User Reviews

Warner Baxter was not particularly proud of "The Crime Doctor" series. By the time he left Fox in the late 1930s his salary was enormous ($297,000 in 1940), he was off the screen for two years due to a nervous breakdown. He returned in the title role of the Crime Doctor and for the rest of his life desperately wanted to get back into character parts but it was not to be. Agree with the other reviewer, even though this is one of the better C.Ds, it is often the one unavailable for viewing. "The Crime Doctor" series was often a showcase for Columbia's new, young talent, some who disappeared to oblivion but one who didn't was the talented Nina Foch. Columbia was the home of Rita Hayworth so it was often hard for other starlets to shine their light but Foch proved, with some stellar performances in noir dramas - "Shadows in the Night" and "I Love a Mystery" that she was an actress to watch.

Starts very dramatically when Dr. Ordway is visited in the wee small hours by Lois Garland who feels compelled to kill herself, brought on by terrible dreams that only occur at night. Ordway discovers she has been followed and when he visits her lonely estate, realises it is her handyman (a very shifty looking Ben Weldon) who, while being protective of her, seems to pop up in trouble spots as the movie progresses. It wouldn't be a Crime Doctor without assorted odd bods and red herrings. There's Lois' theatrical brother-in-law, an anxious sister, a smug lawyer as well as a sinister uncle (George Zucco). There is also a strange servant couple and when Ordway finds himself dazed and wandering along the shore, he witnesses the old standby "If you don't keep quiet I'll have you committed"!! He is soon in sinister Uncle's laboratory and is shown a new fabric that Uncle is developing and all the money he earns for his invention will go to help Lois financially. Aaah!! but Ordway also discovers he has created a sleepwalking mist that is kept in the lab and is wafted through the vents in Lois' bedroom to instigate her sleepwalking stunts!! Maybe Uncle isn't so warm and fuzzy as he has shown himself!! In fact initially Ordway, who during his first wanderings discovers a body which later turns up in the surf, wonders whether he isn't going a bit crazy himself!!

That body is the first of a few - and because there is a vague feeling of unco-operativeness, even Lois' faithful boyfriend is played by cynical Edward Norris!! There may be a few gaps in the plot but it is still solid entertainment and was early in the series when Ordway was very integral to the plots!!

Highly Recommended.

A young woman suffering from nightmares visits Warner Baxter's Dr. Ordway (with his own crimes now a thing ot the past), and he goes to the stormy seaside mansion where she lives, complete with rocky waves rushing in at all hours, a convicted killer (Ben Welden) who works doing errands, a creepy scientist (George Zucco, adding the usual sinister presence), sister Jeanne Bates, brother-in-law Lester Matthews and foster sibling Edward Norris. Murders occur, nobody really mourns, and the crime doctor once again proves thanks to guidance of the script that he's the smartest man in any room.

Silly but quite fun thanks to the gang of weirdos (especially Zucco who has made a fabric out of weeds), this has that atmosphere that is best watched with the lights out, sans a single candle. The plot of death in a spooky seaside home is as old as live theater, but when dome right is a delight. Equal to the first entry of the series in an intelligent script, and even better than the second one for a spooky moment or thirteen. Foch is great, more than just your typical ingenue, standing up to Baxter when they disagree, and quite formidable with attorney Arthur Hohl. Light comedy helps, but the real laughs come from irony, not slapstick.