The Murder of Dr. Harrigan

The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (1936)

** (out of 4)

Fast paced Warner mystery has Dr. Harrigan being murdered in a hospital right before he's about to do surgery on a man who has also disappeared. Dr. Lambert (Ricardo Cortez) and Nurse Keating (Kay Linaker) decide to do some investigating on their own and realize that just about everyone in the hospital is a suspect and that Harrigan was working on a new form of anesthetic. THE MURDER OF DR. HARRIGAN isn't the best murder-mystery out there from Warner but even with all its flaws it's still worth watching thanks in large part to the nice cast of characters. Cortez is always hit and miss among film buffs but I thought he was rather charming here. The actor certainly didn't have to over extend himself but he did enough to at least keep you entertained in his character. Linaker, just signed off of Broadway, is actually very good in her part but sadly the screenplay gives her very little to work with. Character actor Joseph Crehan does a fine job at the main detective investigating the case and we also get fine support from Robert Strange, Phillip Reed and Anita Kerry. Then there's Mary Astor who according to the trivia section of IMDb turned down the lead part and to punish her the studio gave her a supporting bit. The role is certainly below her talents but she's good in the part and certainly helps make the film better. With that said, the plot here just isn't interesting enough to really pull you in and I'd argue that the direction isn't up to par either. Still, fans of the cast members will still want to check it out.

"The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is a glorious example of the sort of low-cost quickies Hollywood churned out in the 30s to satisfy the double feature pipeline. It is almost entirely set in what has to be the sloppiest hospital in America. Here, a doctor reschedules an operation for midnight without bothering to assemble a surgical team. Nurses haphazardly wander in and out of patients' rooms. And when the only elevator in the place stops running, nobody's much concerned until it starts up again -- and a dead body turns up inside. For comedy relief, the orderlies stomach pump the wrong patient. Oh, those wacky hospital staffers! The plot centers on an eccentric millionaire who arranges for a doctor who hates his guts to perform a delicate operation on him, using a new anesthetic that's better than ether; it puts patients out for three days so they can heal painlessly. Somewhere in this melange of mayhem and malpractice, there's Ricardo Cortez trying to save the nurse he loves from being charged with murder by the usual myopic cop. But the mystery zips along and as a throwback to a bygone era, it's at least entertaining. And for trivia buffs, there's Mary Astor in a relatively small, thankless role, purportedly her punishment for bucking the studio system.

A Warner's "Clue Club" presentation, this short (just over one hour) murder mystery will satisfy the hidden sleuths in the audience. As with so many murder thrillers then and now, "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is set in a hospital where nurses compete for recognition, advancement, and romance with the handsome physicians, especially Dr. Harrigan (John Eldredge) and Dr. Lambert (Ricardo Cortez, being groomed by the studio as a Latin lover). The popularity of this type film led to the highly successful Dr. Kildare series later in the decade and much later to TV's popular "Marcus Welby, M.D." Countless other imitations have appeared and are still popping up from time to time.

The mystery is extremely complex for its day and time. Suffice it to say that a medicinal sleeping formula is being touted by several members of the hospital staff including the administrator, Peter Melady. That he has the completed formula works to his disadvantage since his rivals are determined to claim it for their own. Melady is preparing himself for an operation while his wife, Agnes (Anita Kerry), is in the same hospital with a broken arm. She is surreptitiously being entertained by her paramour, Kenneth Martin (Gordon "William" Elliott--maybe this is how he got his epithet "Wild Bill"). Peter Melady asks his arch rival, Dr. Harrigan, to perform the operation. This is like asking Jack the Ripper to perform an appendectomy on a lady of the evening. To make a long synopsis short, Dr. Harrigan ends up stabbed to death, Dr. Melady ends up missing in action, and an African-American winds up being taken to the morgue, leaving a covey of suspects lurking in the corridors.

The romantic angle is almost as confusing. Dr. Lambert is lusting after vivacious nurse, Sally Keating (Kay Linaker), who in turn is lusting after him. Nurse Lillian Cooper (Mary Astor) is lusting after one of the suspects in the case, plus is burdened with a secret revealed at the end of the flick. Nurse Brody (Mary Treen) lusts after a funny line. And Agnes Melady, needless to say, is still lusting after Wild Bill.

Besides Nurse Brody, humor is provided by the patients, particularly Wentworth (Johnny Arthur) as a whiner with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who is staying in the hospital for a much-needed rest but keeps being bothered by nurses, doctors, plumbers, the police, and other patients; and by Jackson (Don Barclay), a harmless dipsomaniac who drinks rubbing alcohol and runs amok.

"The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is worthwhile for those of us who love a good mystery. This is a short entertaining programmer in the Warner's "Clue Club" series, which included the popular "While the Patient Slept."

A leading hospital surgeon and his prominent patient are discovered dead, leading to a police investigation involving suspicious hospital personnel and a formula for a revolutionary anesthetic.

Okay whodunit, without being anything special. Sleuthing programmers were popular in the 30's, probably because they were cheaper to produce. Warner's mounted this entry, and note the competency of studio craftsmanship, especially with acting and pacing. The 67-minutes is filmed in straightforward fashion that could have used more suspenseful atmosphere, but I guess that had to await the 40's. The mystery part is pretty complex so guessing the murderer is like a shot in the dark. Fortunately, the murders are reconstructed in detail at the end, tying together the many loose ends. Comedy relief comes mainly from a patient who drinks his rubbing alcohol rather than applying it, while Mary Treen makes an amusing nurse. There's not much action, mostly talk. At the same time, events remain limited to hospital rooms and elevator. Nonetheless, the characters are interesting enough to maintain involvement, much like TV's popular Perry Mason.

This is one of those typical fast-moving, harried murder mysteries involving the death of a doctor under unusual circumstances at a hospital full of suspects. Something about a formula he had developed in an uneasy partnership with another doctor--and his murder at the hands of someone who wanted that formula.

Only of interest because of RICARDO CORTEZ in the leading role as one of the helpful doctors who leads the detective to solve the case, and, in a brief supporting role, MARY ASTOR, who manages to make an interesting impression as a nurse who knows more than she's willing to tell. She makes more of an impression than KAY LINAKER who plays Cortez's romantic interest.

This is the sort of mystery fluff that played the lower half of double bills back in the '30s, watchable only for the fast pace and because of its "round up the usual suspects" kind of telling. Extremely dated, but amusing with enough plot complications to keep everyone guessing.