[7]
Barbara Stanwyck (Baby Face, Ladies of Leisure) gets top billing in Hollywood’s first movie based on Max Brand’s popular Dr. Kildare novels. Stanwyck plays an ex-con whose bank robber husband hid her infant daughter from her right before he was killed. After having spent two years in prison for a crime she didn’t commit, she’s determined to find her now-three-year-old daughter, no matter what it takes. When she sees Dr. Kildare (The Most Dangerous Games‘ Joel McCrea) for a burned arm, the two become smitten. After Kildare receives a thousand dollars for mending a gangster boss’s knife wound, Stanwyck begs for the money. She needs it to pay a shady character (Stanley Ridges) for information about her daughter’s whereabouts.
When Kildare says he has to return the money for fear of violating his medical intern’s oath, Stanwyck resorts to less seemly forms of repaying Ridges’ character. When Kildare learns of her desperation and her departure with Ridges, he employs the help of the gangster he mended (Lloyd Nolan) to locate Ridges and rescue Stanwyck — and to find her missing daughter.
Despite its obtuse title, Internes Can’t Take Money is a fast-moving, fun little crime drama with good performances. Stanwyck turns on some genuine waterworks and hysterics when called for. I’d have given her an Oscar for this film instead of the inferior Stella Dallas, released the same year. I can’t say that Joel McCrea measures up to Stanwyck’s charisma or screen presence, but at least he’s a handsome leading man. Other supporting players leave more of an impact, including Lloyd Nolan’s helpful gangster boss character, and Stanley Ridges’ vile, manipulative villain of the piece.
It takes a while for the screenplay to find its groove and streamline its storytelling. It tries a little too hard to make Dr. Kildare a main character alongside Stanwyck’s, when he should probably be a supporting player in this particular narrative. But Internes Can’t Take Money is never dull. I especially enjoyed the few playfully romantic moments between Stanwyck and McCrea (and wish there were more of them), as well as the subversive way everything gets pleasantly resolved with the help of loyal gangsters.
Directed by Alfred Santell (The Sea Wolf, People Will Talk). With Lee Bowman and Irving Bacon.