Bob Brown, working as an X-ray technican, only needs an additional year of medical school to qualify as a doctor, but gambles away the money he needs to attend. Caroline Grant, a nurse working in the same office, offers to loan the necessary money to Bob because she loves him. He accepts but, on the train on the way to school, loses the money in a card game. To prevent Caroline from knowing the truth, Bob buys a medical diploma from Smith, a doctor whose drug addiction prevents him from practicing. Now using a false name, J. Herbert Martell, Bob moves to New York and opens a practice. He hires Dr. Wiley to perform the actual medical work while he handles public relations. With the help of press agent Sam Sparks, Bob develops a successful business treating celebrities. He brings Caroline to New York to work with him, and she soon suspects that everything is not what it appears to be. When Bob pretends to perform an operation on opera star Mimi Maritza that almost leads to her death, Caroline realizes that Bob knows nothing about medicine. She is also jealous of Bob’s relationship with Maritza and leaves. Smith finds Bob and blackmails him. When Bob refuses to pay him anymore, Smith threatens to expose him. Caroline tries to stop Smith and is hit by a car. She needs an operation to save her life, and Bob tries to find a doctor to perform the surgery. The physicians all pretend to be busy, because they too suspect that Bob is a fake. Finally he agrees to stop practicing medicine if a real doctor will operate. After Smith dies of an overdose, Bob returns to X-rays, and he and Caroline get married. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch Bedside (1934)
