History Film / DrKildare

The MGM series is also notable for featuring a number of young actors and actresses in early roles prior to their becoming big stars. Among those who appeared in Kildare films before achieving A-list status were Van Johnson, Creator/LanaTurner, Laraine Day, Creator/DonnaReed, and Creator/AvaGardner.

** In ''Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case'', Van Johnson's Dr. Adams (one of two substitutes for Kildare) keeps trying to arrange a date with Ruth, a fantastically gorgeous hospital volunteer, only for Joe Wayman the ambulance driver to keep interrupting his dates with urgent messages from Gillespie.

Ayres, who was a pacifist, applied for conscientous objector status in 1942 to avoid combat duty in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The resulting bad publicity led to his dismissal from the Kildare series (although Ayres asked to, and eventually did, serve as an Army medic in the Philippines). Six more films were made with Barrymore, as Gillespie, mentoring a new set of idealistic doctors, most notably "Red" Adams (Van Johnson) and Lee Wong How (Creator/KeyeLuke).

Ayres, who was a pacifist, applied for conscientous objector status in 1942 to avoid combat duty in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The resulting bad publicity led to his dismissal from the Kildare series (although Ayres asked to, and eventually did, serve as an Army medic in the Philippines). Six more films were made with Barrymore, as Gillespie, mentoring a new set of idealistic doctors.

The character was first introduced in the short story "Internes Can't Take Money", written by Max Brand [[note]]The pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust[[/note]] and serialized in ''Magazine/{{Cosmopolitan}}'' magazine in 1936. Creator/{{Paramount}} adapted the story into a feature film the following year, with Creator/JoelMcCrea starring as Kildare. [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing more potential for the character where Paramount hadn't, made a deal with Brand to produce a series of Kildare films, adapted from additional magazine stories. The first of these, ''Young Dr. Kildare'', was released in 1938, with Creator/LewAyres making his first of nine screen appearances in the title role. Also introduced was the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.

The MGM series is also notable for featuring a number of young actors and actresses in early roles prior to their becoming big stars. Among those who appeared in Kildare films before reaching A-list status were Van Johnson, Creator/LanaTurner, Laraine Day, Creator/DonnaReed, and Creator/AvaGardner.

Ayres, who was a pacifist, applied for conscientous objector status in 1942 to avoid combat duty in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The resulting bad publicity led to his dismissal from the Kildare series (although Ayres asked to, and eventually did, serve as a combat medic in the Philippines). Six additional films were made with Barrymore, as Gillespie, mentoring a new set of idealistic doctors.

The MGM series is also notable for featuring a number of young actors and actresses in early roles prior to their becoming big stars. Among the people who appeared in Kildare films before reaching A-list status were Van Johnson, Creator/LanaTurner, Laraine Day, Creator/DonnaReed, and Creator/AvaGardner.

Ayres, who was a pacifist, applied for conscientous objector status in 1942 to avoid combat duty in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. The bad publicity led to his dismissal from the Kildare series, although Ayres asked to – and eventually did – serve as a combat medic in the Philippines. Six additional films were made with Barrymore, as Gillespie, mentoring a new set of idealistic doctors.

Ayres, who was a pacifist, applied for conscientous objector status in 1942 to avoid combat duty in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Ayres asked to serve as a medic and eventually did serve as a medic in combat in the Philippines, but the bad publicity led to his dismissal from the Kildare series. Six more films were made with Barrymore, as Gillespie, mentoring a new set of idealistic doctors.

The MGM series is also notable for featuring several young actors and actresses who got early breaks in the Kildare films before becoming big stars. Among the people who starred in Kildare films before becoming A-listers are Van Johnson, Creator/LanaTurner, Laraine Day, Creator/DonnaReed, and Creator/AvaGardner.

The character was first introduced in the short story "Internes Can't Take Money", written by Max Brand [[note]]The pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust[[/note]] and serialized in ''Magazine/{{Cosmopolitan}}'' magazine in 1936. Creator/{{Paramount}} adapted the story into a feature film the following year, with Creator/JoelMcCrea starring as Kildare. [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing more potential for the character where Paramount didn't, made a deal with Brand to produce a series of Kildare films adapted from additional magazine stories. The first of these, ''Young Dr. Kildare'', was released in 1938, with Creator/LewAyres making his first of nine screen appearances in the title role. Also introduced was the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.

UrExample of the MedicalDrama, establishing several tropes, such as the idealistic young doctor with the crusty old doctor as a mentor, and the plot centering around a mysterious illness that the young doctor must diagnose.

The film series later spawned a radio drama, which reunited Ayres with Barrymore and ran in 1950 and 1951. Better remembered is the [[Series/DrKildare television adaptation]], starring a young Creator/RichardChamberlain as Dr. Kildare and Creator/RaymondMassey as Dr. Gillespie, which ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1961 to 1966 and was very popular.

The character was first introduced in the short story "Internes Can't Take Money", written by Max Brand [[note]]The pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust[[/note]] and serialized in ''Magazine/{{Cosmopolitan}}'' magazine in 1936. Creator/{{Paramount}} adapted the story into a feature film the following year, with Creator/JoelMcCrea starring as Kildare. [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing further potential for the character where Paramount didn't, made a deal with Brand to produce a series of Kildare films adapted from additional magazine stories. The first of these, ''Young Dr. Kildare'', was released in 1938, with Creator/LewAyres making his first of nine screen appearances in the title role. Also introduced was the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.

* FlatCharacter: James Kildare, M.D. Dr. Kildare is impossibly perfect and noble and virtuous and brilliant. He is so perfect that he would be a MarySue if he existed in FanFic land. When Mary says "Everything Jimmy does is perfect" in ''Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day'', she means it, and the series does too. Compare Dr. Gillespie, who is also a brilliant doctor but has plenty of character depth--his general irascible crankiness, his regrets over not having a family life, his youthful dalliance with Molly Byrd.

The film series later spawned a radio drama, which reunited Ayres with Barrymore and ran in 1950 and 1951. Better remembered is the [[Series/DrKildare television adaptation]], starring a young Creator/RichardChamberlain, which ran on Creator/{{NBC}} from 1961 to 1966 and was very popular.

The MGM series is also notable for featuring several young actors and actresses who got early breaks in the Kildare films before becoming big stars. Among the people who starred in Kildare films before becoming A-listers are Van Johnson, Creator/LanaTurner, Laraine Day, Donna Reed, and Creator/AvaGardner.

The character was first introduced in the short story "Internes Can't Take Money", written by Max Brand [[note]]The pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust[[/note]] and serialized in ''Magazine/{{Cosmopolitan}}'' magazine in 1936. Creator/{{Paramount}} adapted the story into a feature film the following year, with Creator/JoelMcCrea starring as Kildare.

[[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing further potential for the character where Paramount didn't, made a deal with Brand to produce a series of Kildare films adapted from additional magazine stories. The first of these, ''Young Dr. Kildare'', was released in 1938, with Creator/LewAyres making his first of nine screen appearances in the title role. Also introduced was the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.

The character was first introduced in the short story "Internes Can't Take Money", written by Max Brand[[note]]The pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust[[/note]] and serialized in ''Magazine/{{Cosmopolitan}}'' magazine in 1936. Creator/{{Paramount}} adapted the story into a feature film the following year, with Creator/JoelMcCrea starring as Kildare.

[[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing further potential for the character where Paramount didn't, made a deal with Brand to produce a series of Kildare films adapted from additional magazine stories. The first of these, ''Young Dr. Kildare'', was released in 1938, with Creator/LewAyres making his first of nine screen appearances in the title role. The second film also introduced the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.

[[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing further potential for the character where Paramount didn't, made a deal with Brand to produce a series of Kildare films adapted from additional magazine stories. Creator/LewAyres took over the Kildare role, beginning with ''Young Dr. Kildare'' in 1938 and continuing for eight additional films. The second film also introduced the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.

[[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]], seeing additional potential for the character where Paramount didn't, made a deal with Brand to produce film adaptations of additional Kildare magazine stories. Creator/LewAyres took over the Kildare role, beginning with ''Young Dr. Kildare'' in 1938 and continuing for eight additional films. The second film also introduced the character of Dr. Gillespie, Kildare's crotchety old mentor, played by Creator/LionelBarrymore. Barrymore played Gillespie in every film for the rest of the series, fifteen in all, eventually becoming the star of the series.