A remake of 1937's "Super-Sleuth," "Genius at Work" splits the Jack Oakie role in half for RKO's comedy team Wally Brown and Alan Carney, in their eighth and final film together. Back from title six, "Zombies on Broadway," are pretty Anne Jeffreys and Bela Lugosi, here reduced to playing Stone, the assistant/partner in crime of noted criminologist Latimer Marsh (Lionel Atwill), quickly revealed to be master criminal The Cobra. Brown and Carney again play their signature characters, Jerry Miles and Mike Strager, radio detectives keeping audiences tuned in by reenacting The Cobra's crimes (RKO newcomer Robert Clarke can be glimpsed as a fellow radio announcer). Pity any investigator who can't figure things out while browsing through Marsh's latest book, "Murder and Torture Can Be Fun!" Nowhere near as obnoxious as other lesser duos, Brown and Carney were both experienced comedy veterans, bland yet watchable. Atwill and Lugosi are virtually the entire show, hugely enjoying themselves as they avoid detection one way or another. The climax finds both in disguise, with Atwill's wheelchair-bound old lady a real hoot (his customary twinkle belying his real life demons). What is sad is watching the dying Atwill, stricken with bronchial cancer, smoking incessantly throughout the film, giving his all with a brave effort, with only "House of Dracula" and the 13 chapter serial "Lost City of the Jungle" still ahead of him (completed Aug 1945, this picture sat on the shelf for more than a year). This was the last of seven titles that teamed Atwill and Lugosi: "Mark of the Vampire," "Son of Frankenstein," "The Gorilla," "The Ghost of Frankenstein," "Night Monster," and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man."
Review of Genius at Work
