Genius at Work

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.