| The Mad Genius (1931) | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Michael Curtiz |
| Written by | Harvey Thew based on the play The Idol (1929) by Martin Brown |
| Starring | John Barrymore Marian Marsh Donald Cook Charles Butterworth |
| Music by | David Mendoza conducting the Vitaphone Orchestra |
| Cinematography | Barney McGill |
| Editing by | Ralph Dawson |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | 7 November 1931 |
| Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Mad Genius (1931) is a drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring John Barrymore, Marian Marsh, Donald Cook, Charles Butterworth, and in small roles, Boris Karloff and Frankie Darro. The film is based on the play The Idol (1929) by Martin Brown, which opened in Great Neck, New York but never opened on Broadway.
Warner Bros. was so pleased by the box office returns for Svengali (1931), also starring Barrymore and Marsh, that they rushed The Mad Genius into production, and released it on 7 November 1931.
The Mad Genius tells the story of an itinerant puppeteer (Barrymore) running the life of a male ballet dancer (Cook), as opposed to Svengali, where Svengali (Barrymore) ran the life of a female singer (Marsh).