Pete Smith

Diamond Demon

The unusual talents of Johnny Price, a minor league baseball pitcher and trick artist, are showcased in this Pete Smith Specialty. Among other talents, Mr. Price can throw two (and, in certain situations three) baseballs simultaneously to different people. The catchers can be side by side, with one high and one low, or standing on the pitcher's mound and second base while Price throws the ball from the catcher's position. He can even perform these feats while suspended upside-down.

Hollywood Daredevils

A "Pete Smith Specialty" short that looks at legendary movie stuntman Harry Woolman planning and rehearsing stunts for films.

Curious Contests

This Pete Smith Specialty shows newsreel footage events that live up to the title. They include, among others, a diaper derby (the father who puts a diaper on his child fastest wins), a fireman's ball (two teams of fire fighters use high-pressure water hoses to move a large ball to score goals), and a basket race (men run a footrace while balancing a "tower" of ten baskets on their heads).

Ice Aces

This Pete Smith Specialty short provides a behind-the-scenes look at the Ice Capades practices with ice skating favorites of the time.

Fishing Feats

With Pete Smith providing dry off-screen commentary, we watch some serious fishing: a marlin caught near Catalina, a hammerhead shark caught then wrestled in a small rowboat near Baja, the largest (721 pounds) great white shark caught to date in California waters, Chinook Indians catching salmon at Celilo Falls in Oregon - each with his designated place on the river where his ancestors stood, and, last, a crew on a boat off Mexico hoisting and hurling tuna using unbarbed hooks (baited only with a feather) as fast as they can as long as the school is there - backbreaking work - but a $25,000 catch.

Fala at Hyde Park

The second "Pete Smith Special" dealing with Fala, the pet dog of the late-President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who died long before the release of this short. Smith provides the commenary and narration from Fala's "diary" as the dog visits his favorite places of interest at Hyde Park, the Roosevelt family's country estate in upper New York state. Any appearance of FDR, if there is one, in this January 19, 1946-release short is Archive Footage.

Film Antics

An amusing short film that looks at human and animal babies.

Fala: The President's Dog

Fala was the famous Scotch Terrier owned by Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his last two presidential terms.

Aqua Antics

In this short, members of the California Water Bugs club demonstrate new ways to get thrills when water skiing.

Camera Sleuth

In this Pete Smith Specialty short, we see how real-life investigator Jo Goggin used a motion picture surveillance camera to gather evidence and disprove a fraudulent insurance claim.

Fancy Answers

In this Pete Smith Speciality, the audience is asked a series of multiple-choice questions on various subjects.

Swing High

Swing High is a 1932 American Pre-Code short documentary film directed by Jack Cummings. In 1932, it was nominated for an Academy Award at the 5th Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Novelty). The film documents The Flying Codonas, a family of flying trapeze artists.

Army Champions

This Pete Smith Specialty short focuses on the young men who have signed up for the U.S. Army. The film uses the analogy of the speed, accuracy, and teamwork of sports and how these qualities are translated into the weapons training of American soldiers. We watch target practice by Army personnel with shoulder weapons, mortars, and various artillery pieces.

Radio Hams

A "Pete Smith Specialty" - a fairly serious look at radio hams in the usual jokey format. Shows aircraft using morse code.

Inflation

An attempt to explain the economic cycle of inflation and unemployment.

Studio Visit

This humorous Pete Smith Specialty short looks around various studios on a film lot.

Fish Tales

In this short film, champion fisherman Ernie St. Claire tries to catch a large salmon in Oregon's Rogue River.

Weather Wizards

Modern meteorology and a hard-working government weather team put their science and organization to work as a cold front moves from Alaska toward the citrus groves of Southern California. First, the scientists predict the storm's course, giving several days' warning to farmers and growers. The growers, typified by the Morgan family, prepare the oil-burning pots throughout their grove. Then, as the temperature dips below freezing, they light the pots. The cold snap continues as oil-supplies dwindle; the smoky air slows traffic, including trucks bringing more oil. The scientists strive to predict how long freezing temperatures will last: can the Morgans hold out?

Hollywood Scout

This short film focuses on a day in the life of a Hollywood talent scout assigned to cast animals.

Acro-Batty

A humorous look at various circus and other acrobatic feats. One of the "Pete Smith Specialties" produced and narrated by "A Smith named Pete."

Pro Football

This MGM Oddity features the 1933 National Football League champion Chicago Bears. The team demonstrates various plays, which are shown first in real time, then in slow motion.

Menu

A chef helps a housewife cook a duck dinner that will not give her husband indigestion.

Flicker Memories

In this Pete Smith Specialty short, clips from several unidentified silent films are woven into a story, with humorous commentary by Smith.

Manhattan Melodrama

The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

MGM Parade

The original concept of the show was to allow the viewer to see the inner workings of a movie studio and featured interviews with MGM stars and explanations of how movies were made. Later, the format changed to show edited versions of MGM films.