The Murder of Dr. Harrigan (2001)

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

At 67 minutes, "The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is clearly a B-mystery film...albeit a pretty decent one. Bs were films that usually ran from 55-70 minutes and were meant as a second film at a double feature. They usually had simple plots with rather quick resolutions...and they were made by all sorts of companies ranging from the tiny to big studios like MGM and Warner. The Bs made with the bigger companies tended to look a bit nicer and were more likely to have a bigger name actor or two in the flick. And, since this was by Warner Brothers, they put stars Ricardo Cortez and Mary Astor in this one...making it a bit nicer than the average B.Shortly after the film begins, you learn of several people who have plenty of reasons to kill Dr. Harrigan as well as his patient, the rich crank, Peter Melady. However, unlike most B mysteries, this one features TWO murders! As for the police, they're a bit dim (though not as overtly stupid as they are in most B mysteries) and they need the help of some smart folks--in this case Dr. Lambert (Cortez). Overall, a clever and pretty typical B mystery--one that is worth seeing and harmless (unless, of course, you are Harrigan and Melady).

"The Murder of Dr. Harrigan" is a glorious example of the sort of low-cost quickies Hollywood churned out in the 30s to satisfy the double feature pipeline. It is almost entirely set in what has to be the sloppiest hospital in America. Here, a doctor reschedules an operation for midnight without bothering to assemble a surgical team. Nurses haphazardly wander in and out of patients' rooms. And when the only elevator in the place stops running, nobody's much concerned until it starts up again -- and a dead body turns up inside. For comedy relief, the orderlies stomach pump the wrong patient. Oh, those wacky hospital staffers! The plot centers on an eccentric millionaire who arranges for a doctor who hates his guts to perform a delicate operation on him, using a new anesthetic that's better than ether; it puts patients out for three days so they can heal painlessly. Somewhere in this melange of mayhem and malpractice, there's Ricardo Cortez trying to save the nurse he loves from being charged with murder by the usual myopic cop. But the mystery zips along and as a throwback to a bygone era, it's at least entertaining. And for trivia buffs, there's Mary Astor in a relatively small, thankless role, purportedly her punishment for bucking the studio system.

Only a certain kind of audience likes these types of movies, the type that flocked to see The Thin Man a few years before this film and the sequel to the Thin Man the same year as this film. It's obvious by the attempts at humorous banter by the romantic leads that this is a thinly veiled attempt to cash in on the same audience back in the hey day of the Thin Man series as the TM movies were attracting. This is nowhere close to those movies with none of the chemistry (although a few quips are funny) and the required explanation of what is going on and who shot who is painfully dragged out and boring. None of the action as Nicky grills the group. And awful dialog (ex: "Glad, glad do you hear!") which is really painful to hear from the likes of Mary Astor.But I am someone who does enjoy these types of movies. It fascinates me how they announce the parts and actions as if they are still on the radio for the sake of those who can't see it. And I enjoy seeing the cultural elements (count how many times the word "negro" is used.)These films are like a quick glimpse into the campy past. And it's no mystery that glimpses of the past are always fun.

This is one of those typical fast-moving, harried murder mysteries involving the death of a doctor under unusual circumstances at a hospital full of suspects. Something about a formula he had developed in an uneasy partnership with another doctor--and his murder at the hands of someone who wanted that formula.Only of interest because of RICARDO CORTEZ in the leading role as one of the helpful doctors who leads the detective to solve the case, and, in a brief supporting role, MARY ASTOR, who manages to make an interesting impression as a nurse who knows more than she's willing to tell. She makes more of an impression than KAY LINAKER who plays Cortez's romantic interest.This is the sort of mystery fluff that played the lower half of double bills back in the '30s, watchable only for the fast pace and because of its "round up the usual suspects" kind of telling. Extremely dated, but amusing with enough plot complications to keep everyone guessing.