If a Body Meets a Body
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| If a Body Meets a Body | |
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| Directed by | Jules White |
| Produced by | Jules White |
| Written by | Elwood Ullman |
| Starring | Moe Howard Larry Fine Curly Howard Theodore Lorch Fred Kelsey Joe Palma Al Thompson Victor Travers Dorothy Vernon |
| Cinematography | Benjamin H. Kline |
| Editing by | Charles Hochberg |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) |  August 30, 1945 |
| Running time | 18' 07" |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Preceded by | Idiots Deluxe |
| Followed by | Micro-Phonies |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
If a Body Meets a Body is the 86th short subject starring American slapstick comedy team the Three Stooges. The trio made a total of 190 shorts for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959.
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[edit] Plot
The Stooges are unemployed again, and looking through the want-ads for work. Moe stumbles on an article stating that Curly's uncle Bob O. Link had died and left his nephew Curly Q. Link a nice inheritance. Upon arriving at the uncle's mansion for the reading of the will, the lawyer disappears along with will, and is then 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 his is standing on the exact spot his uncle was murdered. The rest of night consists of a live parrot walking around inside a human skull, howling wind, and uncle Bob O. Link's corpse leaning on Moe.
The Stooges flee down the stairwell and knock over the maid (Joe Palma), who is the killer in disguise, with the stolen will falling out of the killer's wig. After excitedly reading the will, Curly learns that he has been bequeathed a grand total of $0.67 net.
[edit] Curly's illness
If a Body Meets a Body was the first film made after Curly Howard suffered a mild stroke. As a result, his performance was marred by slurred speech, and slower timing. Though the trio did not know it at the time, Curly's health would gradually deteriorate, resulting in languid, almost sickly performances right up to his last film with the team, Half-Wits Holiday.[1]
[edit] Notes
- The title If a Body Meets a Body is a pun on the comically macabre theme of the film, and taken from a line from the old Scottish song by Robert Burns, "Coming Through the Rye"[2] (as in "Should a body meet a body/Coming through the rye/Should a body kiss a body/Need a body cry?")[3]
- This Stooges short has a plot very similar to The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case (1930), which also features actor Fred Kelsey.
[edit] Quotes
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- Moe: "Didn't you say your full name was Curly Q. Link?"
- Curly: "You know my name is Curly Q. Link."
- Larry: "What does the 'Q' stand for, 'Quincy'?"
- Curly: "No..."
- Moe: " 'Quillup' ?"
- Curly: "No..."
- Moe: "What then?"
- Curly: "Cuff."
[edit] References
- ^ Fleming, Michael (1999). The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons, p. 211, Broadway Publishing. ISBN 0767905567
- ^ Solomon, Jon (2002). The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion. Comedy III Productions, Inc, 262. ISBN 0971186804.
- ^ "Coming Through the Rye" lyrics
[edit] Further reading
- Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard [1], (Citadel Press, 1977).
- The Three Stooges Scrapbook; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg [2](Citadel Press, 1994).
- The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons; by Michael Fleming [3](Broadway Publishing, 2002).
- One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry [4], (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006).
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