The Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947)

Warner Baxter goes to Paris in Crime Doctor's Gamble ostensibly to give a lecture, but mostly for a little rest and relaxation. But Inspector Marcel Journet kind of sandbags him into a mystery where a young artist is accused of killing his father. Journet is not convinced Roger Dann did do it or it is a case of temporary in sanity as he and the accused were in a concentration camp together during the late war. Dr. Robert Ordway is intrigued right into a little free consultation.Dann was a rich kid who left his good surroundings to be a painter and he fell for a girl who was from the wrong side of the tracks. He married a nightclub performer and dad was going to cut him off.What makes this one work is the nice cast of continental actors falling into good typecasting and the fact the motive is miles from what the police originally thought. A couple of bodies later and Dr. Ordway finds the killer. In fact Baxter has a nice fight scene with the murderer, something the cerebral Dr. Ordway usually doesn't do.They never leave the Columbia back lot, but Crime Doctor's Gamble is something you can take a chance on.

While visiting an old friend in Paris, the Prefect of Police, the Crime Doctor gets involved with the complex stabbing murder of an old man supposedly by his son. The suspect is described as a worthless idler who suffers from some war-induced psychological problems. But is he capable of murder? The beautiful Micheline Cheirel (in her last film role) plays the love interest – married and loyal to the suspect but also the daughter of a knife-thrower who is an old friend of the murdered man.The Crime Doctor always seems to know who is lying and telling the truth in the absence of any evidence to support his theories. The defendant's lawyer does not practice criminal law and the defendant does not appear to care whether he lives or dies. Is the only defense insanity? If he gets off the murder charge due to insanity, who inherits? What about a fourteen year-old contract between the murdered man and the knife-thrower? How many more murders? Intrigue in the art world leads the Crime Doctor to the solution.Interesting dance apache sequences. Directed by future horror-meister William Castle. Fair.

This entry in the "Crime Doctor" series (based on the radio program of the same name) finds our protagonist in Paris giving a lecture on crime prevention. After the lecture, Dr. Ordway meets a Parisian colleague who takes him out for a night on the town "with no interruptions" (i.e., cases to solve). After visiting about half a dozen famous night clubs (identified by a series of neon logos), they arrive (apparently cold sober) at one where a knife thrower is performing, and where they actually engage in some dialog which sets the stage for the future "interruption".The next day, Dr. Ordway is introduced by his colleague to an apparent manic-depressive who allegedly killed his father with a letter opener during an argument. While investigating the murder (the "interruption" we of course knew was coming), Dr. Ordway discovers that the case also involves the mysterious theft of art copies.Like many another movie mystery, explanations that tie up loose ends are offered after the crime is solved, just in case the audience couldn't (or in this case, wasn't given the opportunity) to figure them out as it went along.Connoisseurs of American film will recognize among a cast of generally unfamiliar French actors, Emory Parnell in a small but pivotal part as art dealer O'Reilly, and Steven Geray as the family attorney of the deceased.

This Dr. Ordway story has to be one of the weaker entries in the series. First of all, there's too much exposition going on for the first half-hour, all talk and no action. The plot involves art forgeries, art dealers, a painter who specializes in making copies of original art, and a knife-throwing act--all of which take up a lot of time for WARNER BAXTER to unravel.Through it all, we get an assortment of authentic French accents from most of the cast, with the exception of STEVEN GERAY who plays the art dealer.But as in all the Dr. Ordway stories, his scheme to hold an auction is really a trap to catch the killer. Despite all the exposition, the plot is a murky one that seems a bit far-fetched when you stop to think about it.The only other actor in the cast known to American audiences is EDUARDO CIANNELLI as the knife-thrower who becomes just one of the suspects until he unceremoniously dies in his sleep. This plot device doesn't leave much surprise in the revelation of the actual thief and murderer.Summing up: The other crime doctor films are much better than this one.