If a Body Meets a Body

Larry, Curly, and Moe are poor unemployed men. Larry reads in the newspaper that Curly Q. Link is being sought as the heir to a $3 million inheritance from his dead uncle's estate. They arrive at the mansion to attend the reading of the will. The police detective reveals that the uncle was murdered and his body has disappeared. Then the lawyer is killed and the will gets stolen.

This turns into a murder mystery type. With the Stooges, it's always going to be a Scooby Doo mystery. I would have liked more slapstick. The potential is there. It could have been more. It's also only a short which is nowhere long enough to do what this genre wants to do.

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

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.

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.

I always had a very low opinion of this one;it's been slightly softened by repeated viewings but t his is still an inferior remake of THE LAUREL&HARDY MURDER CASE(1930)----and that one was ruined by turning out to be a dream.

The Tex Avery cartoon WHO KILLED WHO?

No doubt re-activated interest in Fred Kelsey;whose casting here as the "house dick" is t he film's one stroke of genius.

Moe and Larry are reader to kick Curly out of their crummy flat for serving "horseshoe soup" until they find out he might be in line to collect millions. They arrive in t he middle of a driving thunderstorm(when don't they?) and find out they and other relatives are staying indefinitely until the Uncle's murder is solved/

Some funny scenes at the end where corpses keep turning in the hiding places the Stooges pick for themselves.

It isn't the creepy butler but the creepy housemaid(in drag) who is guilty.

And yes,somebody says "I hope you have a nice,LONG sleep". Sadly,Curly looks like he IS.