yes, I guess so. What are you driving at?
Doc, Benton had a visitor yesterday, his attorney, Robert Walsh. He delivered 25,000 dollars in cash to Benton.
What?
Yeah, it was placed in the hospital safe and it was given to Benton by the hospital cashier just a few minutes before Benton's body landed in that driveway.
25,000 in cash?
There was something else in the safe, too. Benton's ring, worth 2,000 dollars.
The cashier has a receipt for both the money and the ring, but when Benton landed out there, he had no ring and only six dollars plus change.
Doc, I don't like this any more than you'll like it, but we're going to have to put Wayman under arrest. My boys are picking him up at home right now.
All right, Wayman, you wait in here for a minute.
Okay, but I didn't do nothing.
Hey, hey, Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie, what are you in for?
I'm afraid we're here as character witnesses for you.
They think I took something from that guy who fell out of the window today.
That's all a mistake, Wayman, just don't worry about it.
They can question you, but they won't dare file charges. They have no evidence.
I heard a lawyer tell a fellow that once and six months later the guy got electrocuted.
Sure, that isn't going to happen to you.
Wayman, this is Mr. Walsh. Walsh, Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie.
That'll do.
Mr. Walsh wants to talk to you, Wayman.
Oh, and we'd like to talk to Mr. Walsh. You were Mr. Benton's attorney, weren't you?
Yes, I was.
Well, I suppose you have proof that you delivered $25,000 to Mr. Benton when you visited him yesterday.
I certainly do, Dr. Kildare.
We checked his story, Doc. He has a receipt for the money, just as the hospital cashier does.
I see. Now, I have something to ask Mr. Wayman.
Could anybody else have taken anything from Mr. Benton's body after he fell without being seen by you?
Wayman, I don't think you should answer that.
He has to answer it.
Well, Wayman?
I was the only one there until the docs and everybody else come running out.
Thank you. I guess that's all, Detective Turner.
All right, Walsh. We'll notify you when and if the money's recovered.
I guess you'll be settling the estate, huh?
Yes. Well, good day, gentlemen.
Just a minute, Mr. Walsh.
One thing I'd like to know, why Benton had such a large sum of cash?
Well, habit, idiosyncrasy. I'd sold some stock holdings.
He'd always insisted on cash payment delivered into his own hands.
Is there anything else?
I guess that's all.
All right, then, gentlemen. Good-bye.
Well, Doc, here it is.
Here what is?
Oh, Kerner, we'll vouch for Wayman. He didn't have anything to do with this.
It's ridiculous. We've worked with him for years.
That money didn't just go up in smoke.
No, but you didn't find it on Wayman either.
Oh, Kerner, until you have something definite, I think he should be released.
Oh, I don't know.
Will you guarantee his appearance if we want him again?
Absolutely.
Morning, Dr. G.
Jimmy, where's Wayman?
I came up the back way and he wasn't in the ambulance room.
Oh, he probably stayed home for a rest. I don't know.
Dr. Kildare! Dr. Kildare!
Well, hello, Dr. Carew. What's wrong now?
What's wrong? You dare ask me that with the reputation of Blair Hospital about to be dragged to the mire?
Carew, will you stop wailing like little Eva on the ice cake?
Little Eva, huh?
Why didn't you and Kildare confide in me yesterday?
Why did you leave it to the police to inform me that Wayman is suspected of the scavenger robbing of Walter Benton's body?
Well, there was no need to tell you.
No evidence to hold him.
Oh, didn't they?
Then please explain why at this moment he's being held in jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.
In jail?
You mean they picked him up again, but why?
Because when they visited his apartment again at seven o'clock this morning,
they found Wayman in possession of the ring that was stolen from Benton's body.
We return to the story of Dr. Kildare in just a moment.
Now we continue with the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayers as Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie.
Gee, Doc, it was nice of you to come and see me.
I can just barely see you through this wire mesh.
This ain't no chicken coop.
Wayman, I thought you were innocent and I want to keep on thinking so,
but they say they found the ring at your place.
They found it all right, but I don't know how it got there.
Honest, I was having my breakfast when they bust in.
They looked all over and didn't find nothing.
Then all of a sudden one of the cops, he empties my bottle of milk in the sink and...
There it is, the ring.
In the bottle of milk?
Yeah, Doc, but I just brought the bottle in from the hall not ten minutes before that.
I don't know.
I heard the ring's in a box of cracker.
From right where the milkman leave it, but the cops, they say I heard them coming, so I put the ring in the bottle.
So I says to them, OK.
Well, what then did I do with the 25Js?
Scrambled it up in my eggs?
Somebody must have uncapped that milk bottle and put the ring in it to throw suspicion on you.
Sure. That must be it.
Of course it is, and we've got to find out who did it.
Then we'll know where to look for the money.
Meanwhile, Wayman, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here.
Dr. Gillespie and I tried, but we just can't raise enough to bail you out.
I don't sweat it out, Doc, but what are you going to do?
I don't know. Start by looking through the things Walter Benton left in his room at the hospital, I guess.
Maybe a clue there. Something the police missed.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Well, who are you? What are you doing in this room?
Detective Kerner said it would be all right for me to remove my father's things.
I'm Valerie Benton.
Oh, I see. Well, I'm Dr. Kildare. I took care of your father.
He was my patient, but I didn't know he had a daughter.
No, I guess he stopped telling people that he had one.
My poor father, I...
Well, take it easy.
Why did a thing like this have to happen to him? Why did he do such a thing?
Oh, Miss Benton, your father didn't do anything.
Set your mind at ease. From all the police and the staff can determine his death was an accident.
You know, you don't look so well.
I don't think you should be here. You should be resting.
I thought that by coming here and packing his things, I might get close to him.
I was all alone last night after I heard.
Perhaps you should have gone to friends. Father's attorney, Bill Walsh, certainly he'd have helped.
I couldn't go to Bill Walsh. He hates me.
Oh, come now.
It's the truth. He poisoned my father's mind against me.
That's why you never saw me here. I wouldn't have been welcome.
But why? Why would Walsh do a thing like that?
Bill Walsh wanted to marry me. When I refused, when I wouldn't have him.
He told my father all sorts of horrible lies.
Oh, I see.
That's why I have nobody to turn to. No place to go. I don't want to be alone.
I'm frightened. Frightened.
Miss Benson, you're upset. He was making you ill.
Perhaps friends wouldn't be the answer.
Why don't you check into the hospital where you can get some rest and care?
You're the first person who's been kind to me in never so long.
If I do stay here, will you take care of me?
Of course, Miss Benton, if you want me to.
Oh, hello, Dr. Killeley.
May I come in?
May you come in.
You're getting to be quite manly since you've been spending most of your time with Miss Benton, aren't you?
She's a very interesting patient.
That doesn't tell us what happened to her father's money.
No, no it doesn't.
But I hope to find out soon. I've asked Benton's attorney Bill Walsh to come to my office. He's due any minute.
I'd like to have you there, too.
All right, Jimmy, all right. But you'll get no help from him.
Not unless he helps put a big an oose around Wayman's neck.
Oh, may get more than you think.
Doc, look.
Wayman.
I'm out of the clink.
Well, that's pretty obvious. But how did you get out?
Did you get a file and saw your way out?
No. Somebody put up my bail.
Ten thousand dollars? Bail who?
I don't know, Doc. A bondsman come and got me. He said he was sent by a friend of mine.
Well, I thought maybe it was you.
Why the devil didn't you make him tell you?
Doc, why should I choke a guy who rescued me from that place?
Someone must have had a good reason for wanting you out of jail and away from the police.
Come on, Dr. G. We'd better meet Bill Walsh in my office.
Sit down, please, Mr. Walsh.
All right. Thank you.
It was nice of you to come. You probably know that Valerie Benton's a patient here now.
As her doctor, I'd like to ask you a few questions.
About what? About my alleged persecution of her? Is that it?
No. Because frankly, I haven't believed Valerie Benton.
I think she's mercurial, neurotic, could be a pathological liar.
Well, Dr. Kildare, you surprise me. I thought she could fool any man for a while.
You're very observant.
Well, that's part of his business. He's a doctor. We're both trying to help a friend.
Your ambulance driver, of course.
But to help him, we need help.
Now, tell me, were you ever in love with Valerie?
Never. Despite what I imagine she told you, there was never anything between us.
Valerie blames you for the estrangement between her and her father?
Her stepfather.
Oh?
Yes. And in a way, what she says is true.
Kildare, Valerie is one of those people who suddenly become obsessed with anything they can't get.
I tried to discourage her. Benton saw what was happening. He tried to send her away.
She refused to be sent. Packed up and left home.
Is that the truth?
Why should I lie about it? Benton hadn't been convinced of that.
Do you think he'd have let her go and continue to let me handle his affairs?
Oh, that's a good answer. Does that girl benefit by Benton's will?
No, she doesn't. She was to be cut off with one dollar.
He told her that the last time they met before he came here.
Then Valerie might have done a lot of things to get her hands on that money Benton had.
Yes, but how? Any stranger would have been seen in the building.
The police checked thoroughly. They know nobody was near Benton.
Somebody was near enough to get the money.
Well, thank you, Mr. Walsh. You've helped more than you know.
Well, if you don't need me for anything more, I'll...
We have all we need. Goodbye, Mr. Walsh.
Goodbye.
Jimmy, you painted Valerie Benton as quite a character in trying to draw out Walsh.
Might have been a better portrait than you think, Dr. Gillespie.
Hello, Valerie.
Why'd you leave me alone so long? There hasn't been a nurse here or anything?
Oh, no reason why you can't be alone. I was just having a talk with Bill Walsh.
Bill Walsh? What about? What's he been saying about me now?
Oh, never mind that. I have something to tell you about him.
The police are watching him.
Oh? Why?
They think he may be the one they're after.
They think your father might have been pushed from the window of his room.
What makes them think that?
I don't know. I do think he'd be capable of a thing like that.
Oh, yes. Yes, he's cruel, Jimmy, and vicious. They ought to arrest him.
Well, I think they would if they only had one thing.
Just an idea of how he might have gotten in here without being seen.
I... I can think of a way he might have.
Oh, really? Huh.
Well, if he dressed in white like a ward man, he could go through the back entrance, emergency, the opening to the stairs.
Once he got in, nobody'd pay any special attention to him in a white uniform.
That's right. Go ahead.
Well, on the seventh floor, if he pressed a buzzer in one of the empty rooms,
then moved into another one until the floor nurse was out of the way,
he could have slipped into my father's room unnoticed, closed the door.
You know, that's good, Valerie, very good.
They might be able to arrest him with just a little bit more. What then?
With a gun he could have robbed my father, make him walk to an open window.
The sills are low, one push.
Then with all the commotion in the back, down the stairs and right out the front door.
Yes, but the ring, they found on our ambulance driver. How about that?
Walsh probably put it there to create suspicion.
Yes. As a matter of fact, that's just the way it did happen. Isn't it, Valerie?
I... I don't know. But that could be it, Jimmy. It could, couldn't it?
You should know. You did it. You came here dressed as a nurse and killed your stepfather.
I didn't. What are you saying? I didn't.
The police know you did, Valerie. You made a mistake when you planted that ring.
You left a fingerprint on the milk bottle.
I didn't. I couldn't. I was wearing gloves.
Valerie. Valerie, put down that gun. Let go of it.
All right, Mr. Mousy.
You heard it all, Colonel? Every word, Doc. Thanks. We'll take it from here.
Hello, Wayman. I still don't understand how anybody could put up $10,000 without you having some idea who it was.
You can search me. I can never even borrow five bucks from nobody between paylives.
Well, the bonding company must know who guaranteed the money.
Yes, but they operate in strictest confidence.
Well, well, gentlemen. I see Mr. Wayman is with us again.
Karoo, I suppose your whole day is ruined because I didn't hang him.
Well, am I gonna be fired, Dr. Karoo?
No, no, no, no. An innocent man is entitled to another chance.
Another chance? Well, well, that's real generous.
I'll get it. Hello? Oh, yes, I'll tell him.
You're wanted in your office, Dr. Karoo.
Mr. Morton is waiting with some releases from the Apex surety company.
Oh, yes, well, excuse me, gentlemen.
That stuffy long nose.
Wait a minute, Dr. G. Apex surety? Why, that's a bonding company.
Yeah, and the guy who got me out. His name was Morton.
You mean Karoo put up Wayman's bail, Jimmy?
It must have been. There's no other answer. It was Dr. Karoo.
Karoo. I know it's true, but I'll never believe it.
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 Baramore as Dr. Gillespie.
Yeah, fine thing.
What's the matter now, Dr. G? What are you growling about?
He's been like that all day. Karoo putting up Wayman's bail. It was a dirty trick.
A dirty trick? You heard me, a dirty trick.
How can you say that, Dr. G? It was surprisingly generous. Karoo must have pledged everything he owned.
And I heard him threaten to sock a reporter if he ever again wrote a story calling anybody at Blair Hospital a crook.
No, Karoo sure he did. That's just part of the whole dirty trick.
He does a thing like this when he knows I've spent the last 20 years learning to hate him.
You have just heard the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Baramore.
This program was written by Joel Mercotte and directed by Joe Bigelow.
Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Shuman. Virginia Gregg was heard as Nurse Parker and Ted Osborne as Dr. Karoo.
Others in the cast included Ed Max, Yvonne Patey, Herb Ellis, Florence Ravenel, and Barney Phillips.
Dick Joy speaking.
Thank you for watching.