DR. CHRISTIAN MEETS THE WOMEN

Maude Ebern, Jean Herscholt and nurse

DR. CHRISTIAN MEETS THE WOMEN (1940). Director: William C. McGann.

You might hope for something provocative with that title, but no such luck. Dr. Christian (Jean Herscholt) is a middle-aged-going-on-elderly physician in a small town who is alarmed when a type of nutritionist, Professor Parker (Rod La Rocque) moves in and claims he can help every woman lose twenty-five pounds in two weeks. Before long all the town porkers are signing up in hopes of looking as good as the professor's shapely nurse, Carol (the ever-hard Veda Ann Borg). Meanwhile Kitty Browning (Marilyn or Lynn Merrick) has fallen hard for the professor's front man, Bill (Frank Albertson), and her dieting is making her weak and seriously ill. And the fat ladies turn on the well-meaning Christian like ungrateful vipers. This comedy-drama is like a sitcom in the days before sitcoms, with the dramatic moments lacking authority and the comedic bits lacking real laughs. Even Maude Ebern as Christian's peppery housekeeper can't do much to make this entertaining. Hersholt appeared in a few of these Dr. Christian movies in the forties before doing the inevitable TV series, Dr. Christian, in 1956. [Think I'll give that a pass.] La Rocque played The Shadow in The Shadow Strikes. 

Verdict: Leave Dr. Christian to his women. *1/2.

THE SHADOW STRIKES

THE SHADOW STRIKES (1937). Director: Lynn Shores.

Rod La Rocque plays Lamont Cranston/The Shadow in this disappointing adaptation of a Shadow pulp novel by Walter Gibson. Cranston pretends to be the lawyer Chester Randall so that he can investigate the murder of a client of his who was on the verge of changing his will. In the old man's mansion Cranston interacts with various relatives, including a pretty gal, Marcia (Agnes Anderson aka Lynn Anders) who develops a yen for him. James Blakeley is the ne'er-do-well Jasper, Marcia's brother, who has an expensive gambling addiction. Cy Kendall, who plays Barney Grossett in this, played the portly villain Monroe in The Green Hornet serial. He's as unimpressive and rotund as ever. La Rocque briefly dresses up as The Shadow, complete with cloak and hood, at one point, but the sequence is so short as to be meaningless. NOTE: Click here to read about a Shadow feature directed by James Wong Howe!

Verdict: Watch the far superior Shadow serial instead. **.

THE LOCKED DOOR

THE LOCKED DOOR (1929). Director: George Fitzmaurice.

This was Barbara Stanwyck's second film and first sound picture. It's easy to see why she became a big star, because even in this somewhat creaky movie she manages to give a strong and effective performance, and contrary to some reports, does not play it in a "hammy" silent style at all. Ann Carter's (Stanwyck) young sister-in-law, Helen (Betty Bronson, who is rather hammy), has become involved with a slimy character, Frank Devereaux (Rod La Rocque), who once tried to slap the make on Ann (who seems to think that knowledge of this would make her seem like a fallen woman or something!). Lawrence (William "Stage" Boyd, whose last screen credit was the serial The Lost City) -- Ann's husband and Helen's brother -- confronts Devereaux with melodramatic but more or less happy results. Boyd and La Rocque aren't bad at all.

Verdict: This mostly tiresome timewaster is of interest primarily because of Stanwyck's appearance.