Dr. Socrates

Dr. Socrates
Dr. Socrates
Directed by	William Dieterle
Written by	Robert Lord (screenplay); Mary C. McCall, Jr. (adaptation)
Based on	"Dr. Socrates"; 1935 story in Collier's; by W. R. Burnett
Produced by	Robert Lord
Starring	Paul Muni; Ann Dvorak; Barton MacLane
Cinematography	Tony Gaudio
Edited by	Ralph Dawson
Music by	Bernhard Kaun; Heinz Roemheld
Production; company	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	October 19, 1935;
Running time	70 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Dr. Socrates is a 1935 crime film starring Paul Muni as a doctor forced to treat a wounded gangster, played by Barton MacLane.

Plot

The death of his fiancée in a car crash so unnerves top surgeon Dr. Lee Cardwell that he moves to a rural community and becomes a general practitioner, but he attracts few patients. The local doctor calls him Dr. Socrates because he always has his head in a book of classics.

Bank robber Red Bastian comes to him after he is shot in the arm during his latest caper. Lee treats Red, but is unwillingly to accept payment. Red, however, makes him take a $100 bill for his trouble.

Later on, while on his way to another bank job, Red picks up hitchhiker Josephine Gray. While Red's gang is busy robbing the bank, Josephine tries to run away, but gets shot. She is treated by Dr. Socrates. At first, the police think that she is a gang "moll", but she is cleared and recuperates at the doctor's home.

Red and his gang kidnap her and take her to their hideout, which the doctor had visited earlier on a medical call. He tells the police where to find the gang, but asks that they give him a chance to get Josephine safely away. He convinces the gang members that they need to be inoculated against an outbreak of typhoid fever, but what he really gives them is a knockout drug. He takes care of Red himself. Lee is a hero, and even the local doctor says nice things about him.

Cast

Paul Muni as Lee
Ann Dvorak as Josephine
Barton MacLane as Red Bastian
Robert Barrat as Dr. Ginder
John Eldredge as Dr. Burton
Hobart Cavanaugh as Stevens
Helen Lowell as Ma Ganson
Mayo Methot as Muggsy
Henry O'Neill as Greer
Grace Stafford as Caroline Suggs
Samuel Hinds as Dr. McClintick
June Travis as Dublin
Raymond Brown as Ben Suggs
Olin Howland as Bob Catlett
Joseph Downing as Cinq Laval
Grady Sutton as General Store Clerk
Adrian Morris as Beanie - a Gangster

Critical reception

Writing for The Spectator in 1936, Graham Greene gave the film a poor review, dismissing it as "a third-rate gangster film". Despite comparing Paul Muni's performance to personality performers like Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, Greene concludes that his effort in Dr Socrates "is not one of Muni's successful films". Whereas the film should have been exciting, all that the film could conjure up was funniness.^[1]

References

^ Greene, Graham (7 February 1936). "Dr Socrates/The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo/The Imperfect Lady". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 50–51. ISBN 0192812866.)

External links

Dr. Socrates at IMDb
Dr. Socrates at the TCM Movie Database
Dr. Socrates at AllMovie
Dr. Socrates at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

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[1] Greene, Graham (7 February 1936). "Dr Socrates/The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo/The Imperfect Lady". The Spectator. (reprinted in: Taylor, John Russell, ed. (1980). The Pleasure Dome. pp. 50–51. ISBN 0192812866.)

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