Lionel Barrymore and Lew Ayres: You Got a Friend in Me

Old Hat Cinema
Old Hat Cinema
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Published 2022-12-10
Ahh, I just love these two so, so much. Lew Ayres as the smart and gentle intern, Dr. James Kildare, and Lionel Barrymore as the reigning curmudgeon of Blair General Hostpital, Dr. Leonard B. Gillespie. They made such a wonderful team for the 9-film MGM series they did together, from 1938 to 1942, until Ayres' status as a conscientious objector in WWII became known, and he was forced to leave the series. Honestly, that was a big mistake, because even though the series continued for five more years, it lost a huge part of its spunk, and none of his replacements could hold a candle to "young Dr. Kildare".

So here it is: my tribute to the nine Kildare movies made with Lionel and Lew, and their sweet, quirky, love-hate relationship. They may have spent the majority of each film's runtime arguing and looking for ways to get around each other, but you always knew one was never quite whole without the other. They really did find a special friend in each other. The Kildare series was a huge part of my childhood, and I will always have fond memories of spending Monday nights home alone enjoying these movies the summer I was 14.

Films included:

Young Dr. Kildare (1938)
The Secret of Dr. Kildare (1939)
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case (1940)
Dr. Kildare Goes Home (1940)
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare (1941)
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day (1941)
Dr. Kildare TV Pilot (1960)

** It's hard keeping track of which of the nine films I used clips from, as they all have similar titles and all tend to run together. If I made any errors in my listing, I offer my apologies.
All Comments (4)
  • @Rubi-ll8ss
    People forget the wonderful chemistry with Lew and LaraIne Day😊 They were agreat screen couple.
  • @beacee
    So delightful! They had such chemistry that I agree no replacement would do. It was a testimony to Lionel’s popularity that the series continued after Lew. But it helped to introduce new talent at that time as well. Love the cute song. Fits them well!
  • @aswell84
    This is so cute! I love it!! Their friendship was so sweet, and they stayed very close with one another until Lionel passed away. I do have a question, what is the clip from with Lew sitting at a desk, he looks older, and he is looking at a photo of Lionel. I've not seen that before, but I haven't really seen a lot of Lew's other work besides him as Kildare. Was it a homage to Lionel from another movie, that Lew did?