MartinHafer At 67 minutes, "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is clearly a B-mystery film...albeit a pretty decent one. Bs were films that usually ran from 55-70 minutes and were meant as a second film at a double feature. They usually had simple plots with rather quick resolutions...and they were made by all sorts of companies ranging from the tiny to big studios like MGM and Warner. The Bs made with the bigger companies tended to look a bit nicer and were more likely to have a bigger name actor or two in the flick. And, since this was by Warner Brothers, they put stars Ricardo Cortez and Mary Astor in this one...making it a bit nicer than the average B.Shortly after the film begins, you learn of several people who have plenty of reasons to kill Dr. Harrigan as well as his patient, the rich crank, Peter Melady. However, unlike most B mysteries, this one features TWO murders! As for the police, they're a bit dim (though not as overtly stupid as they are in most B mysteries) and they need the help of some smart folks--in this case Dr. Lambert (Cortez). Overall, a clever and pretty typical B mystery--one that is worth seeing and harmless (unless, of course, you are Harrigan and Melady).

gridoon2018 I was under the impression that "The Murder Of Dr. Harrigan" is part of a movie series made in the 1930s about a nurse (played by a variety of actresses; Kay Linaker this time) who doubles as an amateur sleuth. However, the nurse does very little sleuthing here - it's her boyfriend (and doctor working at the same hospital) who figures out the how and the why of the murder(s), if not quite the who. Anyway, this B mystery is a little lacking in star power (Mary Astor is probably the most famous name in the cast, and she only has a secondary part), but the plot is engaging (it involves a variety of characters, each with his or her own agenda) and the pace is reasonably smooth considering that about 90% of the film takes place in a single set (the hospital). Worth watching. **1/2 out of 4.

dgz78 One of the things a movie has to do is convince the audience that the actors are not reading lines but are talking as real people would. You don't have to have overlapping dialog like Hawks or Altman - just realistic dialog.Unfortunately Frank McDonald was no Howard Hawks or Robert Altman. Too many times actors cut off their lines before the other actor cuts in and any decent director would have re-shot the scene. But directors like McDonald were expected to make pictures quickly and cheaply. They were not supposed to be making art Sometimes a B picture would would defy expectations and become a classic. But for every Thin Man or It Happened One Night there were hundreds of Murder of Dr Harrigan. None of the actors stand out except a young Mary Treen who would go on to become an exceptional character actress in movies and especially TV.As a murder mystery fan, I didn't expect this to be on the level of Murder on the Orient Express or The Hound of the Baskervilles but I was at least hoping for something that would be acceptable for a Murder She Wrote episode. But the way Dr Cortez figures everything out didn't wash. Martin was the most obvious suspect to the police so you know he didn't do it. And you aren't given enough information to pin it on the real killer before he is revealed.Unless you are a big Mary Astor fan and want to see every movie she was in, you probably are better off avoiding this movie.

krorie A Warner's "Clue Club" presentation, this short (just over one hour) murder mystery will satisfy the hidden sleuths in the audience. As with so many murder thrillers then and now, "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is set in a hospital where nurses compete for recognition, advancement, and romance with the handsome physicians, especially Dr. Harrigan (John Eldredge) and Dr. Lambert (Ricardo Cortez, being groomed by the studio as a Latin lover). The popularity of this type film led to the highly successful Dr. Kildare series later in the decade and much later to TV's popular "Marcus Welby, M.D." Countless other imitations have appeared and are still popping up from time to time.The mystery is extremely complex for its day and time. Suffice it to say that a medicinal sleeping formula is being touted by several members of the hospital staff including the administrator, Peter Melady. That he has the completed formula works to his disadvantage since his rivals are determined to claim it for their own. Melady is preparing himself for an operation while his wife, Agnes (Anita Kerry), is in the same hospital with a broken arm. She is surreptitiously being entertained by her paramour, Kenneth Martin (Gordon "William" Elliott--maybe this is how he got his epithet "Wild Bill"). Peter Melady asks his arch rival, Dr. Harrigan, to perform the operation. This is like asking Jack the Ripper to perform an appendectomy on a lady of the evening. To make a long synopsis short, Dr. Harrigan ends up stabbed to death, Dr. Melady ends up missing in action, and an African-American winds up being taken to the morgue, leaving a covey of suspects lurking in the corridors.The romantic angle is almost as confusing. Dr. Lambert is lusting after vivacious nurse, Sally Keating (Kay Linaker), who in turn is lusting after him. Nurse Lillian Cooper (Mary Astor) is lusting after one of the suspects in the case, plus is burdened with a secret revealed at the end of the flick. Nurse Brody (Mary Treen) lusts after a funny line. And Agnes Melady, needless to say, is still lusting after Wild Bill. Besides Nurse Brody, humor is provided by the patients, particularly Wentworth (Johnny Arthur) as a whiner with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who is staying in the hospital for a much-needed rest but keeps being bothered by nurses, doctors, plumbers, the police, and other patients; and by Jackson (Don Barclay), a harmless dipsomaniac who drinks rubbing alcohol and runs amok. "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is worthwhile for those of us who love a good mystery. This is a short entertaining programmer in the Warner's "Clue Club" series, which included the popular "While the Patient Slept."