"Sure Cures" is an 11-minute short that played with an MGM feature film in late 1946. This appears as a Pete Smith Specialty, in which Pete Smith narrates and Dave O'Brien is the sole member of the cast. These shorts are types of docudramas that the major studios made in the early decades of sound pictures. I just watched this as a bonus item on the DVD release of a 1946 Esther Williams movie that was actually made nearly half a year before the short was filmed.
This one is a comical portrayal of so-called home remedies and market place cures for certain conditions. In this case, O'Brien's character, Xavier Schmeckendorff, tries the various means to stop baldness, cure insomnia and overcome the hiccups. I can recall these type of shorts being slightly funny, or more goofy than funny, way back when. But, most often they were the wamups before the main feature film that allowed one to be a little late, or finish buying popcorn or candy in the lobby before the start of the films. But, as I recall, previews showed first, then these shorts, and then the cartoon right before the feature. We always tried to be on time to see the cartoons.
