Habeas Corpus is a Laurel & Hardy silent short film released 1 December 1928.
Summary[]
Mad scientist Professor Padilla's latest scheme, to perform a medical experiment on a corpse, has drawn the interest of the police. Stan and Ollie happen to arrive at the professor's home in search of a free meal. He offers them five hundred dollars to steal a body from a local graveyard. They think the professor is balmy, but they agree to his offer anyway. The conversation is overheard by the professor's butler, Ledoux, who is also a police informant. Ledoux calls police headquarters and they tell him to go to the graveyard to thwart the theft. Meanwhile the police arrest the mad professor. At the cemetery, Stan and Ollie have a series of misadventures trying to enter the grounds and while digging up a fresh grave. Ledoux slips into the grave covered in a white sack. Stan and Ollie take Ledoux from the grave. With Ledoux's "corpse" slung over Stan's back, Ledoux's legs rip through the bottom of the sack, and he walks step for step behind Stan. Stan and Ollie realize their stolen corpse is still alive and run in panic. The chase ends when Ollie and Ledoux fall into a deep, water-filled hole.
Trivia[]
- Although technically a silent film, it was released with a synchronized music and sounds effects track for theaters wired for sound.
Cast[]
- Stan Laurel as Stan
- Oliver Hardy as Ollie
- Richard Carle as Professor Padilla
- Charley Rogers as Ledoux
- Charles A. Bachman as Detective