The Crime Doctor's Warning

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.

Dr. Robert Ordway, (Warner Baxter) plays another role as Crime Doctor and gets involved with a young man named Clive Lake, (Coulter Irwin) who has problems with black outs when he returned from WWII. Clive lives with his mother who is very domineering and is very unhappy about her son falling in love with a model and then her sudden death which was caused by a murder. The police get involved and Inspector Davis, (John Litel) wants to book Clive for the girls killing; however, Dr. Ordway feels that Clive is innocent of the crime and proceeds with his own investigation, meanwhile other murders are committed. There is a painting called "The Ring" which shows three models in the picture which will reveal some deep dark secrets about the murders Nice low budget film from the past. Enjoy.

A struggling artist seeks help from the Crime Doctor (Warner Baxter). He's been suffering from blackouts and short term memory loss. When two models (one of which is his fiancee) are murdered, he's an immediate suspect. The Doctor isn't so sure. There are others with motive, including the artist's overprotective mother and a very misogynistic male model.

An efficient and solid mystery that is suspenseful and absorbing from beginning to the end. Coulter Irwin as the suspect who suffers from blackouts is excellent as is Warner Baxter as the hero. There's a dreamy quality to this great entry, it's well-paced and has a good, though unusual finale.

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).

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.