Human-interest Dramas (1937 - 39)

Cast of Dr. Christian which debuted in 1937.
Standing from left to right: Gale Gordon
and Carl Stanton. Leaning on piano,
from left to right: Rosemary De Camp as
Nurse Judy Price; Jean Hersholt as
Dr. Paul Christian; Mary Smith;
Walter Tetley; Bill Lawrence, producer.

Jean Hersholt starred in the motion picture series about a small town doctor cares for, and is confronted by the lives of its citizens. The movie Meet Dr. Christian, released in 1939, began a string of six films that were released until 1941. All starred Jean Hersholt, and it was a natural to spin off the movies as an old time radio show. The show first ran on Sunday afternoons, and that was a perfect time slot, even if the National Football League was already well into its second decade. Also, the show was not overtly religious, but more deeply ethical and humanitarian in its precepts. It called itself "absorbing, heart-warming drama."

The story lines of Doctor Christian were meant to be representative of small town life in America when it lived a simpler, perhaps more honest life. Certainly it was less hurried. In the late 1930's, America was living that a time when a small town was a little place filled with people that you knew, almost all of whom you had grown up with, and unless you left, people whose lives you would know for the rest of your life. The town's physician was in many ways a center of the community. Birth, life, and death all called upon him for assistance, and in giving it, the small town physician grew to be more than just a member of his little community. For Doctor Christian, the town is called River's End -- he watches over his community, as life goes on all around him. Judy Price is his able and intelligent Secretary who keeps his office and appointments on an even keel.

The acting is first rate. Jean Hersholt is an actor who specialized in gentle, intelligent roles that called for warmth and feeling. Doctor Christian is that kind of show as well. It can be enjoyed as drama, as nostalgia, and as just plain old radio entertainment.

See also One Man's Family, Aldrich Family, The Goldbergs, Life With Luigi, Vic and Sade, Ozzie and Harriet, and Our Miss Brooks.