Review of Dr. Broadway

More than 20 years since his real life death and the subsequent death of his character, Tom Horton, MacDonald Carey's voice still gives the opening line in "Days of Our Lives'" opening credits. It's a tribute this popularity that the character is still mentioned and that on occasion, his classic films are rediscovered. This war era crime drama is a new discovery for me, opening with Jean Phillips feigning an attempted suicide and Carey coming to her rescue. Before he can find out her name, he's pretty much hired her as his secretary, assisting him in his cases being a private detective on the side of his practice, mainly concerning members of the criminal element, played by J. Carroll Naish and Eduardo Cianelli. Under different direction, this might seem be rather ordinary, but a few dark elements (mixed in with some sly comedy) show the potential of director Anthony Mann. There's a plethora of famous character actors here, including tough talking but dimwitted Warren Hymer, sweet Scot Mary Gordon and sauced Jack Norton. I don't know if Dr. Horton would approve of Dr. Broadway's methods, but I'm sure he'd enjoy the movie!