Dr. Monica

Kay Francis, (Dr. Monica Braden) is madly in love with her husband, John Braden, (Warren William) who is a writer and very seldom sees his wife because she is a very successful physician and travels a great deal. Monica finds out the sad fact that she cannot have any children of her own and she decides to adopt a child. Monica has a girlfriend named Mary Hathaway, (Jean Muir) who is very much attracted to Monica's husband John which she finds out about by listening to his conversation on a phone. Monica keeps the secret to herself and the story gets quite interesting after this event. If you like soap operas from 1934, this is a good Kay Francis special with her giving a great performance.

...by pressuring Warner Brothers to cut this film so badly. He referred to the three main female characters as "a lesbian, a nymphomaniac, and a prostitute". I find this very confusing. None of the women in this film are wearing trousers (I'm not casting stereotypes here - see The Office Wife for reference), nor are any of the women committed to more than one man - in fact two of them love the same man, and none of them seem to be doing "the deed" for money. I can only imagine that whenever he was confronted with images on film of an unconventional nature, that the top of old Joe's head came off and he started spouting nonsense. But I digress.

At a short 53 minutes this is a film about Dr. Monica Braden (Kay Francis), a woman who delivers babies for a living but is physically unable to have her own and desperately wants to, her husband John (Warren William) who has a short affair with an acquaintance (Jean Muir) but ends it when he realizes he really loves Monica, with a healthy dose of friendship thrown in for Monica in the person of Teasdale's character. Dr. Monica becomes the physician of the girl having her husband's baby not knowing the situation. Complications ensue.

The cutting on this film is so stark that you can actually see where the abortion would have been discussed. Jean Muir's character has just learned her condition, starts to say something - never does, and then the film cuts to Dr. Monica telling her sternly "don't even think that! Ever!". Plus, Warren William is practically neutered in this film. If you're familiar with his work, you know Warren William usually was the fast-talking cad in a multitude of Warner precodes who was second fiddle to none. Unfortunately, here he is barely fourth fiddle.

If I seem like I'm being hard on this film it's mainly the screenplay to which I object. Both Muir and Francis are natural, strong, and vulnerable in their roles depending upon what is needed in any given scene. Teasdale doesn't get to do much, but she adds a level head to a situation that desperately needs one. As with all of Kay's WB films this one boasts a lovely score and has a few wonderful seemingly untouched scenes, such as the one where Dr. Braden and her husband are enjoying a sunset together at the end of their vacation - she understands the significance of the occasion (a last time together, as she wants to step aside so John can be a father to his child), he does not (He doesn't even know he's a father).

Recommended for hard core fans of Francis, but do be prepared to feel like you've been rushed through an incomplete story, because you have been.

This women's movie about a selfless doctor (Kay Francis) who can't have children and her philandering husband (Warren William) was originally a brisk 65 minutes. After the censors were through with it, it was trimmed to 53 minutes.

The problem was that the husband fathers a child with an unmarried woman (Jean Muir) but remains blissfully unaware of it. Muir goes off to a country clinic to have the kid, so no one is the wiser except for Francis and her icy friend (Verree Teasdale).

Muir doesn't want the baby if she can't have the husband, but he's through with her and doesn't know about the baby anyway. He keeps going to and coming from Europe while all this plays out. Francis is about to have an operation so she can have children but is told it's futile.

Ultimately, Muir takes matters into her own hands to resolve the problem.

Francis, Muir, and Teasdale are all quite good but Warren doesn't have much to do since he's not involved in the main plot. Emma Dunn is the nurse, Phillip Reed shows up for a second, and Ann Shoemaker has one scene at a party.

It would be interesting to see what ended up on the cutting room floor.

Kay Francis is successful Dr. Monica Braden, married and madly in love with John Braden (Warren William). Her big sorrow is that she can't conceive, and we learn as the film goes along that she will never be able to conceive.

The film opens at a gathering, and we find out fairly quickly that John was having an affair with Mary Hathaway (Jean Muir), but he broke it off. He tells her to forget him.

Monica and Mary are friends, and Mary has fainting spells - which in old movies could mean only one thing. Never stated, however. Pregnant.

Not only that, but she never looked pregnant. Monica promises to help Mary every step of the way. And she does, until she finds out that the baby is her husband's.

This is dated and preposterous. Was Dr. Monica trying to be a candidate for sainthood? Kay is glamorous, and there's a nice performance from Verree Teasdale.

Precode and a typical Kay Francis melodrama. I don't know of any woman who would behave as she did, pre or post-code.

I'm in agreement with the reviewer who said that The Code probably ruined this film. As it is it's the kind of hgh gloss soap opera that used to be referred to as women's pictures.

Kay Francis is in the title role and she's a most successful doctor, an obstetrician who delivers the world's babies but has none of her own. Not that her husband Warren William isn't generous. In fact he's impregnated Amelia Earhart like aviatrix Jean Muir. and it's Francis who gets to deliver the child and learn at the same time who the father is.

The presence of the infant girl makes the whole thing an impossible situation. One of them is going to have to realize that her duty is clear.

Verree Teasdale who is friend to all is keeper of the secrets. Her's is the only other role of consequence in Dr. Monica.

The four principles are fine although William's part is somewhat submerged with the trio of actresses. I wonder if Dr. Monica were made today with the Code gone how the drama would resolve itself.

Some strong similarities between Dr. Monica and the Katharine Hepburn classic done at RKO, Christopher Strong.