The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943)

Film Title: The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case
Also known as: Strangest Case (UK)
Released: December 9, 1943
Directed by: Eugene Forde

Written by: Eric Taylor based on the character created by Max Marcin

Starring: Warner Baxter & Lloyd Bridges

Plot: Dr. Ordway, the Crime Doctor, must help a young man falsely accused of killing his employer with poison.

IMDb: 6.4/10
My Score: 3/5

The character of the Crime Doctor, created by Max Marcin, first appeared on a radio program of the same name starting in 1940. In 1943, Columbia Pictures started a series of B-movies starring Warner Baxter as the eponymous character that ran for a total of ten films. Criminal Phil Morgan suffers amnesia and becomes a criminal psychologist by the name of Robert Ordway. In the first film, Crime Doctor, he regains his memories, captures his former gang and turns them over to the police. In The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case, the second film of the series, Baxter helps out a young man (Lloyd Bridges) accused of killing the man he works for, a claim that was leveled against him about a former employer that Baxter had helped prove false. In both instances, the victims were poisoned so Bridges goes on the run instead of facing the accusation yet again. While investigating the case, Baxter comes across a whole cast of characters who all have something to hide. The film has a bevy of co-stars including Reginald Denny, Lynn Merrick, Gloria Dickson, Barton MacLane, Jerome Cowan & Constance Worth. A brisk but fun film with enough mystery and intrigue to keep things interesting until the end, I'm saddened that this is the only movie of the series which I have been able to find. Director Eugene Forde is probably best known for his five Charlie Chan films between 1934 and 1940 and screenwriter Eric Taylor added entries to several different film series throughout his career including Frankenstein, Dracula, The Whislter, Ellery Queen, and Dick Tracy as well as co-wrote the Oscar-winning 1943 version of The Phantom of the Opera. Watch the opening of the film below or the whole movie here.