Dr. Kildare’s first day on the job is a bit of a mess

Is it worth your time?

If you like old-school, no-nonsense dramas from the thirties, yeah, you should definitely watch this. It’s got a real snap to it. If you’re looking for high-concept prestige cinema or something that moves at a glacial, 'artistic' pace, you’re going to be bored to tears within twenty minutes.

Barbara Stanwyck is in this, which is really all you need to know to hit play. She plays an ex-con trying to get her kid back, and honestly, she’s doing all the heavy lifting. Joel McCrea as Kildare? He’s fine, he’s noble, he’s got that jawline that screams 'I take my Hippocratic Oath way too seriously.' But the movie belongs to her.

The hospital stuff is basically just wallpaper

They give us these brief flashes of hospital business, but the movie doesn't really care about the medicine. It’s a crime story in a lab coat. The way Kildare ignores his actual patients to play detective in the slums is a total breach of ethics, but hey, it makes for a better script than watching someone chart vitals for two hours.

There’s a scene where someone gets shot and the reaction is so muted it’s almost funny. Nobody screams. Nobody panics. They just kind of lean against a wall and sigh, like they just realized they forgot to pay a utility bill. It’s weirdly charming in its own low-budget way.

• The lighting in the back alleys looks like it was borrowed from a Legion of Terror set.
• Kildare’s idealism is almost painful to watch.
• The supporting cast is full of people who look like they were pulled off the street five minutes before the cameras rolled.

It’s not trying to be a deep, philosophical look at the human condition. It’s a movie that knows it has 77 minutes to tell you a story and it’s going to get there whether you’re ready or not. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in The Man I Love, though this one feels a bit more desperate.

The dialogue is snappy, full of that 1930s patter where everyone talks like they’ve got a train to catch. It’s not great art, but it’s genuinely entertaining. Sometimes that’s enough. 🏥