''Genius at Work'' is a 1946 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending ( black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Leslie Goodwins Leslie Goodwins (17 September 1899 – 8 January 1969) was an English film director and screenwriter. He directed nearly 100 films between 1926 and 1967, notably 27 features and shorts with Leon Errol, including the Mexican Spitfire series ...

and written by Monte Brice and Robert E. Kent. The film stars

Wally Brown Wallace Edgar Brown (October 8, 1904 – November 13, 1961) was an American actor and comedian. In the 1940s, he performed as the comic partner of Alan Carney. Early years Wallace Edgar Brown was born in Malden, Massachusetts, the son of Her ...

Alan Carney Alan Carney (December 22, 1909 – May 2, 1973) was an American actor and comedian. Biography Alan Carney was born David Boughal in Brooklyn, New York, on December 22, 1909. His parents, Edward and Nellie (Kearney) Boughal, were Irish immigrant ...

Anne Jeffreys Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. She was noted as the female lead in the 1950s TV series '' Topper''. Career Jeffreys was born Annie Jeffreys Carmichae ...

Lionel Atwill Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the U.S., he subsequently appeared in various Broadway plays and Hollywood f ...

and

Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi (; ), was a Hungarian and American actor best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic ''Dracula'', Ygor in '' ...

. The film was released on October 20, 1946, by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

. It was the last of eight films starring the Brown-Carney comedy team, as well as the final feature film appearance of Atwill, who died in 1946 while filming a serial.

Plot

Jerry Miles and Mike Strager co-host a radio mystery series, "Crime of the Week," with young Ellen Brent writing their scripts. What she writes about the kidnapping of millionaire John Saunders by someone called "The Cobra" is suspiciously close to the facts of the case. It turns out that the radio station's owner, Latimer Marsh (Lionel Atwill), is the Cobra, assisted in his diabolical crimes by Stone (Bela Lugosi), his sadistic butler.

Chloroform Chloroform, or trichloromethane, is an organic compound with formula C H Cl3 and a common organic solvent. It is a colorless, strong-smelling, dense liquid produced on a large scale as a precursor to PTFE. It is also a precursor to various re ...

is used on Ellen when she gets too close to the truth and an attempt is made to frame her for the kidnapping and a murder. The bumbling and cowardly Jerry and Mike try to be of help to her in their own way, but Lt. Rick Campbell is the one who ends up saving them all.

Cast

as Jerry Miles *

as Mike Strager *

as Ellen Brent *

as Latimer Marsh / The Cobra *

as Stone *Marc Cramer as Lt. Rick Campbell *

Ralph Dunn Ralph Dunn (May 23, 1900 – February 19, 1968) was an American film, television, and stage actor. Early years Dunn was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania. His father was a veterinarian for the U.S. Army during World War I, and his mot ...

as Lt. Gilley

References

External links

* 1946 films American black-and-white films RKO Pictures films Films scored by Roy Webb Films directed by Leslie Goodwins American comedy films 1946 comedy films Films scored by Paul Sawtell 1940s English-language films 1940s American films {{1940s-comedy-film-stub