SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Kinley This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "If a Body Meets a Body" is an American black-and-white short film from 1945, the year WWII ended over 70 years ago. It runs for a bit over 18 minutes and that makes it one of the longer Three Stooges short films. It is a bit of a family affair not just for the cast, but also for the crew as here we got 4-time Oscar nominee Jules White, who worked on so many Stooges films, collaborate with his brother James, who was in charge of the screenplay here. Apparently this one is based on a Laurel&Hardy work from a few years earlier, so it is not the most original work to be honest. But it has a few fine moments here and there, most of all the vanishing skull that manages to disappear every time Moe is looking, which makes it even scarier for poor Curly, who really sadly does not look too healthy in here. And how did Larry manage to keep sleeping during all the talk. Pretty unreal, but it also shows sadly that as almost always he is the one with the weakest material as he is literally sleeping over some of the best moments and action here. All in all, I was not too impressed by this one though and I'd only recommend it to the biggest Stooges fans as for me personally comedy, story-telling, horror and suspense weren't on a level that impressed me whatsoever. It's rare though you have people/characters actually dying in Stooges (short) films. Nonetheless, the main focus is on the comedy as always. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

slymusic Directed by Jules White, "If a Body Meets a Body" is a pretty good Three Stooges comedy with a spooky premise. HOWEVER, this film offers the first signs that Curly Howard was not a well man, that his health was beginning to deteriorate from years of living in the fast lane. He would only make about a dozen more Stooge shorts with Larry and Moe before a major stroke forced him to leave the act for good.Here are my favorite highlights from "If a Body Meets a Body." The Stooges dodge a parrot flying inside a skull. They also humorously agonize over 67 cents. When the boys first arrive at the haunted house, they shake the rainwater off of their garments and onto the butler, named Jerkington (played by Theodore "Ted" Lorch). Curly (known as Curly Q. Link in this film) does a hilarious backward high jump when he learns that his uncle was murdered on the very spot where he's standing.Despite Curly's poor health, "If a Body Meets a Body" manages to succeed with its "haunted house" theme. Ted Lorch does a great characterization of a sinister butler, and bushy-eyebrowed Fred Kelsey is fine as a tough, no-nonsense detective.

csweetleaf2 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.

alvin81 Any Three Stooges fan will tell you that watching Curly Howard's last ten shorts is as painful as root canal. By 1945, Curly was in trouble. He was just getting involved with a young lady named Marion Buchsbaum, whom he married on October 17, 1945, after knowing her for only two weeks. This was Curly's third and most disastrous marriage. He was way overweight, and his blood pressure was too high. When Curly suffered a minor stroke in 1945, it knocked the energy out of him. He would never be the same after this stroke. His actions are rehearsed and nothing came natural to him anymore. IF A BODY MEETS A BODY was a `transitional' short. Curly had been slipping and sliding for a while, but IF A BODY MEETS A BODY is the first time that Curly truly could not hide his condition. The plot revolves around Curly, whose rich Uncle Bob O. Link has died and left Curly an inheritance. The Stooges must then go to the uncle's home to hear the reading of the will. Unfortunately, the will is stolen, and the boys must stay in the home until it is found. The short has some truly funny moments, but it does not take a rocket scientist to realize that Curly is not himself. His condition had crept to the surface occasionally during the previous two Stooge films, IDIOTS DELUXE and BOOBY DUPES. If you watch IDIOTS DELUXE and IF A BODY MEETS A BODY back to back, Curly's change is not as noticeable. Curly's voice is the first sure sign that he had had his stroke. Right from his first line, `the morbid, the merrier,' his accompanying `n'yuks' are strained, and we know there is something wrong. His actions were a little more sluggish, and it marks the start of his gradual downward spiral. What makes this short harder to watch is that much of the action is focused on Curly, except he could not carry the film. Just watch him in 1943's SPOOK LOUDER two years earlier, and the change stands out. Curly tries a few `woos woos' and `nyahs,' as if nothing was wrong. However, he had only begun to lose his grip in this short; here is still some of the old Curly left, but in spurts. For instance, when Ted Lorch says, `Poor Mr. Link, he was murdered in this room, on the very spot on which you're standing,' Curly is strung high over the set to perform a high jump. It is one of the few hysterical moments in the short. It is also the only post-stroke short where it is a true mix of up and down Curly. It looks as if certain scenes were shot during the same period as IDIOTS DELUXE, as Curly still sounds like his old self in certain scenes. However, every short after this would feature a down Curly: it was just a matter of how down he was.