If a Body Meets a Body
| If a Body Meets a Body | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by |
Jack White Gilbert Pratt |
| Starring |
Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Theodore Lorch Fred Kelsey Joe Palma Al Thompson Victor Travers Dorothy Vernon |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline |
| Edited by | Charles Hochberg |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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18:07 |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
If a Body Meets a Body is the 86th short film released by Columbia Pictures in 1945 starring American slapstick comedy team The Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly Howard). The comedians released 190 short films for the studio between 1934 and 1959.
The Stooges are unemployed, and looking through the want-ads for work. As the trio sets the table, Curly brings a pail of soup from a meat bone; Larry remarks that Curly's soup smells like a dead horse, and Moe finds a large horseshoe in the pail. The duo become angry with Curly about the fact that he "didn't go to the butcher shop for meat; he went to the glue factory", so they kick him out. As Curly is about to leave, Moe stumbles upon a newspaper article stating that Curly's uncle, Bob O. Link, has died and left his nephew, Curly Q. Link, a large inheritance. Upon arriving at the uncle's mansion for the reading of the will, the lawyer in charge of the will disappears, along with the will itself; he is later found murdered. All potential heirs, including the Stooges, are held as suspects and forced to spend the night.
While getting a tour of their sleeping quarters, Curly gets spooked when it is revealed that he is standing on the exact spot his uncle was murdered. The rest of the night consists of various occurrences which frighten the Stooges, among them a parrot walking around inside a human skull, howling wind, and uncle Bob O. Link's corpse leaning on Moe.
In fright, the Stooges flee down a stairwell and knock over the maid (Joe Palma), who turns out to be the killer in disguise; he is discovered when his wig flies off during the collision, revealing the will, which was hidden underneath it. After excitedly reading the will, Curly learns that he has been bequeathed a grand total of $0.67 net.
The film title is a pun on a line from the traditional Scottish song by Robert Burns, "Coming Through the Rye" (as in "Should a body meet a body/Coming through the rye/Should a body kiss a body/Need a body cry?"). The plot device is borrowed from the The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, which also features actor Fred Kelsey.
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