A wildly improbable drama, the misspelled "Internes Can't Take Money" was the first in the "Dr.Kildare" movie series, which was subsequently recast with Lew Ayres in the title role and continued at the MGM studio, following this initial Paramount effort. Concocted by writer Max Brand, the story involves an honest young intern at a large hospital, who crosses paths with a widowed ex-con seeking to locate her three-year-old daughter, who was abducted by her deceased bank-robber husband. The recipe is an old one; toss in a couple of shady characters and a gangster with a heart of gold, who is embroiled in illegal betting, add a tolerant landlady and a kindly bartender, sprinkle with nuns, mix with unexpected twists, and bake until overdone.
Despite an uninspired title and a routine script, director Alfred Santell maintains a steady pace that will distract viewers from the at-times laughable plot turns that lead to a teary fade-out, provoked either by laughter or sentiment. Beyond the script, the film's technical aspects are quite good, especially the black and white cinematography by Theodor Sparkuhl, who often dramatically captures Stanwyck garbed in deep black, contrasting with McCrea, dressed in his intern's whites.
Barbara Stanwyck plays the widow, Janet Haley, and the actress, at her sudsy distraught-mother best, is convincing in an unconvincing role. Joel McCrea is the original Dr. Kildare, a straight-arrow intern, poorly paid and burdened by work and rules, who seeks solace at a nearby bar, where his life takes a sudden turn. Stanwyck and McCrea, in their third co-starring film, work well together, and Stanwyck seems genuinely taken with McCrea during their first scene together. Attesting to what makes a film star a star, Stanwyck and McCrea add dimension and interest to otherwise cardboard characters in credibility-stretching situations. In addition to the two stars, the capable cast also includes Lloyd Nolan, Stanley Ridges, and Charles Lane. However, if not for the professionalism and charisma of the leads and supporting players, "Internes Can't Take Money" would be 80 minutes of laughable coincidences and plot turns, memorable only as the first in the Dr. Kildare movie series.
