If a Body Meets a Body

If a Body Meets a Body (1945)

*** (out of 4)

Moe and Larry are about to kick Curly out of their home when they read a newspaper headline stating that a rich relative of his has died. The three make up and head off to Curly's relative's house only to soon run into various ghoulish things.

IF A BODY MEETS A BODY is a pretty good short for The Three Stooges but as many reviewers have pointed out, it was clearly beginning to show that Curly had suffered his stroke. His speech is a bit slurred here and he's just not nearly as quick with his physical and verbal deliveries here as in previous years. With that said, this is still a very funny short as once again the boys find themselves in an "old dark house" setting with the creepy house and a flying skull. There are plenty of nice laughs here but I've always thought the boys were terrific at showing fear. The jokes around the skull walking and then floating around all hit the right spot.

This is one of Curly's last short subjects but it is very good.Theodore Lurch is very good and of course the Stooges are as well.The stuff that happens in the room where the Stooges sleep is hilarious!This spooky short is very funny and a good one to watch around Halloween!

This short would've been a classic like the successful from the early 1940's if Curly have'nt suffered his stroke which led to his decline but what Curly couldn't do, Moe and Larry make up for him, although they're were some slow scenes in the haunted house, the highlight comes when Curly and Larry constantly wake up Moe and Moe gets grouchy, I thought that it was hilarious and the parrot in the skull routine is a classic and it was later reused in Ghost Talks and Scotched in Scotland, I thought that this was one of the better shorts during the 1945-46 period even though Curly was showing signs of slowing down and slurring his speech a bit, watch the next short that the boys did (Bird in the Head) and Curly was worse in that short but fortunately the short after that called Micro Phonies Curly pulled off a great performance even though Micro Phonies was released better Bird in the Head.

Well, I'm sure very ardent stooge fan knows the story behind this particular short. The first one where it's painfully obvious Curly was not his old self--given that he suffered a stroke or possibly multiple strokes when this 2-reeler was filmed.

Whatever the case may be, anyone with eyes can see that Curly is definitely "off." And yet--in spite of that--I still like this one. One plus to the "Sick Curly" era is that this is when Larry's character started getting more development for the first time in years, and old "porcupine" really steps up his game during this time period.

Plus, even Curly at half-strength still beats most comedians in their prime & old Jerry was still capable of getting laughs--i.e. that hilarious backwards jump he does in reaction to poor Mr. Link being murdered on the very spot he was standing.

8 stars

Enjoying "If a Body Meets a Body" is something that's much easier if you've never seen "The Laurel-Hardy Murder Case" as this film is essentially a remake of this excellent Laurel and Hardy short. Now this isn't saying it's bad...it's just not especially original.

The story begins with Moe realizing that Curly is the missing Link. In other words, after the death of the millionaire, Bob O. Link, Curly is potentially in line to inherit a fortune. But when they arrive at the Link mansion, they walk into a murder mystery...and they might be the next victims.

Aside from the stupid gag involving the parrot climbing inside a very fake looking skull, the jokes aren't too bad here. There's a bit less slapping and stupidity in this one, which I appreciate, though some fans of the Stooges might dislike this. Worth seeing if not highly original.