The Worst Film Ever

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Warner Baxter was not particularly proud of "The Crime Doctor" series. By the time he left Fox in the late 1930s his salary was enormous ($297,000 in 1940), he was off the screen for two years due to a nervous breakdown. He returned in the title role of the Crime Doctor and for the rest of his life desperately wanted to get back into character parts but it was not to be. Agree with the other reviewer, even though this is one of the better C.Ds, it is often the one unavailable for viewing. "The Crime Doctor" series was often a showcase for Columbia's new, young talent, some who disappeared to oblivion but one who didn't was the talented Nina Foch. Columbia was the home of Rita Hayworth so it was often hard for other starlets to shine their light but Foch proved, with some stellar performances in noir dramas - "Shadows in the Night" and "I Love a Mystery" that she was an actress to watch.Starts very dramatically when Dr. Ordway is visited in the wee small hours by Lois Garland who feels compelled to kill herself, brought on by terrible dreams that only occur at night. Ordway discovers she has been followed and when he visits her lonely estate, realises it is her handyman (a very shifty looking Ben Weldon) who, while being protective of her, seems to pop up in trouble spots as the movie progresses. It wouldn't be a Crime Doctor without assorted odd bods and red herrings. There's Lois' theatrical brother-in-law, an anxious sister, a smug lawyer as well as a sinister uncle (George Zucco). There is also a strange servant couple and when Ordway finds himself dazed and wandering along the shore, he witnesses the old standby "If you don't keep quiet I'll have you committed"!! He is soon in sinister Uncle's laboratory and is shown a new fabric that Uncle is developing and all the money he earns for his invention will go to help Lois financially. Aaah!! but Ordway also discovers he has created a sleepwalking mist that is kept in the lab and is wafted through the vents in Lois' bedroom to instigate her sleepwalking stunts!! Maybe Uncle isn't so warm and fuzzy as he has shown himself!! In fact initially Ordway, who during his first wanderings discovers a body which later turns up in the surf, wonders whether he isn't going a bit crazy himself!!That body is the first of a few - and because there is a vague feeling of unco-operativeness, even Lois' faithful boyfriend is played by cynical Edward Norris!! There may be a few gaps in the plot but it is still solid entertainment and was early in the series when Ordway was very integral to the plots!!Highly Recommended.

This film is the tenth and last of the Crime Doctor films that I've tracked down. It's the hardest to see for reasons I don't know. The other films have screened on TCM over the past few years since TCM picked up the old Columbia catalog, but this one stubbornly refuses to show up.Well, I'm glad to say Dr. Ordway saved the best for last for me. The film's generic-sounding title is a little off-putting. It has plenty of shadows and in fact, even has a little bit of a horror film feel in a few moments. That's helped out by the presence of George Zucco, most welcome here as a mysterious chemist. Warner Baxter is terrific in his role as the Crime Doctor. I used to not like him so much based on some of his early films that I had seen, but he has totally won me over as Dr. Ordway. His extremely calm and unassuming manner is always relaxing to see and in this one (the third out of ten) he clearly has his character down and is able to get away with a few rather rude moments (such as throwing the chemical bottle at Zucco's feet) with barely a rise out of the other characters due to his otherwise professional demeanor. The plot is very exciting in this entry - a young woman comes to Ordway's home in the middle of a rain-stormy night to beg for his help with her sleepwalking nightmares. At her home, Ordway encounters a dead body after suffering a similar such sleepwalking nightmare. Yet, all of the characters, including the young woman (an excellent Nina Foch) think their friend died of natural causes. Ordway's persistence proves otherwise.As usual with classic Hollywood detective films there are always some plot holes, but this film easily overcomes them by succeeding with terrific atmosphere, steady pacing and by simply being a fun whodunit. Cheers to Dr. Ordway!

Having seen most of the series over the decades there's a couple of Crime Doctor films I've still to see, this was one of them until last night. Was it worth it the wait? Like the previous commenter, as a fan of b movie detective films (especially from the Golden Age): Yes! This was no. 3 and Columbia were well into their stride by now – and with Boston Blackie, the Lone Wolf and the Whistler – churning out 10 films in 6 years until everyone ran out of steam in 1949.A mysterious woman visits Dr. Ordway (always played by the ever dependable Warner Baxter) at 3 am in the pouring rain for his psychiatric help because she doesn't know whether the bad dreams she's having tempting her to suicide are actually real. This leads him to stay at her spooky but extremely scenic house and grounds by the ocean containing a motley assemblage of strange guests and staff with secrets galore – when one of them gets murdered the game is afoot to unmask the culprit. The usual stuff in other words, but expertly handled with high production values and a nice brooding smoky atmosphere. George Zucco helps the film but hinders Ordway as a fairly mad scientist – a brilliant stroke to put him in! Distracted Nina Foch plays the woman apparently having nightmares; just about the only film you see her in over here nowadays is An American In Paris. Favourite bits: Ordway's sleepwalking adventure; searching the cellars and the dark underground journey. It's all reasonably cogent and it all fits neatly together by the end.A nice entry in the series, one I can recommend to fans of the genre as usual and encourage non-fans to save their time as usual.

Of the ten Crime Doctor films starring Warner Baxter released by Columbia from 1943 through 1949, this is the only one that Turner Classic Movies has never aired. This third entry is one of the earliest screen roles for the young Nina Foch (pronounced Fosh), who plays a neurotic young woman having strange nightmares and calls upon Dr. Ordway to pay a house call at her seaside estate. There is no shortage of suspicious characters not the least of which is Nina's chemist uncle Frank Swift, played by the always enjoyable George Zucco. Other familiar faces include Lester Matthews and Ben Welden. A screen heartthrob during the early talkie era whose health problems by this time included emphysema and arthritis, Warner Baxter was truly grateful for the steady employment of a 'B' movie series like this one. Columbia was one of the few Hollywood majors whose bread and butter came from series like the Crime Doctor, The Whistler, Boston Blackie, and the trio of "I Love a Mystery," all of which were based on popular radio shows of the day. Until their recent airings on TCM, these films had not been widely seen so 'B' movie buffs like myself have been rejoicing ever since. The Crime Doctor series differs from the others in that (with the exception of the initial entry) the title character was never saddled with a love interest and always dedicated to the psychological aspects of the cases (shades of Philo Vance!). Warner Baxter was a native of Columbus Ohio who died in 1951 at the age of 62, much beloved at the time but quietly forgotten today, although his early talkies include appearances opposite Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. While none of Dr. Robert Ordway's adventures were truly outstanding, the only one I could not recommend remains the one set in Paris (the ninth, "The Crime Doctor's Gamble," director William Castle's 4th and last entry). Perhaps the most intriguing entry would be the last, "The Crime Doctor's Diary" (1949) which featured an early Hollywood appearance by future Moneypenny Lois Maxwell.