When Lew Ayres announced he was a conscientious objector to the war shortly after the film was released, hundreds of bookings were canceled because of protests. Loew's ordered that all cancellation requests be granted. After Ayres changed his status (in April 1942) to non-combatant, many in the film industry stated that a boycott of his films would be intolerant and inconsistent with "Americanism." His stance unfairly marked him as a deserter and coward in the public's eyes and stalled Ayres's career for many years.
Eighth entry in MGM's long-running Dr. Kildare film franchise, and the last of them to star Lew Ayres, who was written out of future films due to having registered as a conscientious objector with his World War ll draft board (see trivia note above). After theatres across America cancelled bookings for this film, Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie became the central character in several more titles hoping to cash in on the series' former popularity.
Ironically, after a running subplot throughout the first eight Dr. Kildare films focused on Dr. Gillespie's fading health, Lionel Barrymore's character became the central figure of this franchise when Lew Ayres left the series to serve as a "noncombatant" in World War II. In subsequent films, the plot-line concerning Gillespie's health (and implied impending demise) was de-emphasized.
Selmer Jackson is in studio records playing "Mr. Baxter," but he was replaced by Charles Trowbridge. Also in studio records as "Mason" was Vinton Hayworth, but he was not seen in the print. The Hollywood Reporter listed Samuel S. Hinds and Emma Dunn in their usual roles as Dr. Kildare's parents, but they were not in the film either. These omissions may have resulted from final cuts, since the preview time listed in Daily Variety was 100 minutes.
A working title of the film was The Inside Story.
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