It's odd that CRIME DOCTOR ('43), the film that started the B-film series at Columbia, is one of the least involving of the Dr. Ordway stories. The first half-hour is pretty dull before the film takes on any real interest in the amnesia background of Baxter's character.
His development from complete amnesia to gradual recall is well handled and some of the scenes with JOHN LITEL have a certain amount of interest, but the story lacks overall believability with RAY COLLINS turning to the phone book in a search for Baxter's name and then becoming his mentor and leading him into a doctor's career with a quick montage of events establishing Baxter as a psychiatrist.
MARGARET LINDSAY is attractive as the female interest, looking so much like a prettier version of Barbara Stanwyck, whom I always thought she resembled in manner and looks. For fans of the series, this one will do, but surprisingly it's not the sort of "first film in the series" that I expected and you have to wonder why Columbia decided to make a series after this one.
WARNER BAXTER looks quite ill in most of his close-ups, so you can see the man was in fragile health all during these "Crime Doctor" films. He gives his usual solid performance but the film was a disappointment for me.
His development from complete amnesia to gradual recall is well handled and some of the scenes with JOHN LITEL have a certain amount of interest, but the story lacks overall believability with RAY COLLINS turning to the phone book in a search for Baxter's name and then becoming his mentor and leading him into a doctor's career with a quick montage of events establishing Baxter as a psychiatrist.
MARGARET LINDSAY is attractive as the female interest, looking so much like a prettier version of Barbara Stanwyck, whom I always thought she resembled in manner and looks. For fans of the series, this one will do, but surprisingly it's not the sort of "first film in the series" that I expected and you have to wonder why Columbia decided to make a series after this one.
WARNER BAXTER looks quite ill in most of his close-ups, so you can see the man was in fragile health all during these "Crime Doctor" films. He gives his usual solid performance but the film was a disappointment for me.