The Crime Doctor's Warning

Another consultation gets Warner Baxter as the famous Crime Doctor involved in another murder. Young Coulter Irwin is having some kind of flashback occurrences and keeps wandering over to a location that he has no apparent meaning for him.

Before Baxter finishes he's involved in the murder of three female artist's models and of course it's Irwin who's suspected because of the unexplained blackouts and because he's an artist.

The problem with the Crime Doctor series and with some of the B mystery series is that many times the small cast doesn't leave you too many suspects. In this case the murderer's behavior early on does kind of tip you off in terms of his identity.

Still Warner Baxter is always good in whatever film he's in and he gets good support from a familiar cast of players.

Warner Baxter reprises his role as the "Crime Doctor" in "The Crime Doctor's Warning," one of the later entries into the series. The director this time is William Castle.

In this episode, Dr. Ordway is trying to help a young artist who has blackouts, during which one of his models is killed.

I have to disagree with those who found this fast-paced. For me, it moves slowly, though the story is interesting. These Crime Doctor films generally have off-beat stories, but not the budget or quality directors to bring them up a level. In this case, Castle is an effective director, all right, but some of the acting is awful particularly from Coulter Irwin, who apparently was told to act like a vegetable.

Warner Baxter, so frenetic in "42nd Street," is much more relaxed as Dr. Ordway, probably because he suffered a nervous breakdown. In any event, he's very natural and a likable character.

These movies aren't great, but they sure did come up with some wild plots.

This was another nice entry in the Crime Doctor film series and sharper and darker than those preceding, maybe partly thanks to Columbia b unit director William Castle who teetered on the edge of murky seediness throughout.

Engage your senses from the off: there's a puzzling opening with Dr. Ordway (Warner Baxter) and a police Inspector (John Litel) reviewing their case in the bedroom of a murdered woman who had been stabbed earlier in the day. The man suspected has "mental lapses" but Ordway doesn't believe he did it, meaning at this stage we haven't seen the crime or the victim and are rooting for the suspect we haven't seen yet either! Psychoanalysis is called for, along with the usual unhindered sleuthing from the good Doctor. There's a descent into the Bohemian world of artists, models and paintings - most regrettably of gorgeous young women instead of ugly old men, plenty of lovely creeping about in the dark usually with pointy shadowy hats on, and an outlandish plot – great stuff! Favourite bits: the meeting between Baxter and art dealer Miles Mander – the epitome of succinct and scholarly sinisterness; the busy traffic up on the roof at night and those fabulous apartment windows; the hurried snack Baxter and Litel have after the second murder – what was that all about?

Well worth while to a fan of the genre, the effort will probably be too much for non-fans. I was concentrating so hard I missed what the Warning of the title was (if there was one), but my own warning is if you watch it be careful not to blink near the end because they closed this one down fast.

Crime Doctor's Warning (1945)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

William Castle steps in to direct this fifth film in Columbia's mystery series. This time out the Crime Doctor (Warner Baxter) is investigating a painter who suffers from blackouts, which leads to his models turning up dead. Castle brings quite a lot of energy to this film but it's not enough for me to call this a good movie. This entry is pretty much on par with the rest of the series in that it's decent time killers but the stories just aren't strong enough or interesting enough to make them work all the way around. Baxter is good once again but the supporting cast doesn't leave him too much to work with. Castle makes for some interesting scenes where the suspected killer is under hypnosis but that's about it.

One of the better films in the Crime Doctor series, this entry has enough variety to sustain interest, enough characters to keep one confused, and enough twists and turns to keep the viewer guessing as to the perpetrator right up towards the end.

But where has the luscious Dusty Anderson, who plays one of the artist models, been all my viewing career? A bit player for Columbia around the end of WW II, research reveals that she married director Jean Negulesco and became a painter, not too far distant a profession from the one she plays in this movie. I'd suggest to anybody wanting to see more of her, however briefly, to look for her in one of several Rita Hayworth movies. (Check her IMDb.com entry for a list.)

For me, however, this movie was stolen by J. M. Kerrigan and Miles Mander, both of whom play art dealers, and both highly credible in their parts, the former a Scotsman who "would swim to Glasgow for a farthing" (if I recall the quote correctly), and the latter a sophisticated high-end dealer who doesn't sell any painting for under $500 (no small sum in those days).