Gênios Fracassados

Mike and Jerry star in a radio drama, but then they run into real criminals. Wally Brown, Alan Carney, and Anne Jeffreys produce a detective show at Spartan Broadcasting, and of course they are caught up in the real crime drama. somehow they have insulted both the crooks and the police, so they'd better watch out! You can't help but recognize Bela Lugosi by sight and by voice. it's all kind of silly and amateur-ish. plot-holes. Lionel Atwill is the Cobra... Atwill had started in the silent films, but this would be his last completed film, as he died after this. The studios had started filming another project, but Atwill died of pneumonia during production. some interesting notes in his personal life, as described on wikipedia dot org... hollywood shunned him after parts of his personal life came to light. and he was married to Douglas MacArthur's ex-wife for a time! all that is probably more interesting than the plot of this film. it's ok. a quick little caper. Directed by Les Goodwins, who was probably most famous for directing Lupe Velez in the Mexican Spitfire films.

First some background - this was Lionel Atwill's final film. He shot half a serial "Lost City of the Jungle" after this and then passed away. This was Lugosi's final studio film other than "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein". This was also, I believe, their 7th teaming together. Usually red herrings, or one good and one evil, this is the only real film they did together when they were both the bad guys from beginning to end (also Ghost of Frankenstein).

That all being said, this is really a comedy from a weak team of comics Brown and Carney. The comedy is not terrible and is on par with the lesser Abbott and Costellos from the period. The best part is watching Atwill play the master criminal, "The Cobra", with Lugosi as his dedicated sidekick, Stone.

It was really great to see the both of them ham it up. They have some great moments toying with the comics, Atwill in particular jawing one of them on to shoot through his robe to embellish the accolades for catching him. Lugosi gets to be just as menacing throwing knives and chloroforming the nosy female lead, and well, being Lugosi.

It's a fun little flick that's definitely worth the 61 minutes for any fans of either Atwill and Lugosi. Being a fan of both, it was great to see them work together for the bad of mankind, which is what they always did best.

GENIUS AT WORK (RKO Radio, 1946) directed by Leslie Goodwins, marked the final screen teaming of Wally Brown and Alan Carney. Having worked together in a series of minor comedies since 1943, usually assuming the same character names of Mike Strager and Jerry Miles, Brown and Carney became the studio's replacement to its 1930s team of Bert Wheeler and Robert Woolsey, but more to the level of RKO's answer to Universal's ever popular twosome of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Virtually forgotten both by name and film titles, GENIUS AT WORK is solid 62 minute mystery/comedy set in a radio station. Though this edition contains many similarities to Abbott and Costello's similar theme of WHO DONE IT (1942), it is actually an updated remake to RKO's very own edition of SUPER SLEUTH (1937) featuring Jack Oakie. As much as the routines for GENIUS AT WORK are a grand mix from good to forced comedy, it benefits greatly by the fine support of horror movie greats of Lionel Atwill and Bela Lugosi in the cast.

The story begins with business tycoon, John J. Saunders (Forbes Murray) being abducted by a shadowy figure. Next comes the introduction of Mike Strager (Wally Brown) and Jerry Miles (Alan Carney) as a couple of half-wits working for a radio station where they play master mind detectives in the popular "Crime of the Week" series. Their latest caper involves a killer known as The Cobra, whose series of murders have been baffling the police. Lammer Marsh (Lionel Atwill), a criminologist to the series, supplies information to Ellen Brent (Anne Jeffreys), the script girl. The radio program results to climax of its victims before it actually happens. With Saunders found murdered, police inspectors, Lieutenant Rick Campbell (Marc Cramer) and his assistant, Warren Gilly (Ralph Dunn) arrive to investigate as to where Ellen has been getting her information. Upon visiting the Marsh estate that includes his butler, Stone (Bela Lugosi), Jerry, Mike and Ellen encounter Marsh's hobby room consisting of wax-like figures and torture devises. With Marsh suspecting Ellen may be closing in on his identity being The Cobra, he intends on making her the prime suspect as well as putting her two assistants out of the way permanently.

Though GENIUS AT WORK is categorized by some to be the weakest of the Brown and Carney comedies, somehow I recall this being overplayed on New York CIty's own WOR, Channel 9, through much of the 1970s, especially in 1974 with four to five broadcasts alone. Anne Jeffreys and Marc Cramer make favorable secondary couple between comedy highlights including Bela Lugosi scaring Miles through sinister voicing through the intercom; Lionel Atwill disguised as a wheelchair bound old woman; and chase through the radio station leading to window ledge and rooftop reminiscent to Abbott and Costello's funnier WHO DONE IT. With Wally Brown's description of his partner (Carney) being so dumb, "He couldn't find a loaf of bread in a bakery," there are many moments where he proves his theory correct with another quip, "If he had another brain, he'd have one," Interestingly, Brown and Carney, assuming the same character names of Strager and Miles in the horror spoof, ZOMBIES ON BROADWAY (1945), had Bela Lugosi and Anne Jeffries in support, each bearing different character names.

For those who prefer non-stop comedy, GENIUS AT WORK is it. For anyone feeling GENIUS AT WORK should have been the tower of comic strength, maybe a genius at work might remedied that. Overall, this is as good as it gets. Formerly shown on American Movie Classics prior to 2001, GENIUS AT WORK, available on DVD, can be seen on Turner Classic Movies cable channel more for seeing Atwill and Lugosi in comedy than as a rediscovery to the forgotten comedy team of Brown and Carney. (**1/2)

I wasn't really sure if watching another Wally Brown/Alan Carney vehicle so soon after ZOMBIES ON Broadway (1945) was a good idea, but this comedy-thriller actually works better than expected: there are a handful of genuinely funny one-liners and the chief villain (Lionel Atwill) utilizes a couple of clever ruses to escape detention when cornered - though his posing as an old lady in a wheelchair with a bearded Bela Lugosi (here relegated to the supporting role of Atwill's all-purpose henchman) in tow is a genuine camp moment; just as unflattering is the sight of Lugosi donning a bowler hat, not to mention his being on the receiving end in a couple of pratfall situations (I would also contend the absurdity of giving such a heavily-accented actor American names for his characters, in this case Stone, though this didn't happen often!).

The narrative incorporates several well-worn elements from contemporary horror films and thrillers: a mysterious and seemingly invincible criminal mastermind, radio detective heroes, a renowned criminologist brought in to assist the investigation, a wax museum, torture/execution devices - and, for the climax, even reserves a few perilous stunts on the ledge of a building a' la the films of Harold Lloyd! As was the case with ZOMBIES ON Broadway, the film utilizes cast and crew members who also worked on the contemporaneous Val Lewton cycle of classic horror films - cinematographer Robert De Grasse had served in the same capacity on THE BODY SNATCHER (1945; also featuring Lugosi), while Marc Cramer had co-starred in ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945). In the end, I'd say that the film marginally edges ZOMBIES - even the Brown/Carney team seems to be more at ease with the material and, consequently, comes off as more sympathetic here.

This script seems like it was written for Abbott and Costello, but turned down. We have a low-rent comedy team here pretending to know something about a murderer. We also have menacing performances by Atwill and Lugosi. Finally, we have Anne Jeffrys as the lovely lady. It is funny in parts, but never really menacing. If you're not expecting much, it might be a pleasant surprise. If you do expect a decent film, well, you might very well be disappointed. It's a harmless enough way to spend an hour or so, especially if you're a Lugosi fan. I'm not sure it's for everybody, though. It isn't dull, but it isn't exactly entertaining, either.