A man (Warner Baxter) is thrown from a speeding car and awakens with amnesia. He befriends a doctor and, when it appears his memory will never return, he begins a new life under the name of Robert Ordway. He trains to become a criminal psychologist and goes to works in a prison. Eventually his past comes to light. First and best in a series of films from Columbia, all starring Baxter. Ray Collins, who had previously played the Crime Doctor role on radio, plays his friend in this entry. Margaret Lindsay plays his love interest in this first film. One of the issues with the series was the lack of recurring supporting characters. None of the characters here return in later sequels, besides Ordway himself. Playing the bad guys here are Harold Huber, John Litel, and Don Costello. This is a good start to an enjoyable series, although it's not one of my favorites. You know from early on that this guy had a checkered past so there isn't much mystery to be had, which makes it more of a drama. On that front it's fine, with Baxter and the quality character actors he's working with all doing good jobs. It just doesn't have enough meat on the bone to stand up under comparison with the better movie detective series of the '30s and '40s.
Review of Crime Doctor
