classicsoncall There are a lot of positive reviews for this old mystery crime flick here on the IMDb, which is why I think one of Miss Patricia's (Virginia Brissac) lines quoted above seems so appropriate for me. What exactly am I missing?Granted, I was somewhat entertained by this movie in the same way I'm entertained by Charlie Chan, Mr. Wong and Boston Blackie films of the same era. But how do you make sense out of some of the elements offered here, like a working phone in an abandoned night club building that's been shuttered for thirty years, a skeleton in the basement of the same building that was never discovered, and the very same club virtually engulfed in flames only to be visited the very next day by our intrepid crime doctor Robert Ordway (Warner Baxter), searching for a killer that will exonerate a young bookkeeper (Lloyd Bridges) from a murder charge. Oh yeah, I almost forgot - doesn't anyone else think it's unusual that Ordway would be climbing a ladder set up against the Burns home at two in the morning searching for clues, and two of the residents just as handily greet him once he's inside. All of this almost makes the murder of Walter Burns seem inconsequential by comparison, because I'm too busy wondering who came up with this stuff to pass off as a crime thriller.Well, for whodunit fans this one has a few red herrings and you'll have to outguess a number of principals in the picture who each have their own idea about who murdered old Burns. The reveal at the end of the story doesn't come off as a complete surprise; if you followed along attentively you'd have pegged him as a prime suspect. But I'm not telling, I'm still trying to fit all the other stuff that happened into my head.

sol1218 ***SPOILERS*** Going against his good friend Dr. Robert Ordway, Warren Baxter, advice the just found innocent accused murderer Jimmy Trotter,Llyod Briges, gets a job as the private secretary to Walter Burns, George Lynn! That's the same kind of job he had where he was accused of murdering his former employer Mr. Goulding that he stood on trial for . Wanting to marry his girlfriend Ellen Monroe, Lynn Merrick, Jimmy needed the income working from Burns to make the marriage a go.Dr. Ordway dropping into the Burns estate to check out how Timmy is doing he shocked to find out from the places housekeeper Patricia Cornwell, Virginia Brissac, that the man of the house, Mr. Burns, has just been found dead in his bed after having a sip of his evening coffee! Jimmy who's in the basement working on the Burns finances is totally in the dark to what happened to his boss but is soon to become the #1 suspect in his murder! That in the eyes of everyone,including the local police, in that Jimmy murdered before even though he was found innocent of the crime it's no stretch of the imagination that he murdered again! In fact it was Jimmy who was she last person to see Mr.Burns alive when he brought him the coffee that ended up killing him!On the run from the law Jimmy gets in touch with his just married wife Ellen begging her to keep him hidden until the storm blows over and the real killer of Mr. Burns is found! Dr. Ordway knowing in his gut that Jimmy is innocent goes out on his own to track down Mr.Burns' killer. This leads Dr. Ordway to the now shuttered down "Golden Nights Cafe" that Burns still owns after he relinquished all his real estate proprieties. It's at the "Golden Nights Cafe" that the truth is to be found to what lead up to Burns murder that involved the murder of the late Walter Burns' partner in the establishment George Fenton, Ray Walker, 30 years ago in 1912!It's doesn't take that long for Dr. Ordway to figure that there's a fly in the ointment in Burns murder and that being the Burns in house cook Mrs. Keppler, Gloria Dickson. Mrs. Keppler got her Job at the Burns estate with the help of housekeeper Mrs. Cornwall who in fact used to work at the "Golden Nights Cafe" and knew ****SPOILERS*** Mrs. Keppler's father George Fenton! It was Fenton who disappeared the very night together with $50,000.00 is cash belonging to Walter burns that Mrs. Keppler, who's really Evelyn Fenton Cartwright, his daughter was born!****SPOILERS*** As things soon turned out Dr.Ordway almost ended up getting murdered himself but with the help of his bloodhound like intuition soon tracked down who not only murdered Walter Burns but his brother Addison, Sam Flint, whom the killer strangled and made to look like a suicide. That's by Dr. Ordway tricking him into thinking that he's on to where the $50,000.00 is hidden and thus having him expos himself! That by trying to gun down Dr.Ordway with the doctor's gun that he purposely left for him to do it with that wasn't loaded!

Spondonman There's some films that I saw over 20 years ago that if I ever get back to them after such a gap I wonder why I stayed away for so long. I think the Crime Doctor series is like that - I've had copies getting dusty for ages, and yet it's really too good to be treated like that. They were on a production par with the other Columbia stalwarts of Boston Blackie, the Lone Wolf and the Whistler - all well worth watching.Avuncular type Warner Baxter playing Robert Ordway aka the Crime Doctor gets involved in the case of the murder by poison of a wealthy industrialist insofar as he tries to clear the name of his suspicious friend played by skinny and intense Lloyd Bridges. He leisurely sorts through a houseful of suspects much to cop Barton MacLane's irritation and who has a job keeping up with him throughout the picture. It can get a bit complicated with red herrings, a surreal dream sequence and a long flashback to precisely 31 years previous but all of it was necessary stuff. Favourite bits: Mrs Keppler's quick change vamoose; Jeremy Cowan's disposal of the fiery wastepaper basket through his window; Baxter's general imperturbable confidence; Lynn Merrick's towering hairstyle.For those of us who mine this seam it's another fine example of the 1940's b&w detective comedy-mystery genre.

Neil Doyle A young LLOYD BRIDGES plays a man whose wealthy employer is found dead of poisoning. Bridges needs the help of crime doctor WARNER BAXTER to prove that he's not the murderer. When Bridges makes a quick getaway, we have Baxter left with a household of prime suspects, including REGINALD DENNY, LYNN MERRICK, ROSE HOBART and, later on, JEROME COWAN as a man who lights too many careless matches.VIRGINIA BRISSAC is good as a loyal but suspicious housekeeper who takes Baxter into her confidence, but it's young up and coming actor LLOYD BRIDGES who manages to make the strongest impression among the supporting cast. He was a more than capable actor even then.Based on characters created in a radio play, the nice thing about CRIME DOCTOR'S STRANGEST CASE is that all the loose ends are neatly tied up by Baxter's sleuthing abilities. Summing up: Mystery buffs should find this fast moving B-film a very enjoyable crime drama from Columbia.