Genius at Work

I love classic comedies. I saw this on TCM. I really wish these guys had a longer contract run. IMO they were very funny to-gether. I know they were brought to-gether in response to Abbott and Costello. I think they were great. This is my favorite film of their catalog.

In a remake of Jack Oakie's "Super Sleuth", the alleged comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney play radio actors Jerry and Mike who are re-creating the crimes of a killer who calls himself "The Cobra". The Cobra's true identity is the famed criminologist, Marsh (Lionel Atwill),who kills for the fun of it. Marsh and his assistant, Stone (Bela Lugosi).attempt to kill the two saps and frame their boss and head-writer, Ellen (Anne Jefferys). Brown and Carney are simply awful and fortunately this is the last movie they would make together. Unfortunately this was also Lionel Atwill's last movie, too. Atwill is always worth watching, but Lugosi is really wasted here and the plot's so familiar you can almost hear the lines before they're spoken. The only challenge is staying awake for 61 minutes.

The story moves at a good pace with a beautiful leading lady, and comedians a plenty. They have the type of comedy that cannot be found anymore today. It is clean fun and good for the whole family.

Genius at Work (1946) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Wally Brown and Alan Carney play radio show detectives who get caught up in the real murder case of a killer known as The Cobra (Lionel Atwill). The comedy duo Brown and Carney were RKO's rip of Abbott and Costello but I actually enjoyed their earlier film Zombies on Broadway. This one here isn't as good but there's some nice laughs and the supporting of Atwill really helps things. Bela Lugosi has a small, thankless role as Atwill's sidekick. The biggest highlight is seeing Lugosi playing an old man to his wife, Atwill in drag. Atwill' final film.

A lot of people are comparing the little-known today comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney with the much more famous Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, and I can see the resemblance, though one crucial difference is that their relationship is never physically abusive; their put-downs to each other are frequent but strictly verbal. Brown and Carney may not be comedic geniuses, but they are quite funny in their own right. And they are surrounded by a strong supporting cast: Anne Jeffreys is a smarter-than-average female sidekick, while Lionel Atwill and Bela Lugosi make a great villainous team (I wish the identity of "The Cobra" hadn't been revealed so early, though). These two wisely play it straight - even when Atwill disguises himself as an old lady in a wheelchair! ** out of 4.

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.