 The story of Dr. Kildare. What's the other house I enter? There will I go for the benefit of the sick. And what's the other things I see or hear concerning the life of men? I will keep silence thereon counting such things to be held as sacred trust. I will exercise my art. Dr. Kildare, starring Lou Ayres and 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. Have you been to the children's orthopedic ward lately? No, not in several weeks, I guess. Why? Because it's so overcrowded we had to turn away four youngsters this week. There were no beds for them. Yeah, had no money to enlarge the ward either. I guess it does take donations to add rooms to a hospital, but it seems to me that you can always squeeze in a few extra beds somehow. It does, eh? Diana is waiting in the children's ward for me now. Just come along and see for yourself. Sometimes you think you can squeeze a few extra beds of carts in here somewhere. What do you think now, Jimmy? Now that you're here. Diana, I'll admit it's so crowded you can hardly walk between the beds. We should take this up with Dr. Karoo. Why get irritated talking to him? Let's try to do something ourselves. All right, Diana. Now where are those youngsters you want to meet and see? Over there, Dr. Gillespie. There's Beth, who seems to be improving every day. And little Donny, who... Well, he just doesn't seem to want to get better. Donny, eh? Probably needs a pep talk, eh, doctor? He needs something, I guess. Something that's not in the textbooks. All right, Diana, let's see the girls. Certainly, doctor. Well, Beth, look who's here. Dr. Kildare and Dr. Gillespie. Got a nice big smile for them? I'm getting better, aren't I, doctor? I can go home soon, too. Can't I? Let me think so, honey. Don't you, doctor? Oh, let me see you move that arm now, Beth. Well, better, girl. Last week, I couldn't lift my arm any higher than this. And how high do you think you'll be able to lift it next week? Well, Beth, at this rate, you'll be home sooner than anyone expects. He certainly will. And between the two of us, young lady, you're quite a little doll. Oh, Dr. Gillespie, I think you're a doll, too. Come on, doctor, before we make Diana jealous. Donny. Donny, there are some friends of yours here who'd like to talk to you. Why, Donny, Dr. Gillespie and I came here to help you grow up to be an all-American quarterback. I don't want to be no quarterback. All right, then. All right. I'll make you a nice baseball pitcher. You got the arm for it, you know. I don't want to be it. Come on now, Donny. How are Dr. Gillespie and I going to check you if you bury yourself in your pillow? Go away, doctor. Please go away. Will you stop crying if Miss Verner reads your story? Well, then, how about some nice new comic books? I'd like some comics, maybe. I thought so. Diana, how about going down to the magazine stand and getting Donny some comics, new comics, huh? Well, of course, Donny. And get the good kind, too. You know the super superheroes, the kind you always get for yourself? Yeah, that's right, Miss Verner. The kind Dr. Kildare always reads over your shoulder. Well, Donny, we'll have you hitting on all 12 soon. You'll see. Dr. Gillespie. Dr. Gillespie. Please report to Dr. Karoo's office as soon as possible. Ah, what the darn nation is Karoo want with me now? I wouldn't know. But since he is in his office, if you don't mind, I think I'll just tag along and see if he won't do something about this children's ward. Karoo, I came along with Dr. Gillespie, because I'd like to discuss the conditions in the children's orthopedic ward. I am fully aware of them, Dr. Kildare, and I'm trying to find a solution. But at the moment, I haven't time to talk about kiddies. Ah, kiddies. Why the darn nation do some people have to call them kiddies? Is there anything wrong with calling them children? Not at all, Dr. Gillespie, not at all. But I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to postpone this discussion. You see, we have a patient entering the hospital this morning who will require your complete attention as well as Dr. Kildare's. And who is the millionaire that can afford that kind of attention? I am about to tell you his name, but in the very strictest of confidence. He is a man I am sure you know, as well as 150 million other Americans. Our patient, gentlemen, is none other. Who? Houston doctor. Buck Houston. Well, with Karoo involved, I knew there'd be a buck in at some place. No, Dr. Gillespie. Buck Houston happens to be to the current generation what the dead-eye dick was to yours. Well, how old do you think I am? Well, let's say old enough to be getting mellow, doctor. However, to bring you completely up to date, Buck Houston is the country's number one cowboy actor. By the Great Hornsburg. A cowboy? Yes, indeed. Well, Dr. Karoo, what about Buck Houston? He's here in New York to make personal appearances. And his physician, a former colleague of mine, just telephoned from Hollywood to tell me that Mr. Houston is entering Blair General Hospital on his recommendation. Well, what's wrong with this actor? Trying to wear a ten-gallon hat on a five-gallon head? Not at all. From what I gather, he's suffering a severe back or leg injury. Oh, probably fell off a horse. I don't believe so, Dr. Gildare. However, he'll be here within the hour, and I'm expecting both you and Dr. Gillespie to examine him and furthermore to remember that there is to be absolutely no publicity. Any time you've got occasion to hospital Karoo where there's no publicity, I'll be there just out of sheer curiosity. I understand it, Mr. Houston. Now, wait just a minute there, you young sawbones. I ain't Mr. Houston to nobody. I'm just plain Buck. All right then, Buck. Now, the pain you're complaining of seems to go from the sacrilege joint in your back running down here into your thigh and all along your leg. Yeah, oh, ouch! Yeah, and it goes just about that away. Mm-hmm. Well, Dr. Gillespie? Well, this away or that away or any way you're figuring it out, it seems to be sciatic neuritis. Sciatic? What did you call that again, Doc? I didn't quite get that ear down. Sciatic neuritis, Buck. It's an irritation to the sciatic nerve brought about by, well, something we will now have to determine. Did you have a fault in your horse? From good old Storm Cloud, no, sir. Why, Storm Cloud's the greatest partner a man ever had. Compadres, man and boy. Ever since he has occulted me and Storm Cloud has been just like that. Well, then have you any idea what might have caused it? Oh, no, I ain't. But I'm telling you, this hurts so bad I'm about to throw a rubber tail hissy fit. I don't even know whether I'm going to be able to ride in my show. And that would sure disappoint a heap of kiddies. Kiddies. Why, Doc, now, don't tell old Buck that you don't like young men. I just don't like anyone calling young ones kiddies. And Miss Verner, would you take the blankets off, Mr. Houston? Certainly, Doctor. Now, what you up to, Doc? Just a few preliminary tests, Buck. Shouldn't bother you at all. He hopes. How's that? They know better, they know worse. Yeah. No diminution of the ankle reflexes. Try the Lusag test, Doctor. Good idea. Here. Now, hold on there, Doc. Now, what you doing with my leg? Just moving it up towards your abdomen. That hurt? No, don't hurt none. She only ain't comfortable, ain't she? Diana, will you call X-ray and arrange for a series of plates on Mr. Houston? Yes, Doctor. Complete set on the lower back, especially sacroiliac. Yeah, and while you're at it, nurse, have them run a pantopak myelogram for lesions. Well, goodness. Doc, kept there sounds real serious. You know us old sore bones. Try to make everything sound serious. What we want to do, Buck, is not only relieve you of this pain, but stop your condition from becoming any more serious so you can get to your show. You're right. We wouldn't want you to disappoint them, their kitties. Love of Hippocrates, Karoo, will you stop old deering all over the place? Leave Jimmy and me alone. Will we check these X-rays and lab reports? Well, all right. But you've got to do everything you can. Oh, what do you make of the X-rays, Dr. Gillespie? Detect any tumors, any indications of arthritis? No, no, herniated discs, either. Judging from the plate. The X-ray exhibits positive symptoms of sciatic neuritis, except, of course, there was no laseg sign. And the ankle reaction was negative. Did you notice his eyes? Eyes? No, why? Well, they're old, Jimmy. Old and bored and tired. Oh, he gave his ages 38. Certainly you don't call 38 old. Well, Jack Benny says he's 39. No, sir, I'm afraid Houston's reported age misses the truth by close to 20 years. Young man, I'm old enough to know. Oh, yes, dead eye dick, no doubt. Ah, that's... Old or not, I think that Houston sciatic, as painful as it may be, is all in his mind. Psychosomatic. Great Gilbert Glory, Jimmy. Is it psychosomatic when a man's middle age is worn out from those blessed kiddies he keeps talking about? I don't know about that, but either way, we've got to question him. If we can coax the truth out of him, we'll soon find out who's right. I don't question Buck Houston too much. My professional advice is you rope him to the bed with your stethoscope while I ride to get the posse and eagle pass. And to the story of Dr. Kildare in just a moment. Buck, Dr. Glenn, you confidentially... You mean, compadres, that you've cut sign on this thing that's got poor old Buck bedded now? Buck, I'm sorry to tell you this, but we think that between us, we have. Sorry, Shuckins. This is the happiest day of my life. Today may have started out that way, Buck, but what Dr. Gillespie and I are going to tell you, we don't think he's going to be particularly good news. You mean I ain't going to be able to make my show and I'm going to have to disappoint all them thousands of kiddies? No, no, you're going to be able to make your show. Buck, there's nothing wrong with you that isn't in your mind. Oh, now look here, Doc. You know, there's an old saying out west that goes, you can't fool a horse-fly. And here in the hospital, Buck, you can't fool the doctor. Well, my stars and slippers, are you aiming to say that something's Andy Garland with me upstairs in my head? Oh, certainly not. At least not the way you mean. Buck, the way I figure it. For some reason, you're resentful of being the popular hero that you are. And that's brought about a deep sense of guilt inside you. Besides, you can't fool an old man. And Houston, you're past 50 and you know it. Well, I'm a God-cheered certificate. You know, this isn't a pleasant thing to have to tell a patient, but we're not denying that you are suffering from a mentally-induced sciatica, because no matter how it's induced, sciatica is painful, very painful. Well, I know, but if you will cooperate with us, let down your hair, Buck. Dr. Kildare and I hope we can show you what's causing this sciatica, and get you out of here feeling like a new man. Now that's pretty far in the score, isn't it, partner? Well, doggone. That, you know what, I didn't never think that... Well, Buck, have you got the intestinal fortitude to face the truth? Oh, what's the use? You've hit the nail right in the head. By the great horns, bones. You hear that? He's lost his Western accent. Well, why shouldn't I? If I talk anything, I ought to talk straight New York. You mean you were born here? 53 years ago, doc. That's where I got my stage name, Houston. But Houston's a famous Texas name, Sam Houston. Sure, but it's also a famous Lower East Side name. The street where I was born, except here in New York, you pronounce it Houston. Well, you fool me. Everybody, too long. What do you mean, fool? Oh, it was all right when I first hit it lucky, as a movie cowboy and a few kids would stare at me, but so helping afterwards, it grew to be thousands of youngsters following me around. Overnight, there came to be millions. And then they wouldn't go to sleep without Buck Houston pillows and Buck Houston blankets, and they wouldn't eat unless it was out of a Buck Houston plate or a Buck Houston cup. Well, doc, that's the guilt complex, isn't it? Well, maybe, but we've still got to find out what made him give in to this defensive sciatica. I think it could be weariness. Weariness? Have you ever made 20-person appearances in one day? Have you any idea what it means to pick up 40 and 50-pound youngsters and haul them up on top of your horse so they can have the pictures taken when you're hardly able to lift your arms after 10 hours of it? No, but we're starting to get a good idea. What else, Buck? What else? Isn't it enough knowing that you're a worn-out man who has to have a double to do everything but mount a horse? And these kids thinking you're some sort of a... I guess that pretty well fills in the picture, eh, doctor? His subconscious supplied the sciatica so he couldn't be forced to appear before the public in person. Mine's a strange thing, Buck. And you shouldn't feel too bad about giving in the way you have. Why, after a few days' rest here, now that the real facts have come out, you'll be able to ride around town carrying five youngsters on your back. Oh, no, not me, doc. Not me. Don't you see I'm true. Now that the truth out, and I know it's the truth, I can't go on fooling him anymore. I just can't. Oh, look, Buck, we'll give you some sedatives. Three days of rest, a tonic to build you up. Will you just go away, now? Go away. Go on away, you find out what you want to know, didn't you? Go on, leave me alone. Buck Houston's all through. Oh, but look here, Buck. Come on, come on, come on, Jimmy. After 30 years of holding it all in, two hour cry isn't going to do Buck a bit of harm. Dr. J, why do you refuse to face facts? Between us, we made Houston face facts, and now he wants to throw his whole life away. Quit. Why shouldn't he quit? He's tired. He's old. I know, but I'm tired, and you're aging. But are we quitting? Oh, Tom, Nathan, Jimmy. Why should Buck go on? He can afford to retire? Best thing that could happen. Well, Doctor, maybe retirement seems more attractive to a man of your years, your mellow years. But for me and for Buck Houston, there's still a lot left in life, and whether you will help or not, I'm going to try to make him realize it for the sake and the kitties. Kilda, I'm telling you for the last time I am not putting those cowboy clothes on again. But, Buck, you don't want this sciatica to come back, do you? We have a very strong feeling that if we can take an X-ray of you wearing those cowboy clothes and those high-heeled boots, it may show that the boots or something else cause a pressure on a nerve, which means the sciatica could come back again any time as long as you live. No. I'm going to have that cowboy regalia and walk down to the X-ray lab with me. But you told me the thing was all in my mind. I know we did, but now we think we may have made a mistake. And if we did, we want to correct it. You already took X-rays dozens of times. But not with your clothes on, don't you see? And we think that's where we made our mistake. Well, Buck? Okay, if you say so. After all, you're the doctor. That's the spirit. I'll get out while you're getting dressed to X-ray. Is this the way I went to X-ray before? Seems to me it was on the other side of the building. No, we have another X-ray room in this wing. Oh, I see. Oh, here comes Dr. Gillespie. Yes, I see, Buck. All right, now let's go through this door. Wait a minute, Buck. Where are you going all tongued out in that outfit? Oh, in the X-ray room here. The X-ray? What, the X-ray room's way in the other... I'll try through this door. Come on, Buck. See you later, Dr. Gillespie. Right on, nation. I don't know what you're up to, Jimmy, but I'm coming along. Hey, Doc, this isn't X-ray. This place is full of youngsters. X-ray is. Well, maybe it is, Jimmy. I can see clean through you right now. Children, children, children, will you quiet down, please, because Dr. Gillespie and I have a surprise for you. Now, see who we brought to visit? I'll be blamein' them. You see, Dr. Gillespie, there isn't a child in America who doesn't know him by sight. Well, howdy there, partner! Howdy, howdy, howdy! Well, now you look here, sugarfoot. I ain't Mr. Houston to nobody. I'm just plain Buck. You wait just a second, Beth. You see, Buck came up here especially. You see, Donnie, come on, Buck. Doctor? Donnie? Donnie, we brought someone here who wants to meet you. You can't fool me. Nobody wants to meet me. Why? What is that? Well, I come all the way from my ranch here to New York just to meet the latest big man I ever heard about. What's his name, Donnie O'Brien? All the way to New York to meet Donnie O'Brien. Jimmy, it's Christmas. It's really Buck. Buck Houston. Well, howdy, partner. Butter there. Come on up here, son. Old Buck wants to get a good look at you. Easy does that. Oh, what do you think, Buck? Hasn't Donnie got the makings of a real he-man cow-puncher? Well, I ain't never seen a better one. And by a dirty fist, folks will let me. I'd like to sign him up to a lifetime contract right now. Wrangling horses and punching cattle on my range. Gee workers, Buck. Do you mean it? Tell him he's got to get well first. What's the matter, Buck? I bet you don't mean it. When you say that to Buck Houston, Donnie, you better smile. Old cornball. But I was just thinking now, Donnie. You've got to get well first. You reckon you can do that for your old partner? Good old Buck? Oh, gosh, Buck. Sure I can get well. I can get so well I'll let me out of here next week. Well, I don't know about next week, Donnie, but I think if we take Buck back to Dr. Gillespie's office now, we can have him put his name to that contract and we'll guarantee delivery of a perfectly healthy Donnie O'Brien to the Double Bar X Ranch by the end of next month. We will return to the story of Dr. Kildare. As Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie. Buck, I can't tell you how much everyone at Blair Hospital appreciates this check for the addition to the children's ward. Oh, forget it, Doc. You learned it the way I earned it in the first place by acting. Well, I sure do, and a convincing one at that. The way he talked me into thinking I was going to X-ray. Well, when a man's got his mind made up, things are packed. Sometimes takes a little white lie to show him the real truth. Do you think that youngster, Donnie, is going to get well now? Oh, no question about it. Buck, not only did you give that youngster the desire to live, but you gave him something much more important. You gave him hope. You don't have to be young to have hope. But if you've got hope, you've got a mighty good chance of staying young. Yeah, and I'll say yes to that. Well, goodbye, Buck. And, oh, don't forget those seats you promised us for your show. Oh, why, compadres, the last man that accused Buck Houston of forgetting a friend buried now up on Boot Hill. Well, by John Nation, you've forgotten something. And I'm not signing your discharge from this hospital till I get it. Till you get it? Well, what is it, Don? You're not leaving here like I got a picture personally autographed and reading through the old sore bones, Doc Gillespie, and all the kiddies signed your faithful compadre, Buck Houston. I've just heard the story of Dr. Kildare starring Lou Ayres and Lionel Barrymore. This program was written by Paul Franklin and directed by Joe Bigelow. Original music was composed and conducted by Walter Schumann. Supporting cast included Ted Osborne, Georgia Ellis, Barton Yarborough, Johnny McGovern, and Mary McGovern. Dick Joy speaking.