Maidgethma Wonderfully offbeat film!

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

gavin6942 After an all-night send-off party for the troops, a small-town girl (Betty Hutton) wakes up to find herself married and pregnant, but with no memory of her husband's identity.There were problems with the censors at the Hays Office over the film's subject matter. In October 1942, after a story conference, the office sent Paramount a seven-page letter outlining their concerns, including remarks made by the character Emmy, who is 14 years old; the potential of the film's portraying Trudy as being drunk; and reducing anything to do with Trudy's pregnancy. Of course, all these objections are part of what makes the film so darn funny, along with the screwball nature of it all. The scene where the cop tells a man over and over how to escape is just hilarious.Critic James Agee noted (not too subtly) that "the Hays office must have been raped in its sleep" to allow the film to be released. Although the Hays Office received many letters of protest because of the film's subject matter, it was Paramount's highest-grossing film of 1944, playing to standing-room-only audiences in some theaters. Such an interesting situation of humor trumping censorship... today, do we even have a censor? The MPAA is a shell of its former self.

morrison-dylan-fan Despite having become interested in taking a look at the work of producer/ writer/directing auteur Preston Sturges since reading a detailed review for a box set of his work in Empire magazine,and also having heard about his link to the Coen Brother's movie Oh Brother Where Art Though? a few years ago,I have found myself constantly pushing the chance to take a look at Sturges work for the first time tragically to the side,due to there having always been "just one more" title that I have had to take a look at,before getting the chance to take a glimpse of a Preston Sturges movie.With my dad also having been keen on taking a look at Sturges work,I was thrilled to recently discover that my dad had decide to pick Preston up from the side that he had been permanently waiting for a lift on!,by picking up the Japaneses DVD edition of one of his most well known films,which led to me excitingly getting prepared to discover the miracle of Morgon's Creek for the first time.The plot:Holding a less than secret crush for Trudy Knockenlocker for a number of years,Norval Jones (who has been found unfit for military service) gets the shock of his life,when Tudy reveals to Norval that she will finally go on a date with him to the movies,due to Knocklocker's dad banning his daughter from attending a military party which his being held for solders to bid a fond farewell to their love ones,before they head off on their tour of duty.Dressed in his smartest clothes,Jones finds his and Tudy's walk to the cinema one of the toughest that he has ever taken,due to Knockenlocker openly showing to Norval that she is deeply upset about not being allowed to wave the soldiers goodbye.With having always hated to see Tudy upset,Jones decides to put his feeling for Knockenlocker aside and do a deal with her,where he will go and watch the triple feature that they both were originally meant to see,whilst Tudy can attend the solider's party,and pick up Jones at the end of the night.The next morning:Waking up outside the cinema,an angry Norval is awoken by a loud honking noise that is coming from a badly damaged car being driven by a rather drunk Tudy.Furious over Knockenlocker, (who cant remember anything at all about the events that took place the previous night)Jones decides to get in the car,and drive Tudy back home.As Norval gets closer to her house,Knockenlocker discover's to her horror that she is wearing a wedding ring from a late night marriage,whose groom she is unable to remember the name,and even the face of.View on the film:Filmed at a time when the Hay's Code was in full swing,producer/writer/director Preston Sturges cleverly decides to use the Screwball Comedy elements of his excellent screenplay as a way to hide some incredibly daring twist & turns in the movie's plot,which hark back to the wonderful Pre-Code era of US cinema.Initially making Tudy look like a wholesome,all American girl,Struges gradually peels away Knockenlocker's good gal image,to reveal the character as a wild'n willing party girl.Struges shows Knockenlocker (what a name!) to have a much more masculine personality than the male lead in the movie,by having Knockenlocker go from driving around after a night out partying,to pressing all the right,easy to reach buttons,in getting Noval to agree in helping Tudy to cover up her wild antics.Going against the traditions of the time,Sturges decides to break as many taboos as possible by openly showing drunkenness,single motherhood,and also making a rather risky suggestion that the solider's may not be as clean cut as the town's folk dream of them to be.Expertly balancing the film to make sure that it never falls into becoming self indulgent,Sturges contrast's the controversial story sections of the movie by filling every section of the movie with ribbons of precise,delightfully screwball dialogue which bounces from every corner of the screen,that is also given the chance to breath,thanks to Sturges shooting Tudy & Norval's building relationship in long,elegantly handled tracking shots,which along with allowing Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton's excellent,subtle performance's to truly shine,also makes the miracle that takes places at Morgan's Creek a wonderful thing to witness.

Bolesroor "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is a first-rate comedy from Director Preston Sturges... it's the story of a girl named Trudy (Betty Hutton) who gets drunk, married & pregnant by a GI who ships off to war the next morning. The problem: she can't even remember his name & now has to face her over-protective cop Father and the judgments of her small-town neighbors.Enter Eddie Bracken as Norval Jones, the goodhearted schlub unfit for military detail who's been in love with Trudy as long as he can remember. The comedy that follows is often hilarious, sometimes repetitive, and only occasionally flat. Great moments include Trudy picking up Norval after her wild night, Norval with Mr. Kockenlocker on the front porch, and Norval's "escape" from prison.This was a very good movie and Eddie Bracken really walked the fine line between comedy and genuine sympathy... my only complaint was that it ran too long, and as a result took one too many plot twists. Otherwise a classy comedy...GRADE: B-

Spikeopath After viewing this comic masterpiece I find during my research that the real miracle here is that the film ever got made in the first place! Coming as it did in 1944 wartime the film literally takes the rise out of everything held so wholesome in those troubled times. Preston Sturges has in his sights promiscuous servicemen, small town mentality, and the church, and it all makes for a complete riotous piece of work. Throw into the pot that Sturges cast the pristine Betty Hutton as a man mad airhead with few morals of note, well you can see that Sturges was pushing the censors as far as he could.Trudy Kockenlocker {Huton} gets drunk one night and has a night of passion with a soldier, in the morning she has sketchy recollections but thinks she may have married the guy,! and not only that,! she then falls pregnant,! and sure enough the soldier has long since gone. This turn of events is a big no no and Trudy's on & off boyfriend Norval Jones {Eddie Bracken} gets landed with the tag of being the Father. This sets us on an hilarious journey as Norval winds up being sought after by the authorities for a number of crimes he is oblivious to committing, there is no hope for the couple unless a miracle can save them.............The performances here are sublime, both Hutton & Bracken seem to be having a competition to see who can out zany the other the best in each scene, and it really results in comedy gold. All the other actors give special shows as well, William Demarest is top dollar as Trudy's Policeman Father, Brian Donlevy, Diana Lynn & Akim Tamaroff are all great, no frame wasted, no line a throw away, it's all right on the money. The direction is as flawless as the writing and it is just further proof that Preston Sturges was one of the greatest comedy directors to have ever worked, if you aren't holding your sides in during the final scenes here then you need to seek medical help immediately, either that or pray for a miracle......10/10 in every respect.