If a Body Meets a Body

If a Body Meets a Body
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
Release dates	August 30, 1945 (1945-08-30) (U.S.)
Running time	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.

Plot

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.

Production notes

The film title is a pun on a line from the traditional Scottish song by Robert Burns, "Coming Through the Rye"^[1] (as in "Should a body meet a body/Coming through the rye/Should a body kiss a body/Need a body cry?").^[2] The plot device is borrowed from the The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case, which also features actor Fred Kelsey.^[1]

If a Body Meets a Body was filmed on March 9-13, 1945.^[3] It was the first film produced 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, sickly performances through his final film with the Stooges, Half-Wits Holiday.^[4]

If a Body Meets a Body premiered the final version of "Three Blind Mice" as the Stooges' theme music, an updated, faster version arranged by John Leipold and Nico Grigor.^[5] (The original "sliding strings" version was regularly used from 1938's Flat Foot Stooges until 1942's What's the Matador?.) Due to the timing of this theme's usage, it is often associated with the post-stroke Curly Howard era, as this revamped version coincidentally made its debut in the same film that Curly's illness became apparent.^[1] This version of "Three Blind Mice" would be utilized for the first four shorts produced during the Shemp Howard era: Fright Night, Out West, Squareheads of the Round Table and The Hot Scots.^[5]

References

External links

• If a Body Meets a Body at the Internet Movie Database
• If a Body Meets a Body at AllMovie
• If a Body Meets a Body at threestooges.net