Unsuccessful small town doctor J. Carroll Naish has been hitting the bottle to while away the empty time. His nurse, Janice Logan, tells him he doesn't need her, and heads off to the big city. Medical work comes his way when fleeing gangster Broderick Crawford has him operate on one of his gang, then gives him a big wad of money. Naish uses it to set up in the city, reunite with Miss Logan, and start a fashionable practice, eked out with occasional work on shot crooks. Meanwhile, Miss Logan starts dating FBI Special Agent Lloyd Nolan .... if he can ever show up for dinner. His assignment is to track down Crawford's gang, which means all the threads are going to come together.
The good thing about this movie, based on a book by J. Edgar Hoover, is the early roles for the above-named actors, as well as Heather Angel, George Meeker, Paul Fix.... and a sympathetic role for Naish, who gets to really stretch with a conflicted character, The downside is the erratic pacing of the movie. There will be an exciting stretch that leads nowhere, and then it's back to lab work and grumbling. The Production Code's hand hangs far too heavily on this one, and it seems a lot longer than its 75 minutes.
The good thing about this movie, based on a book by J. Edgar Hoover, is the early roles for the above-named actors, as well as Heather Angel, George Meeker, Paul Fix.... and a sympathetic role for Naish, who gets to really stretch with a conflicted character, The downside is the erratic pacing of the movie. There will be an exciting stretch that leads nowhere, and then it's back to lab work and grumbling. The Production Code's hand hangs far too heavily on this one, and it seems a lot longer than its 75 minutes.