Sure Cures

Though this does rather labour the points it makes, it still manages to poke some fun as this poor chap (Dave O'Brien) tries all manner of cures he might have bought from a quack medicine show to stop everything from baldness to sleep deprivation and then hiccups. The first of his ailments offers narrator Pete Smith a chance to showcase the range of miracle cures available as his hairline recedes, whilst the make-up artists have some fun creating his ever exposing scalp. Then the poor fella, whose hair appears to have now stabilised, cannot get to sleep. Perhaps that's down to his wife's snoring, or to a squeaky mattress - he appears to be sleeping on some wartime army surplus contraption. Finally, perhaps he is attempting to solve his previous problem by turning himself into a water bed to eradicate his hiccups. Maybe he should just have taken a pill, or a pillow? Simple, but still quite good fun.

I recently read an older book by Leonard Maltin all about Hollywood shorts. In it, he seemed to have an appreciation of the Pete Smith films that I just have never found myself. I'm not at all saying he's wrong--but the films just haven't appealed to me because of Smith's VERY broad narration as well as the corny humor.

In this installment, Smith narrates as Dave O'Brien does the acting--the same pattern that the pair followed through the 40s and 50s. This film is about home remedies for minor problems and you see O'Brien work on growing hair, curing insomnia and ridding himself of hiccups. The best of the jokes are only okay--many others fall flat. The only part that interested me were the segments on baldness because O'Brien sure looks bald--and either the makeup people did a great job or he hid his hairpiece very well in previous installments of the series. You know it's pretty bad when THIS is the best thing about the short!

Sure Cures (1946)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Hilarious Pete Smith short picked up an Oscar-nomination for Best One-Reeler. The short talks about various "sure cures", which more often than not are just myths that don't have anything to stand on. We get various so-called cures for baldness, hiccups and of course insomnia. If you're familiar with any of Smith's Specialty shorts then you know what to expect. Co-writer/director O'Brien also stars as our hero, the man who tortures himself trying to figure out these various cures. O'Brien can be quite annoying at times but at other times he's downright hilarious and that's where he is here. His constant battle with insomnia was incredibly hilarious especially the bit where the bed starts to squeak. Another funny sequence was the stuff dealing with baldness and this includes a section where O'Brien tries standing on his head but naturally this doesn't work without a lot of damage.

That's the name that Dave O'Brien goes by in this funny short. He had spent most of the 1930s as a minor cowboy star and director of oaters before he hooked up with a Smith called Pete for the last ten years or so of Pete's career as a producer-narrator of comedy one-reelers for MGM. This early one was nominated for an Oscar, possibly because O'Brien didn't wear his toupee for part of this one when Pete is discussing non-existent cures for baldness, among issues of how many glasses of water you have to drink to put down the hiccups or which side of the bed you should sleep on. Or maybe it's because MGM pushed this one on the Academy. Whatever. It's very enjoyable.

After Pete stopped making them in 1955, O'Brien -- or Barclay, depending on whether he was writing, directing or taking a pratfall -- went to work writing for Red Skelton's TV show. He won an Emmy for that work.

This is another of the Pete Smith Specialities, which was co-written and directed by Dave O'Brien, who plays the poor fool with the hiccoughs. He tries various "remedies" to "cure" himself (some of which Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition might have applauded) to no avail. It's all great fun, for everyone but the poor twit. O'Brien frequently played a character not likely to be joining Mensa any time soon in these shorts. This runs on TCM as filler fairly often and virtually every March as part of the "31 Days of Oscar". Most recommended.