Genius at Work
Genius at Work
| 20 October 1946 (USA)
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Two actors who play detectives on the radio find themselves investigating a real crime masterminded by an arch-criminal named the Cobra.

Reviews
Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?
Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way
Helloturia I have absolutely never seen anything like this movie before. You have to see this movie.
mark.waltz I'll give Alan Carney and Wally Brown credit for one thing; they are more amusing than Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, the Martin and Lewis wanna-bee's of "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla". That is not saying much, but at least for a few years, they were under contract to RKO and starred in a series of forgettable B comedies. This is their last, and they get above the title billing supported by Lugosi and fellow horror movie veteran Lionel Atwill. A lovely young actress named Anne Jeffreys is also featured, and she's a private detective who works with Brown and Carney to try to catch a notorious kidnapper/murderer, only known as "the Cobra".The funny bits come ironically from the two boogie men. Atwill and Lugosi make being evil a humorous pairing, and the idea of Brown and Carney outwitting them is preposterous. That leaves the future Marian Kirby of the" Topper" TV series to be the brains. A few funny visual gags come because of the serious way that Atwill and Lugosi play their parts. Lugosi gets laugh for simply being an unseen echo, reminding the audience of a talent beyond urbane villainy. More laughs also come from the statues made for the film as set pieces, upstaging the stars. The film goes into overdrive in the last five minutes with a Harold Lloyd like finale that does bring on some genuine suspense and thrills. Carney and Brown couldn't even be considered a second rate Olsen and Johnson but are surrounded by pro's who manage to hold the film together from becoming a total disaster.
htcnve The following two very entertaining comedy movies GENIUS AT WORK(1946 - Wally Brown, Allan Carney, Anne Jeffreys, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill - directed by Leslie Goodwins) Two radio detectives find themselves targets of a murdering fiend when their on-the-air recreations of the murders prove to be too accurate. The bonus film, GIRL RUSH, Wally Brown, Allan Carney, and Robert Mitchum, (1944 - directed by Gordon Douglas) is included free on the same DVD. Jerry and Mike (the comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney), two vaudevillians stranded in San Francisco during the 1849 Sutter's Mill gold rush, strike it rich in a completely unexpected way. They decide to bring a musical revue top- lined by female entertainers to the womanless frontier town of Red Creek, an idea which is quickly endorsed by the local miners who view these shapely recruits as potential mail order brides. Success brings complications, of course, and Jerry and Mike's plans to buy a wagon train and return east to New York are constantly frustrated at every turn by crooked gamblers and assorted varmints though a friendly cowpoke (Robert Mitchum) often bails them out of trouble. In the end, it takes a huge street brawl to set everything right and bring the townspeople together in a united front. These two movies are available online on one single DVD. Visit: http://htcnve.wix.com/sale
Michael_Elliott 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.
MartinHafer Jealous of the success of Abbott and Costello at Universal Studios, RKO decided to create their own version of the team in the form of Carney and Brown. While the duo didn't bear much physical similarity to the other team, the writing for their films often seemed identical to those who wrote for Abbott and Costello.This film is rather reminiscent of the Abbott and Costello film WHO DONE IT? Both are about the duo working on a radio detective show and they actually get tangled up in a REAL crime--which they then solve on the air. However, since WHO DONE IT? came out four years earlier and featured the original comedy team, you are left wondering "why not just watch the original?". The bottom line is that this is a very competently written rip-off of the other film.Along with Carney and Brown, the film stars Anne Jeffreys and Bela Lugosi (who both starred with the team in ZOMBIES ON Broadway) as well as Lionel Atwill. Atwill comes off pretty good as the main villain, but Lugosi fans will no doubt be disappointed that Bela is given a subordinate and rather dull role in the film.
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