 The story of Dr. Kildare. Whatsoever house I enter, there will I go for the benefit of the sick. And whatsoever things I see or hear concerning the life of men, I will keep silence there on. Counting such things to be held as sacred trusts. I will exercise my art solely for the cure, might be. Bears and Lionel Baramore. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer brought you those famous motion pictures. Now this exciting, heartwarming series is heard on radio. In just a moment, the story of Dr. Kildare. But first, your announcer. In the heart of New York, the nerve center of medical progress were great minds and skilled hands waged men's everlasting battle against their general hospital. Where life begins, where life ends, where life goes on. Six, I have a date with Dr. Kildare. Got what? Dr. Gillespie, I know what you want to say. That's right. I wanted to show it to Dr. Kildare. You haven't sold it. Oh, no, no, no. I have it right here in the case. I know you'll be back for it. Oh, I nearly want to look at it. I still don't know what... Well... Precisely. And Capore Sano. Being a repository of ancient wisdom and the art of healing. Compiled by Sir Douglas Harkley, physician and large. Look at the date. 1721. I mean, I've heard of this, but I never thought I'd see a copy of it. And the price isn't bad either, but considering. 350 bucks. Not bad for anyone but a staff doctor, you mean. I'd give my left arm for this book. No, somebody just went through a red light. Here, listen to this. It be claimed by certain practitioners in Venice that maladies of the brain be oft times alleviated by boring with an auger several apertures of goodly size through the bone of the skull. Yes, I imagine that alleviated is all right. Permanent cure. And without anesthetics. Do you have a telephone here? Well, yes, madam. There's one in the bag. My husband just hit my car. I think he's killed. Grab it, you mean. Put her on the chair. She isn't the one who needs help. Hey, clerk. Yes? Will you call Blair Hospital and have them send an ambulance? Certainly, doctor. Come on, Dr. Gillespie, let's have a look. Not pretty well. She's got at least one broken rib. Arms and legs seem to be okay, though. The car must have thrown him 30 feet. Why don't you move him off the street? Because he may have spinal injuries, that's why. We'll move him when the ambulance gets here. There's always some well-meaning fool who wants to grab up the victim and move him someplace. The worst injury is this one on his head. He must have hit the curb. That compress stopped the bleeding. Well, it's not the cuts on the outside of his head that bother me. It's what may have happened inside. Doctor, is he going to be all right? I'm Mrs. Morgan, his wife. Is he going to be all right? I just can't. I will have him in the hospital in a few minutes, Mrs. Morgan. Would you take care of her, Dr. Gillespie? All right, Gillespie, all right, all right. Now, don't you worry, Mrs. Morgan. He's getting the best medical attention possible. Here's the ambulance. Good, good. I'll take her over in the taxi. You have your hands full of the day. Thanks. I'll see you at the hospital. Oh, I'd like you a surgical nurse. All right, Gillespie. He has lots of cuts and bruises, but I doubt if they're serious. But there is concussion. How bad I don't know yet. Yes, and plasma. I've already given him one plasma concentrate to hold down the intracranial pressure, but you'd better have a rack set up. All right, Jimmy. I'll go on up and start things moving. Be there in a couple of minutes. Oh, I'm sorry about the date. This is the date, Jimmy. An important one. I just heard about the emergency, Dr. Kilder. Is there anything I can do? Oh, yes, Parker. I may need an anesthetist. Who's on duty? Ramsey. Oh, I have to find him. What happened to Dr. Gillespie? But he was with you. He's coming over in a taxi with the patient's wife. She's edging on hysterics, you know, so he'll probably want you to help with him. Oh, all right, Dr. Kilder. Dear, dear, dear. Dr. Kilder. Why didn't someone tell me sooner? Had you what, Dr. Kilder? About the accident. Oh, I do hope we're adequate to the crisis. Crisis? Well, this sort of thing happens every day. It does? Of course it does. That's Blair Hospital? Always right in the thick of it? Well, now I hardly think... Oh, here's Dr. Gillespie with her now. She seems to be holding up fairly well. How's it look, Jimmy? It's just going up there. Everything's set. Good, good. Mrs. Morgan, this is Dr. Karoo, hospital superintendent. How's it go? Dr. Kilder, how is he? Holding his own so far. He'll be all right. Mr. Ramsey, report to Dr. Kilder and surgery at one emergency. Surgery? Oh, Dr. Kilder, you're not going to operate? We always use an operating room for accident cases. It reduces the chance of infection. But he'll die if you operate. I know he will. Operations are horrible always. They're worse than not doing anything. Now, Mrs. Morgan, Dr. Gillespie, will you take care of her, please? I'm going with you, Jimmy. You look after Dr. Karoo. Oh, dear. Well, I'm not sure. Park will be here in a couple of minutes, Dr. Karoo. Oh, all right. Tell me, Mrs. Morgan, have you read any good books? Oh, no. Someday, I still hope to find one thing that idiots can do right. No, we've finished the sutures. It's just a matter of bandaging, huh? I don't like this prolonged unconsciousness, Jimmy. I don't either. Take these sponges, please. He's only awakened once, and then just for a few seconds. Well, we have used fairly heavy medication. Thanks. Take, please. Bleeding seems to be pretty well controlled now, as far as the rest of the cuts are concerned. Well, they didn't amount too much. Rib was easy. Clean break. Hmm. I guess that does it. Oh, Diana, would you check his blood pressure again? All right. We'll X-ray first thing in the morning, but I'm certain it's a closed fracture. There are radiating cracks into both the temporal and occipital. As far as I could tell, there's no fragmentation. Well, then he's lucky, because he must have hit that curb stone on awful solid wall. Another thing that bothers me, the chance of contrecue on the opposite side of the head. Pressure is still rising. Let's see. First transfusion isn't holding it. All right, better give him another IV and dilute the plasma ampoule only one half. Yes, sir. I don't know, Jimmy, with his blood pressure trying to come up with this unconsciousness. Let's still doubt he can less be there. No other signs. Unless... Well, let's have another look. The eye looks okay. Left eye. What is this? Left eye dilated. Right one normal. Ooh, we got trouble. Extrateral hemorrhage. That means an operation. Yes, immediately if possible. I understand, Dr. Kildare. I don't understand at all. You said it wasn't really a skull fracture. Then why must you operate? Well, Mrs. Morgan, sometimes a concussion can be worse than a fracture. You see, the skull surrounds the brain like a closed box, and a severe blow can damage arteries and tissue inside, even when the bone isn't broken. That's what's happened in your husband's case. But why an operation? What good does that do? It's the only thing that does any good, Mrs. Morgan. It gives the doctor a chance to repair the damage, tie off ruptured arteries if necessary, and so on. Isn't dangerous if it's done at once, but when your husband unconscious, I need your permission to go ahead. That's absolutely true, Mrs. Morgan. I agree with Dr. Kildare's diagnosis and with his proposal. And I'm quite sure Dr. Karoo will tell you the same thing. Oh, yes, yes indeed. There's really no question about it at all. Doctors, you're all alike, every one of you. The first thing you want to do is operate. I'm not advising this because of some personal whim. Believe me, it's the only thing to do that all. Well, it's not going to be done, and that's fine. Oh, please, Mrs. Morgan. My husband is alive now, and he isn't going to be killed by an operation. But the purpose of the operation is just the opposite. It's to save his life. I know about operations, and I won't give you permission. I won't sign anything. That's all there is to it. Well, Dr. Karoo, as the superintendent of the hospital, will you authorize an emergency operation without consent? Well, now, Dr. Kildare, I really couldn't. After all, there are strict rules about these things. Ah! But I do advise you to reconsider, Mrs. Morgan. That's my professional opinion, you know? I'm sorry. But I can't see it. Ah, confound it, John Nation. Kildare, speed. Dr. Kildare, this is Parker. I think you'd better come up here right away. It's still rising. It's up to 220 now. Hmm. All right, Parker, be right there. And have Diana set up equipment to make a spinal tap. All right, Dr. Kildare, goodbye. Morgan cake? Yeah. Plasma concentrate isn't holding it. I'm going to tap his spine. Is that an operation? No, Mrs. Morgan. It's a fairly simple procedure that we have to use very often in concussion cases. The injured brain swells and raises the fluid pressure in the skull. That ups the blood pressure and is dangerous unless something's done about it. But there is something you can do. Yes, tap the spine and relieve the pressure. So, if you'll excuse me. Just a second, Jimmy. I'll go with you. After you make this tap, go ahead and get ready for the operation. I'll get her permission some way. Oh, I don't know. It might even be a little unethical, but I'll get it somehow. He's got to be operated on within a couple of hours at the most. If he isn't, he'll be dead before morning. Dr. Kildare, in just a moment. You were the mark to do it. What about her refusing to permit an operation? What are you going to do? I don't know. Dr. Gillespie thinks he can manage somehow to change her mind. Need better. Otherwise, we're just wasting time with this. I can't understand her reasoning. That's it. She's not reasoning. A morbid fear of surgery, even when there's no cause to justify it. I hope she changes her mind. The irony is that even if it were a serious operation, with odds 10 to 1 against pulling through, it would still offer a better chance than just doing nothing. Check his blood pressure. Will you want to get the needles out? All right. Down to 220 already. Good. Good. We may have to make another tap a little later, but this ought to do for now. There. I'm always amazed the way a spinal tap shows an effect so quickly. Come in. Oh, Ramsey. I understand something's cooking. Yes, I want an operating theater set up. Is six ready? We'll be in five minutes. What is it? Intercranial extradural hemorrhage. Is this a patient? Yeah. The anesthetics, no problem. Use local blocks, I suppose. Yes, and standard cranial instruments, plus a Hudson Burr. Just set up and stand by. All right. But, Jimmy, suppose Dr. Gillespie doesn't get permission. Of course, you could go ahead without him. As long as you're sure. I know. No, it's a risk, though. There's always that one chance of something going wrong. Well, we can't do anything else here for the next five or ten minutes. Do you, uh, suppose there's any hot coffee in the ward room? I bet you. You gotta bet. I thought you were down the lawn to that Mrs. Morgan, trying to change your mind for her. Parker, when it comes to bullheaded, bigoted stubbornness, she's even worse than you are. Well, I like that. I thought you would. If we can do a little, but that's as far as she'll go. Well, seems like there ought to be some way. For instance. Well, I don't know. Well, how could you think of anything when I can? Well, at least I wouldn't give up and walk out on it. No, have I. I've tried every single argument I could think of, and some of them that didn't even make sense. I can't believe. The only three things I have not used are drugs, hypnotism, and torture. And I'm considering all three at the moment. Well, I still think if I put my mind to it I could come up with something. After all, she's only a woman. Precisely, Parker. Only a concentrated bundle of sheer cussedness, that's all. And you say she's weakening, so just some little thing ought to do it. By the tarnation, Parker. Sometimes I think you must have a permanent concussion. Well... It's the only way to account for some of the stupid remarks that you... eh... Wait a second. Do you happen to have any civilian clothes here at the hospital? Yes, I do. But I'm telling you now, Dr. Bursby, I... Shut up. Has Mrs. Morgan seen you in your uniform? Well, no, but I'm not trying to get mixed up in anything to do... Hand me that roll, of course. Here, what are you going to do? Let me see now. I used to wind a pretty mean cranial bandage in my day. Huh? We are about to present a little drama, Parker, in which you play the role of a patient. Your name is... uh... Miss Busterly. Busterly? Here, now. What are you doing? Don't help me, Parker. If you don't sit still, I'll shave my head before I put this... Dr. Bursby! Stop! Just a moment, Dr. Gillespie. Are you trying to tell me that this same operation was performed on a woman just this morning and now she's not walking around? That's right, Miss Morgan. That's right. A patient of Dr. Kildes. I saw her out in the hall just a few minutes ago. I don't believe it. Well, no. It's a question of establishing my veracity. I'll just say if... she may still be around. Oh, Miss Parker. This is Dr. Gillespie. Yes. I wonder if you'd see if Miss Busterly is out in the hall and ask you to step in here. Oh! Yes, yes, yes. She was there a moment ago, Miss Parker. Yes, thank you. I just can't believe it. It couldn't have been as serious an operation as this one, the church. Yes, yes, yes. Just exactly the same. Concussion and extra dural hemorrhage. If you'd fallen out of a second story window... or was it a third story? Oh, well, it was Kildes' case. Anyway, you understand? That's fantastic! Oh, it happens all the time. All the time. Brain surgery has come a long way since the days of Sir Douglas Hartley. Hartley? English doctor, you know. Published a book back in the early part of the... I mean... Oh, why? It's Buster Lee. Come right in. Come in. This is Mrs. Morgan. How do you do? Dr. Gillespie, I want to go home tonight. I've got a dozen things to do. And Dr. Kildes says I have to stay here until nine o'clock in the morning. Well, now it's a good idea not to be too hasty, Parker. Hey, Miss Buster Lee. How do you feel? Wonderful. I could lick my weight in Tomcat. Wild cat. Do you mean to say that you underwent brain surgery just this morning? Oh, yes. They made a little hole here in my head and did something rather, but it was nothing. Nothing at all. Mrs. Morgan, you're basing your ideas on medicine as it was years ago. It's quite different today. Well, I had heard they've been amazing advances. And you say my husband is in serious danger if operation isn't performed immediately. Oh, there's no doubt of that. Oh, I guess maybe I... I've been acting like a fool. Here's the release form, Mrs. Morgan. You sign on the bottom line. Found, Ben? On the bottom line? Oh, yes. Oh, run along, Miss Buster Lee. Run along now. Well, let me have that phone. Got the call. Kildes, right away. May I see you out here, doctor? Oh, Jimmy. Signed, sealed, and delivered. Good. I guess I'm lucky. You are, Jimmy. Go on up and operate. Operate? Oh, I already did that. What? 20 minutes ago, patients doing fine. What's the trouble, Dr. Karoo? Well, you should certainly know Dr. Kildes after all. After all of what? Well, not to mention names. Those birds seem to be following me all over the hospital. I want it clearly understood that I have no responsibility in the matter. You did it entirely without my knowledge. Did what? You know very well what. You operated without permission. Well, Jimmy, a nasty rumor is apparently circulating. Oh, it seems. By the way, Dr. Karoo, will you take a look at this? Thank you. Now, I'll grant you, Dr. Kildes, that the operation was necessary. This is to certify. But nonetheless, your action was highly unethical, and we, the Blair General Hospital, simply cannot, on this date, tolerate. Really? Signed by Mrs. Morgan. She went on up to see her husband. He's conscious now, you know. Oh, dear. Good night, Karoo. But I thought that... I mean, I heard that... that is they said that... Well, there goes nothing with the gardenia in its lapel. I found out the reason for Mrs. Morgan's attitude. A mother, it died in 1919 from an infection following an operation from brain tumor. 1919, the year 20 B.A. And four antibiotics. We've come a long way since then. An even longer way since Hartley. I wonder where we're going from here. Well, I don't know where you're going. But I'm going to bed. Good night, Dr. G. Dr. Kildes. Why don't you open it up and find out? Mrs. Arthur Morgan. I don't know any Morgan. Of course you do. He's the accident victim who was in here last week. Hit by a car, brain concussion. Oh, that's right, sure. We got all about him. Confounded they got this. As if it was a dozen eggs. Must be something valuable. Well, I don't know why they'd be sending me but by the Great Horns Bowl. And Corpore Sano. Being a repository of ancient wisdom and the art of healing compiled by Sir Douglas Hartley. By the Great... Oh, thank you, Jimmy. Thank me? The Morgan Center, the gesture of appreciation. Thank them for it. But confounded it wasn't even my case. And who told him I wanted this? You did. Ah, cut it out. You're talking like a man with a hole in his head. Well, anyway, thanks, Jimmy. You like it? I don't know when I ever wanted anything in my whole life as bad as I wanted that book. Well, now you've got it, so everything's fine. Oh. Parker, how come all the bandages... All confounded, Miss Bustley. You can drop the act now. That was last week. And what makes you think that this is an act? Parker, you don't mean... Yes. Last night I... flipped in the bathtub and... Well... Oh, no. Operating Room 7. Here we come. Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore. This program was written by Les Crutchfield and directed by William P. Russo. Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Schuman. Supporting cast included Virginia Gregg, Ted Osborne, Georgia Ellis, Vic Perrin, and Lorraine Tuttle. Vic Joy speaking.