Movie Pests (1944) User Reviews

A humorous look at pesky movie goers

[Delphian · 8/10 · 1 August 1999]

Set in a theater, the witty narrator describes several "pests" at the movie and how they manage to annoy the rest of us who are there to enjoy the film. From the habitual seat-changer to the woman with the huge hat, this short covers all the things that annoy us at the theater. Especially funny is the woman who "frees her dogs" by taking her shoes off and then losing one. She then proceeds to crawl around the whole theater in search of missing show, interrupting everyone as she does so.

I have often sat through movies thoroughly annoyed by fellow patrons, as I'm sure we all have. That's what makes this short so great! It is something everyone can identify with. If only they would show it occasionally before the feature film - maybe then some "movie pests" would get the idea and behave themselves in a more dignified manner.

Wildlife at the local theater

[Horst_In_Translation · 8/10 · 10 March 2016]

"Movie Pests" is another short film by Pete Smith and this one was made in 1944 and probably provided some nice comic relief during dark times in terms of history. Smith was once again nominated for an Oscar here and he shows us the different ways people misbehave at theaters and in the end also what you can do against that. I thought this was a pretty hilarious watch, 10 minutes filled with good entertainment and I am actually glad I never experienced any of what the poor protagonist has to go through here. My favorite fun moments is probably about the guy who keeps watching the screen all the time and does not see or realize what happens around him. So far, this is the best watch I have had from Smith's works, maybe because I am a lot in cinemas myself and that's why I could somehow relate to the story. Really funny little documentary spoof and I highly recommend checking it out. Thumbs up.

Movie Pests

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 8 February 2024]

Pete Smith rather sarcastically narrates this jovially scored comedy that illustrates just what annoys us about fellow cinema goers. Firstly, we have a pair of latecomers who can't agree on where to sit. Of course one if not both wear a nice big hat and couldn't be quiet if their lives depended on it. Next, we have another (larger) fellow who just barges his way into a spare seat, mid-row, and then casually goes about undressing and spreading himself forcefully, endangering just about everyone within a 20 foot radius. Chewing gum under the seat is another classic faux pas, then there's the knee in the back of your chair brigade who are well represented as are the death-trap, feet sticking into the aisle, folks and those who munch their way through the film with a noise usually reserved for those doing all of their Christmas unwrapping at once! Ought they to be in jail or perhaps we could imagine more appropriate punishments. Chains? Scissors? Choking? Foot-stamping? I loved this - and though it does rather labour the joke, it sums up so much of the thoughtlessness that goes on in cinemas by ignorant people who forget they are no longer in their living rooms - or who simply don't care. Luckily this was made before the advent of the mobile phone, on whom I fear Mr. Smith may have employed a Gattling gun. I would, too.

A Hilarious One Reel Wonder, with Peter Smith or a smith named Peter

[MrBlack74 · 9/10 · 31 March 2002]

A great and hilarious 'one reel wonder', with Peter Smith narrating. A great jest at the different annoyances some movie goers do. Winner of best short subject 1944. Even the credits are hilarious for this short film. Surprisingly even for a short one reel comedy the acting is phenomenal. But this is a must see for anyone sick of movie pests. The funniest part is Peter Smith's solution for movie pests at the end

Hilarious

[Michael_Elliott · 26 February 2008]

Movie Pests (1944)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Oscar nominated short from Pete Smith about annoying people in movie theaters including a large man who needs two seats, knees in the back of seats, women with large hats and folks who keep changing seats throughout the movie. There are plenty of laughs here and the "what should happen to these people" was also great.

Theaters should show this one in front of every movie today.

Turner Classic Movies shows this quite often as well as many other Pete Smith shorts.

Just too lame

[mschrock · 3/10 · 13 July 2006]

More often than not, shorts are cool. They pick an interesting topic, and maintain a focus that is usually a creative and unique view.

We tend to have low standards for shorts from the the 40's or older. Speaking for myself, just reliving a viewpoint from the past is fun enough, add the usually creative angle the short has, it should be an enjoyable experience.

HOWEVER, this time, Pete Smith missed the boat. The topic could have been interesting enough, but his examples were lame and poorly acted. I can only imagine an audience in 1944 watching this short. If better done, it could have been a hoot to that audience, but I imagine it was a waste of their 11 minutes, as it was mine.

Don't waste your 11 minutes...

Great, but is there a minute missing?

[charlytully · 9/10 · 19 April 2011]

This is pretty funny. My mom almost died laughing watching it. She thought it was hilarious, even though we were viewing the black & white full-screen version without any musical score. It is too bad no one associated with IMDb can track down the name of the actress who played the movie-goer who crawled around on the theater floor looking for her misplaced high heel. Perhaps this role was her finest work. Or maybe she was cut in half during post-production, like the "black dahlia," and studio honchos wanted to dissociate their comedy from such a down note.

At any rate, I time all of the movies I review--whether in a theater, on DVD, or on a commercial-free TV channel, with my stopwatch. Interestingly enough, MOVIE PESTS clocked in at only 9 minutes and 58.53 seconds during my recent TCM channel viewing. It would be pretty hard to "round" that time up to 11 minutes. However, there did not SEEM to be anything "missing" from this showing. Perhaps IMDb should hire its own timer, instead of taking the word of studio publicity flacks for the length of shorts and features. I have found that nearly 10% of theatrical releases are mislabeled by studios, sometimes by as much as 5 minutes. DVD boxes are even more inaccurate. I could use another job myself, and would be happy to perform this task for an appropriate pay and benefits package.

not actually funny

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 15 September 2020]

It's various people acting poorly as the audience in a movie theater. It's trying to be a comedy. In the end, it fails because it's not actually funny. It doesn't actually make the audience laugh. It's a lot of bad behavior done in a broad quirky way. It was nominated for an Oscar.

When the elitist Thomas Edison invented the movies . . .

[oscaralbert · 10/10 · 15 July 2015]

. . . he intended them strictly for home entertainment (or what we call "television" and "Youtube" today). He wanted people to be able to do as they pleased with their hands in the privacy of their own Lazy Boys, as they watched him "electrocute" (in this case, burn alive) the beloved (but chained down) Coney Island elephant, Topsy (ELECTROCUTING AN ELEPHANT, 1904, available at the U.S. Library of Congress web site). As we all know, Gamesboys decided that they'd rather see TERMINATORS and AVENGERS in jam-packed auditoriums or theaters than see zoo animals tortured-for-real (or, if they scored a date, take her to see THE GALLOWS in a less crowded, but still safely public, venue). MOVIE PESTS sees all of Old Tom's worst fears about the horrors of rubbing shoulders with the Common Man brought to life. Public chewing, shoes, hair, disrobing, bodily contact with strangers, used chewing gum--a veritable Sodom & Gomorrah of ghastly indignities! Who in their right mind could enjoy watching an elephant getting fried alive under such uncivilized conditions?! MOVIE PESTS was released to film theaters in 1944. It made such a big impression that network television was invented overnight, and most of the theaters that had screened MOVIE PESTS were out-of-business by decades end!