When Warner Baxter won an Academy Award for his performance in "In Old Arizona" he embarked upon a solid career that only faltered at the beginning of the 1940s when he was off the screen for two years due to a nervous breakdown. He returned as the Crime Doctor, a popular CBS radio series bought to the screen by Columbia. Ray Collins (who in this movie played Dr. Carey) was radio's Dr. Ordway but Columbia was thrilled to sign Baxter, once one of the most prestigious and best actors in Hollywood. Baxter was never happy with the series (but it was definitely one of the better ones) - he hoped it would pave the way for character parts but unfortunately (for him) the series provided the bulk of his employment for the rest of his days. This was an excellent introduction to the series as it traced the origins of the "Crime Doctor".
A man is bought to the hospital assumed to be the victim of a hit and run but in reality he has been thrown from a moving car. He is suffering from amnesia and takes the name Robert Ordway from the hospital wing he is bought to. Taken under the wing of kindly Dr. Carey, he believes that the only way he can get to the truth of who he is, is to become a doctor himself and ten years later, as Dr. Ordway, he has the reputation as one of the nation's most renowned psychiatrists. He has never stopped searching for his identity and a thug by the name of Caspari (John Litel) may know the answer - he seems to have an unhealthy interest in the doctor.
Helping Robert is a social worker, Grace Fielding (the always welcome Margaret Lindsay) who decides to follow Caspari after he pays a particularly nasty visit to the confused doctor. This is a tightly paced crime drama - it turns out Robert is in reality Phil Morgan, mastermind of a jewelry heist ten years before. Only he knows where the money is but a crack on the skull by Caspari causes him to lose his memory and he is tossed from a moving car because his accomplices believe him dead. As Dr. Ordway he is given the job of Governor of Parole after his inspiring work with a returned serviceman in prison for manslaughter (Leon Ames) but another voice from his past causes him to have a breakdown and realise his past life. A re-enactment of the events leading up to his hospitalization forces him to remember the hiding place for the stolen money and the ending sees his acquittal by a jury so he can continue his sterling work.
Margaret Lindsay had just finished a sleuth series of her own, "Ellery Queen" but unfortunately she only appeared in the first of the Crime Doctor films. I am sure I spotted Bruce Cabot as a background extra in the nightclub scene.
A man is bought to the hospital assumed to be the victim of a hit and run but in reality he has been thrown from a moving car. He is suffering from amnesia and takes the name Robert Ordway from the hospital wing he is bought to. Taken under the wing of kindly Dr. Carey, he believes that the only way he can get to the truth of who he is, is to become a doctor himself and ten years later, as Dr. Ordway, he has the reputation as one of the nation's most renowned psychiatrists. He has never stopped searching for his identity and a thug by the name of Caspari (John Litel) may know the answer - he seems to have an unhealthy interest in the doctor.
Helping Robert is a social worker, Grace Fielding (the always welcome Margaret Lindsay) who decides to follow Caspari after he pays a particularly nasty visit to the confused doctor. This is a tightly paced crime drama - it turns out Robert is in reality Phil Morgan, mastermind of a jewelry heist ten years before. Only he knows where the money is but a crack on the skull by Caspari causes him to lose his memory and he is tossed from a moving car because his accomplices believe him dead. As Dr. Ordway he is given the job of Governor of Parole after his inspiring work with a returned serviceman in prison for manslaughter (Leon Ames) but another voice from his past causes him to have a breakdown and realise his past life. A re-enactment of the events leading up to his hospitalization forces him to remember the hiding place for the stolen money and the ending sees his acquittal by a jury so he can continue his sterling work.
Margaret Lindsay had just finished a sleuth series of her own, "Ellery Queen" but unfortunately she only appeared in the first of the Crime Doctor films. I am sure I spotted Bruce Cabot as a background extra in the nightclub scene.