The story of Dr. Kildare.
Whatsoever house I enter, there will I go for the benefit of the sake.
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.
Dr. Gillespie's office. Ms. Parker speaking.
Speaking? Sleeping would probably be better word for what you're doing.
Dr. Gillespie, you're back from the medical convention in Montreal.
I am not back and neither is Kildare.
And what's more, Parker, we're not coming back for a few more days.
Why, what do you mean?
I am calling you from upstate on the only phone in the holiday guest house.
It's 20 miles this side of the Canadian border, in a little town called...
called... what's the name of this place, Jimmy?
Wentworth.
Wentworth!
Wentworth, I've never heard of it.
That's good. Apparently no one else has either.
They haven't even bothered to put it on the map.
Nah, don't tell me you two are going to sneak in a vacation.
Nope. We are going to be open and aboveboard about it, Parker.
You can tell Karoo that we've given up medicine for trout fishing.
Oh, well then I can get hold of you there in case anything comes up.
The phone here is under the name of...
Converse.
Converse, yeah. Converse. He's the owner.
But see that nothing does come up, Parker.
Well, if you say so, Dr. Gillespie,
but I still won't believe that you and Dr. Kildare have had a vacation
until I see you walk in here with sun tans and a beard.
Well, we're working on that part of it right now, Parker.
See you next week.
Say hello to Dr. Kildare for me.
Right, right. Well, that takes care of that.
And now for some of those speckled beauties.
Right.
Incidentally, Jimmy, did you ever hear about the time up in Michigan
I caught a 14-pound musky?
Oh, many, many times, Dr. G.
And by the way, why is it that every time you tell that story,
you change the size of the fish for each listener?
Ha, ha, ha.
Well, I tell you, that's because I never tell a man
more than I think he'll believe.
I tell you what.
You go and get our things up in the room,
and I'll stroll down to the village and buy you some fishing tackle.
I am an expert on that sort of thing.
Okay, Isaac Walton.
I'll be right back. Good.
Good day. Could I see you a minute?
Mr. Converse, what's on your mind?
Well, the nearest doctor around here is 20 miles away,
and there's a young lady upstairs who needs looking after.
And I heard you two mention you were doctors, and I thought...
Well, we were just...
I guess the fish can wait.
I'd be glad to look at the young lady. What seems to be the trouble?
Well, I don't know.
She's just been here since yesterday passing through like you.
And just now she called and said she felt all feverish
and asked for a doctor.
She's on the second floor front.
I'll go right up.
Hello, there.
Are you the doctor?
Yes, yes. I'm Dr. Gildare.
Oh, I'm glad you came.
May I have your hand, please, while I take your pulse?
Mm-hmm. What's your name?
Evelyn Briggs.
Oh, cough hurts.
I've been so hot, I feel weak and dizzy when I try to get up.
Here, put this thermometer in your mouth.
I was going to leave here this morning, but last night...
Don't try to talk, please.
Just nod your head yes or no when I ask you a question.
All right.
You've been perspiring a great deal, Miss Briggs?
Mm-hmm.
All right, I'll take the thermometer now.
What's wrong with me? What do you think it is?
Can't tell just yet.
Open your mouth, please. Wide.
Now say ah.
Ah.
Once more.
Ah.
Mm-hmm.
What is it, Doctor? Is something terrible?
Oh, no. Your throat's somewhat inflamed.
Just try to rest until I get back.
What is it, Doc? What is it? Is she all right?
Has Dr. Gillespie returned?
I haven't seen him. It's nothing serious, is it, Doc?
Very serious, Mr. Converse.
Come on downstairs. I want to talk to you.
Well, what is it? What's the matter with her?
She has diphtheria.
Diphtheria?
Yes. She needs a lot of attention.
Oh.
Well, the nearest hospital's in Collingwood, this county seat.
That's 40 miles, but I guess she'll have to be taken there.
Oh, I don't think so, Mr. Converse. You see, we can't move her.
She'll have to remain right here.
Well, I... Well, you're only going to be here for a day or two.
Who's going to look after her?
Dr. Gillespie and I will stay as long as necessary.
Meanwhile, Mr. Converse, I'm afraid you'll have to quarantine the holiday guest house.
Quarantine? Why, I can't. Why, I can't do that.
That would mean no one could come in and no one could go out.
I can't do it. I can't do it.
Well, we're all sad, Jimmy.
You can't do what, Mr. Converse? What can you do, Jimmy?
Quarantine this place, Dr. Gillespie. There's a girl upstairs with diphtheria.
Maybe you made a mistake. Maybe it's something else.
Mr. Converse, if Dr. Kildare says it's diphtheria, it is diphtheria.
And you'll have to quarantine this place right now.
But I can't.
There's no question you can't. The word is must.
Now, are there any other people on the premises?
Well, yes, just as one, a man named Powers.
But what difference does that make?
You can't close my place. You've got no authority.
We are registered physicians in this state.
How do I know that?
Look, this is no time to argue, Converse.
I've explained to you what has to be done and why.
We can't let this spread.
You'd better consider it quarantined as of now.
I will not.
Looks like we'll have to get an order from the local police.
Come on, Dr. G.
Hello. How are you?
Are you the constable?
That's right, Ed Allison. One-man police department Wentworth.
What can I do for you, gentlemen?
I'm Dr. James Kildare. This is Dr. Leonard Gillespie.
We're on vacation from Blair Hospital in New York City,
staying at the Holiday Guest House.
Well, that's fine.
Charlie Converse taking good care of you?
That's beside the point, constable.
There's a girl named Evelyn Briggs staying at the Holiday House.
She has diphtheria.
Diphtheria?
Oh, saying, that's too bad.
Yeah, it's very serious.
Highly contagious. The place has to be quarantined.
I'd think so.
I had diphtheria when I was a kid and I remember.
Pretty bad.
Can you issue an order closing the place till the danger is over?
Oh, you don't need an order. Just tell Charlie Converse.
Mr. Converse wasn't very cooperative.
That's why we came to you.
Well, maybe we all better go over and have a talk with him.
Well, hello, Ed.
Hello, Charlie. These two doctors say you've got a diphtheria case here.
Diphtheria?
Is this some kind of a joke, Ed?
This is no joke, Converse. This is deadly serious.
Well, Charlie.
Well, I don't want to question anybody's word,
but there's no diphtheria case here, Ed.
Converse, what are you talking about?
You know I examined a girl named Evelyn Briggs in a room upstairs
just a little while ago.
She's seriously ill.
I don't know what they're talking about, Ed.
There's nobody named Evelyn Briggs stopping here, and there hasn't been.
He's lying.
Of course he's lying.
How do you know? You weren't even here.
Well, I...
Converse, I don't know what this is all about,
but I do know you're committing a criminal act.
Charlie, you'd better talk up.
Tell me what you know about all this.
I'm telling you, Ed, nothing. Nothing.
Look, how long have you known me?
Thirty-five years.
And how long have you known these two doctors?
If they are doctors.
Ten minutes.
Well, that should be your answer.
I guess so, Charlie, but let's take a look at that room.
Well, there you are, Ed.
Jimmy, are you sure this is the room?
Positive.
She's gone now.
Name was Evelyn Briggs, huh?
That's right.
Evelyn Briggs.
Ed, look at the mattress, Ed.
It's dusty.
The air is stuffy in here.
Do you see any traces of anyone having lived here recently, Ed?
No. No, I don't look like it.
Look, Constable, I don't know why this man's doing this,
but you can't let him get away with it.
He's hidden that girl somewhere.
Search any room in the house, Ed, and you won't find any girl.
And if these two keep up this nonsense,
I'm going to ask you to lock them up.
Why, you murderer, you.
Now, just take it easy.
You two men came in and told me a story that just don't ring true.
She was here, in this room, I tell you.
Now, how could Charlie Converse hide a girl, and what reason would he have?
I wish I knew.
But I can tell you this, that he didn't want this place quarantined.
Ed, I'm beginning to feel this is all a nightmare.
Why, these men never spoke a word to me before,
and suddenly they accuse me of a crime.
Well, gentlemen, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do for you.
You mean you're not going to look into this any further?
What sort of look at? Where's the evidence?
Where's the girl, Dr. Kildare?
I don't know.
I guess I'm beginning to feel like this whole thing's a nightmare, too.
Jimmy, you said there was a girl. Now, that's good enough for me.
Thanks, Dr. G.
Now, I'll tell you what.
If you find anything that looks like evidence, come over and see me.
Then you'll get some action.
I can't close up a man's place of business with nothing to go on.
I suppose not.
So long, Charlie.
Gentlemen.
Dr. Kildare, Dr. Gillespie,
I'd prefer it if you'd pack your things and leave here at once.
Mr. Converse, we're not going to leave until we've found that girl
and have this place quarantined before an epidemic starts.
Well, that goes for me, too.
Well, we'll see about that.
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.
Jimmy, Jimmy, here I am.
Did you get an answer from the county medical authority?
Yes, here's the wire. Read it yourself.
I've contacted Constable Allison Wentworth,
who reports he cannot issue a quarantine order without a patient.
The office is powerless under conditions described,
but we'll stand by pending further suspicious circumstances.
Please advise.
Lady, in all my years as a doctor and a human being,
I never felt so helpless. Absolutely helpless.
Dr. Gillespie, our only hope in getting that place quarantined
and inoculating this area against an epidemic is to find the girl.
Poor thing could be dead now.
Well, let's go back to Converse's place and start looking from there.
All right, Jimmy.
Converse must have some important reason to endanger this whole community.
Yeah, but what could it be? What is it?
You're the two doctors from New York City?
Oh, yes. Who are you?
Well, you might say I'm a sort of friend of the management.
Come on, get in.
Friend of what management?
Charlie Converse's Holiday House.
You guys sure make a lot of noise over nothing.
Over nothing?
Come on, get in.
I am not going to get in anybody's car on the floor.
Easy, Dr. G. He has a gun.
Yeah, that's right. Play it smart.
Now that's better.
Okay, Converse, let's go.
It's too bad you gentlemen didn't take my advice.
Look, Jimmy, our suitcases.
That's right. You've been officially checked out.
Where are you taking us?
Free ride to the station.
Wouldn't want you to miss the only train today.
Yeah, and I'm helping.
Like I said, I'm a friend of the management.
Chuck, stop waving that gun around.
Ah, button up, Converse, if you hadn't played it so dumb.
Oh, this is fun.
You were just going to say something about Evelyn Briggs, weren't you?
Never heard of anybody by that name. Did you, Converse?
Never, Chuck, never.
You know, I don't understand how they let guys like you become doctors.
You're so dumb.
Okay, Charlie, slow it down.
Right.
Cruise up to the head of the train. There's pulling out in about two minutes.
All right.
Out you two.
Ah, stop your pushing.
Ah, come on, come on, hurry it up.
Watch that gun, Chuck.
Shut up.
Come on, let's go.
This'll do you no good.
We know there's a sick girl back there.
We're going to treat her one way or the other.
Is that what they call ethics?
What do you know about ethics?
Well, I know they're getting people's way sometimes.
All right, this is your car. Get up there, go on.
You can't get away with this.
Come on, Dr. G.
Have a good trip, suckers.
Chuck, Chuck, you didn't have to wave that gun around so much.
It wasn't very smart.
Now, don't tell me what's smart.
If you wasn't so dumb, the whole thing wouldn't have happened.
What do you mean?
What if you just dumb it up and let them doctors close up your place?
What could you lose?
I could have waited till it got dark and slipped out the back way.
Who'd have noticed?
But no, no, you had to go make a federal case out of it, huh, you dumb cluck?
Well, maybe I did get a little excited.
But Chuck, I was just trying to protect you.
And what about me?
All right, I'll bite. What about you?
Well, suppose they come back here.
What? I'm crossing the border into Canada tonight at midnight on schedule.
I'm not going to be around.
But I've still got to live here.
No, you deny everything. You're clean anyway.
You're still holding five grand of mine for hiding me, ain't you?
Got to take some chances for that much dough.
But what about Evelyn Briggs?
I don't know. Might take her to Canada with me.
She might like to meet some of my friends there.
Well, let's get back to the place. I got to pack.
And stop worrying, will you?
Those two are gun for good.
Jimmy, we just can't ride out of that town leaving that poor helpless girl there somewhere needing us.
We aren't going to, Dr. Gillespie.
Every minute we stay away from her, the more serious her physical condition becomes.
Not to mention the possibility of diphtheria spreading all through the village.
Dr. G, that's true. But we need help.
We aren't going to get it in Wentworth.
However, we may be able to in Collingwood, and that's the next stop on this line.
Time, Jimmy. Time.
I know. What was that man's name at the county seat?
Lady.
All right. Now, you stay on the train and go to him.
Tell him that we have the patient and we want quarantine orders.
And then come back to Wentworth as quickly as you can.
Well, what are you going to do?
I'm going back and find Evelyn Briggs right now.
Hold on.
You pulled the emergency cord.
Only about a mile back to town.
Be careful, Jimmy. Chuck has a gun.
Tilder.
Hey, Converse, I'm back. Nobody's going to run me out again.
No, Dr. Kilday.
And listen carefully. I'm not interested in why you hid that girl and went to all the pains to get rid of us.
What I am interested in is the health of that girl and the other people in this community.
What girl?
Doctor, are you sure you're feeling okay?
Now, look, Converse, do you have a family?
Sure. Sure. I've got a wife and two children. What about it?
Do you realize they're very likely to be dead, along with many others in this area?
That's a lie. It's not true.
It is true. Dysphoria can spread quickly and be very deadly.
Your children's life may be at stake. Yours too, for that matter.
Be sensible, Converse, and tell me what you did with that girl.
I... I don't know what you're talking about.
Jimmy? Jimmy? Is that you?
Right here.
And Converse.
Well, they're on the way, Jimmy.
Good.
Who? Who's on the way?
Some state police and health authorities.
We don't have to bother with this weasel anymore.
Right. The law can take care of him.
Law? I'm a respectable member of this community.
Getting scared, Converse?
They'll search every house, every nook and cranny of this area.
But they'll find her.
How... how soon will they be here?
A matter of minutes.
Well, Converse, do you talk to us or do them?
He made me do it.
I didn't want to. His name is Chuck Rivers. He's wanted by the FBI and...
He's been paying you to hide here, hasn't he?
Well, what's the difference? He's leaving town.
Oh, we don't care about him, Converse, but just you remember your wife and your children.
And the people you've lived with in this town for 35 years.
They're the ones. Now, come on, Converse, where's the girl?
Upstairs in the attic.
You have to get up there on a ladder. That's why you didn't find her.
Come on, Jimmy.
I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it.
Who is it?
Don't be frightened. It's me, Dr. Gildare, Mrs. Dr. Gillespie.
Oh, no.
No, no, no, no. We'll take care of you.
Do you have sedatives in the bag, Jimmy? I'll morphine out the pair.
What's the matter with...
You have diphtheria, my dear.
But you're going to be all right now. It isn't like it was years ago.
There, there, there, there. Ready, Dr. G?
Good.
Well, well, well, if the two saw bones didn't turn up again.
He's the man who carried me up here.
We know that, Miss Briggs.
I just talked to Convice. He's all excited about health authorities and cops with warrants.
He has a right to be, not only for harboring you, but for helping you hide this girl.
Yeah, yeah. I've been a real bad boy.
Well, I'll let Convice explain things to him. I got places to go and things to do.
You won't get very far, Chuck.
Well, who's going to stop me? You?
Oh, no. There's something much smaller than I.
Something about, uh, about one millionth of an inch long, wouldn't you say, Dr. Gillespie?
Huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's to be sure, Jimmy.
What are you giving me? What are you talking about?
A germ. Miss Briggs said you brought her up here yourself.
You had the carrier. Diphtheria is highly contagious.
Ah, go on. It's a kid's disease.
Ah, it's where you're wrong, Chuck. You contaminated yourself.
And a man your age is very susceptible.
Ah, knock it off, you both nuts.
Have you ever seen anyone your size and age with diphtheria?
Huh? Oh, pretty horrible.
Sometimes they choke to death.
Let me see your throat, son.
Ah, get away from me.
Let him go, Dr. Gillespie. He won't go far. He can't go far.
Stop kidding me. I don't like that kind of kid.
I'm not kidding.
I haven't got no diphtheria.
I'm as healthy as a lion, so just lay off that corny routine.
Well, I seen that in a play once.
You seen the play?
Yeah, yeah.
And the doctor in it was a dumb square just like you two.
Guy tried to make some poor lamps to think that he was blowing his top.
This was just to give the cops time to get there.
Huh?
Well, you're not going to do that to me, and that is that.
All right, Chuck. You're taking a long gamble.
Yeah.
So what if I have got it? They got serums?
Haven't you heard of them?
Of course.
I'm just about to administer one to Miss Briggs here.
Oh, yes, yes, yes. That's very fine stuff.
Yeah.
All of that, I think you're stringing me, Doc.
But just in case you're not, I just changed the prescription.
You're going to give it to me instead. All of it.
Now, look, this is all there is, and she's in desperate trouble.
All right, Doc. You can give her some just to make sure you aren't pulling anything.
Then you can give me some.
Why, Chuck, didn't I hear you say something about a corny routine?
Shut up, you.
Let it do what he says, Jimmy.
Yeah, and hurry it up.
All right. Now, Evelyn, don't be frightened. This will sting a little.
All right, Doc.
There. How was that?
Hard to feel it.
That's enough for her. Now me. From the same hypo.
All right. Give me your arm.
Now, remember, I still got this gun.
I know. Hold still.
Hurry it up. Oh!
You'll live, Chuck.
Unfortunately.
So long.
I'm getting out of here.
Stay right where you are.
You'll let him get away?
No, no, no, no. He won't get far. Not after what he's done.
Hey, Jimmy didn't even make it to the bottom of the ladder.
Oh, yes, he did, Dr. G. Yes, he did.
Now let's take care of our patient, the little girl who wasn't there.
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, we should be home soon, Jimmy. But Parker's going to be disappointed in us.
No sun tans, no beads, and we're supposed to be on vacation.
Inoculating a town of 300 people against you theory isn't my idea of a vacation.
I never thought I'd have to go back to the hospital for a rest.
Frankly, you know how I feel about it all?
No.
Tired. And I hope nobody mentions the word vacation to me for a long time.
Oh? Does that mean you're through with fishing?
Well, not exactly, Jimmy. Did I ever tell you about the time up in Michigan I caught a 16-pound muskie?
No, Dr. G. Tell us about it.
Well, I will.
You have just heard the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore.
This program was written by John Michael Hayes and E. Jack Newman and directed by Joe Bigelow.
Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Schuman. Virginia Gregg was heard as Nurse Parker.
Others in the cast included Peggy Weber, Wally Mayer, Sheldon Leonard, and Barton Yarborough.
Dick Joy speaking.
Thank you.