Cosmo Jones, Crime Smasher (1943)

An amateur detective and a janitor try to find a kidnapped heiress.

Director:

James Tinling

Writers:

Walter Gering (original story and screenplay), Michael L. Simmons (screenplay),

Stars:

Edgar Kennedy, Richard Cromwell, Gale Storm

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Edgar Kennedy	...	Police Chief Murphy
Richard Cromwell	...	Sgt. Pat Flanagan
Gale Storm	...	Susan Fleming
Mantan Moreland	...	Eustace Smith
Frank Graham	...	Professor Cosmo Jones
Gwen Kenyon	...	Phyllis Blake
Herbert Rawlinson	...	Mr. James J. Blake
Tristram Coffin	...	Jake Pelotti
Charles Jordan	...	Biff Garr
Vince Barnett	...	Henchman 'Gimp'
Emmett Vogan	...	Police Commissioner Gould
Maxine Leslie	...	Mrs. Jake Pelotti
Mauritz Hugo	...	Tony Sandol - Gangster
Sam Bernard	...	Gangster

Storyline

Cosmo Jones, a correspondence-school detective from a small town, comes to the big city to offer his services to the police. He happens by where a gangster is killed by an opposing gang. Socialite Phyllis Blake is running around with gang member Tom and the opposing gang plan on kidnapping her. Cosmo is with Sergeant Flanagan when the attempt is made in front of a night club, where a bystander is seriously wounded in the gun-battle. Police Chief Murphy blames Flanagan for the shooting and demotes him. Cosmo, with the aid of a porter, Eustace and Flanagan's fiancée, Susan, tries to find the killer. Phyllis is finally kidnapped and Cosmo decides the act was committed by one of the two gangs. He has her father place an ad in the newspaper that contact has been made with the kidnappers. Each gang thinks the other is pulling a double cross, and one gang wipes out the other.

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Plot Keywords:

detective | police | kidnapping | gang member | double cross | 

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Taglines:

NEW! HILARIOUS! (original poster)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

29 January 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cosmo Jones

Company Credits

Production Co:

Monogram Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

62 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Frank Graham had previously played Cosmo Jones on a CBS radio show, which he also wrote.

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Connections

Referenced in American Masters: Sidney Poitier: One Bright Light (2000)

User Reviews

Amateur Detective vs. the Underworld

Two rival gangs start to declare war on each other, and an innocent bystander in the mix, Professor Cosmo Jones (a correspondence detective school graduate),decides to help the police stop the melee, much to the disappointment of the police captain. When a patrolman friend of Cosmo is investigated in a gang shooting and later kidnap of a key witness, Cosmo, friend Sgt. Flanagan, and Cosmo's partner Eustace unfold a plan to have the gang members wipe each other out. This one could have been somewhat better, but the plot outline for the movie probably didn't make for a long picture so a synopsis of the two gangs encounters with each other make for a 12-15 minute story where it would be at most a 90 second montage in a Warner Brothers movie of the same genre. Graham as Cosmo makes for an interesting character though, even I don't recognize what OTR program he ever appeared on. Kennedy & Moreland as usual make for good comic relief, but Cromwell's character seems to lifeless and usually halts the pace of the film in the scenes set around him. OK film for Monogram though. Rating- 4.