Pete Smith (film producer)

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For other persons of the same name, see Pete Smith.

Pete Smith (born Peter Schmidt September 4, 1892, in New York City; died January 12, 1979, in Santa Monica, California) was a film producer and narrator of "short subject" films from 1931 to 1955.

Smith's short films, of which more than 150 were made, were almost all comedy documentaries. They were made as filler material for MGM's cinema exhibition packages, which typically consisted of a feature film, a B-movie or a serial, plus one or two "short subjects" of various types, such as animated cartoons, newsreels and documentaries. The distinctive Pete Smith Specialities (as they were known) were typically 9 to 11 minutes long, shot in black-and-white, with most of the laughs generated by the highly-ironic voice-over narration delivered by Smith himself;many of these short films were written,directed by their lead performer,Dave O'Brien.

The subject matter of the individual films was enormously diverse. Among the topics Smith cast his affectionate-but-jaundiced eye upon were: Emily Post-style household hints, insect life seen through a microscope, military training and hardware (during World War II), and dancing lessons. There were even several "series-within-the-series", such as light-hearted general-knowledge quizzes, professional football highlights (in the days before widespread television), and quirky looks at many different kinds of animals (for example, Donkey Baseball and Social Sea Lions).

In the later films, Smith was frequently credited as "a Smith named Pete".

The Pete Smith Specialities, instantly recognisable and highly popular in their day, are nowadays rarely seen, being almost completely unavailable on video or DVD. They have, however, occasionally turned up as unannounced filler on TCM (Turner Classic Movies).

Smith was, for an extended period during the golden years of Hollywood, chief of publicity for MGM, but relinquished that job when his film-making became more important to the studio.

He committed suicide on January 12, 1979, in Santa Monica, California.

[edit] Awards

In 1954, towards the end of his career, Smith was awarded an honorary Oscar "For his witty and pungent observations on the American scene in his series of "Pete Smith Specialties". Earlier, his work had been nominated for Oscars sixteen times in various short film categories, winning twice, in 1938 for Penny Wisdom, and in 1941 for Quicker'n a Wink.

Smith has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1625 Vine Street.