| The Case of the Screaming Bishop | |
| Director: | Howard Swift |
| Producer: | Henry Binder (uncredited) |
| Story: | John McLeish |
| Starring: | John McLeish |
| Music: | Eddie Kilfeather |
| Distributor: | Columbia Pictures |
| Runtime: | 7 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Case of the Screaming Bishop is a 1944 American animated short film in the Phantasies series of animated cartoons produced by the Screen Gems studio for Columbia Pictures from 1939 to 1946.[1] The film was directed by Howard Swift.[2] The title is a parody of the ninth Perry Mason mystery novel The Case of the Stuttering Bishop.
A dinosaur skeleton is stolen from the "Museum of Unnatural History" so Hairlock Combs (a parody of Sherlock Holmes) and his assistant Dr. Gotsum disguise themselves as a horse and visit the scene of the crime. It is ultimately revealed that the thief is a concert xylophonist who is obsessed with using the skeleton as his instrument. Throughout the film, he repeats the phrase, "The best bones of all go to Symphony Hall!"