Sure Cures

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.