The Patient in Room 18

"$100,000 worth of radium vanishes...three men are mysteriously killed...a corpse comes back from the dead...and it's only the beginning folks, only the beginning!"

Jan 8 1938 Passed 0h 59m
Comedy, Crime, Mystery

Choreographer Bob Connolly and prolific screenwriter Crane Wilbur teamed up on the direction of Warner Bros.' The Patient in Room 18. Patric Knowles delivers a delightfully comic performance as Lance, an outwardly normal young man obsessed with detective stories. When his obsession threatens to lapse over into lunacy, Lance is sent to the hospital for a nice long rest. It isn't long before he gets mixed up in a genuine murder mystery, using his second-hand knowhow to solve the case. Up-and-coming Ann Sheridan is quite amusing as Lance's nurse and confidante, while the murderer is played by a fellow who is usually cast as the murder victim.

Plot

Unable to solve his last case, famed private detective Lance O'Leary is showing signs of being on the verge of a nervous breakdown. As such, he is admitted to the private Thatcher Institute to recuperate. Beyond the inability to rest and relax as he is ordered, O'Leary doesn't totally mind being there as it allows him to spend time with the head nurse, Sara Keate, with whom he is in an on-again/off-again relationship, those switches largely pressed by her. Besides O'Leary's butler Seymour Bentley being a known ex-con, there is much going on at the Institute of intrigue: the only other patient is elderly and wealthy Institute benefactor Frank Warren, whom head doctor Arthur Lethany convinced to go through a $100,000 medical radium treatment for his ailment; Dr. Balman, who once had money but is now broke, is incensed by the treatment as he feels it is both unnecessary for Warren and would better serve a multitude of other patients who would truly benefit from it; Lethany's wife, Carol Lethany, is in a clandestine relationship with the Institute's poor intern, Dr. Fred Harker, whom she would leave her husband for if Harker only had money; Lethany himself lusts after another one of the nurses, Maida Day; Warren's nephew, Jim Warren, is deep in debt, something that his uncle refuses to help him pay; and Jim and Maida themselves are in a relationship. Within these situations, two of these people are murdered at the Institute and the $100,000 worth of radium stolen, all the other players who would have opportunity and/or motive to kill one or both victims. Thus, O'Leary changes from being patient back to private investigator, and despite being a suspect herself, Sara is by his side in the investigation. Things are only complicated as O'Leary and the police detective in charge of the case, Inspector Foley, have a friendly rivalry. The case takes a turn when some discover that the Institute's nightwatchman, Higgins, actually saw the murder.

Written by

Eugene Solow, Robertson White, Mignon G. Eberhart

Directed by

Bobby Connolly, Crane Wilbur

Cast

Patric Knowles, Ann Sheridan, Eric Stanley

Crew

View crew

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Warner Bros. Pictures

Languages

English

Awards

N/A

Scores
# of Votes
403
Average Rating
5.8 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA