The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
by Preston Sturges
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DVD details
Actor: Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, Eddie Bracken, Porter Hall, William DemarestDirector: Preston Sturges
Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
Cinematographer: John F. Seitz
Producer: Preston Sturges
Writer: Preston Sturges
Editor: Stuart Gilmore
Producer: Buddy G. DeSylva
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-09-06
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
DVD Review: A Yuk, A Couple of Yukes -- But That's About It.
Summary: 3 Stars
You can tell that a great deal of intelligence went into the making of this film.
There were a number of scenes that were very long takes indeed, some over five minutes each. And that gave the movie a fresh, stage-like feel to it.
But, hoping this movie would live up to the hype it's gotten over the years by critics and fans alike, I can't say it was all that great, all that funny.
Betty Hutton and Eddie Bracken were, for me, somewhat *tedious* in their performances. And the whole premise of the movie struck me as a "one-trick pony." Ok, so she's pregnant. I suppose this would have held the interest of a 1944 audience in quite a different way than a 21st century audience.
DVD Review: One of the craziest and zaniest.
Summary: 5 Stars
This has got to be one of the funniest, hilarious, zaniest, outrageous movies of its time. Preston Struges, was one of the top writers then directors for Paramount Studios when he made this film. He was the type of man to have a crazy scene in there some kind of way. Another thing about him is that he sprinkled the word sex in his movies pretty liberally. Supposedly, it was made in 1941,1942, delayed a while, some say due to the nature of the film, and hmm, I could see why if that be the case. Some say for other reasons; Either way, with all the tampering, changes, what have you, you still come up with this. Now you have this young girl Trudy Knockenhocker played with relish by Betty Hutton, who is the daughter of the local policeman William Demarest(who gave a sterling performance); It's World War 2, the boys are leaving town, and Trudy wants to go to the party the town is holding for the boys leaving for war. ok, but the father, doesn't want her to go; So she gets Norval Jones, her 4F dependable buddy, who also loves the proverbial ground she walks on(played by Eddie Bracken)to say they were going to the movies. well, she ditches him there and goes to the ball; Now first off the bat, when Trudy leaves supposedly going to the movies in a ball gown and William Demarest doesn't get the hint, something ain't right. Let me not neglect to add Diana Lynn who plays her little but wise knowing sister; So, Norval gets stuck at the movies, Trudy has the time of her life at the ball; And boy what a time.So much so, she has a memory lapse due to her drinking too much champagne, and is late picking Norval up that has folks thinking he took advantage of her; Oh if they only knew...Anyhow, Trudy ends up noticing this ring on her finger but she vaguely remembers the details. Now folks, even in this day and time, we look at women kind of funny for that to an extent, but in those days, THAT WAS A NO NO! and to show it in the movies, BIG NO NO!! To this day, I still wonder how The Hays Office let this movie come off the lot to theaters. But moving on, the night is forgotten but then old Trudy ends up pregnant (OH HORROR!) and now she's got a dillemma; She can't remember the name of the man, only some funny name and that they all use fake names to marry. So lil sister cooks up a scheme to let Norval take the fall and marry her. Now mind you, the fella only loved her from Day One, so for him it was a big opportunity, but for her it was a way out of a funky situation. So, she comes up with the idea of him dressing up in a uniform (WW1)and go somewhere to get married with fake names, but when they kissed and stated their real names afterwards, the license folks got wise and bring in the law all the way to the state government gets involved in this one girl's business.Talk about a little problem snowballing.. I could go on,and boy does it goes on until the climatic end, which I pray will have you cracking your sides; Worth the watch and time.DVD Review: excellantly funny
Summary: 5 Stars
An excellent movie. B&W but keeps one laughing from start to finish. Really great. Seen it first on TCM and had to oder a copy foir my collection. M. LanganDVD Review: A Christmas Miracle
Summary: 5 Stars
That Preston Sturges managed to get this perversion of the Christmas story past the censors is a miracle all on its own. Betty Hutton's and Eddie Bracken's peculiar talents are a perfect fit for this story about greatness thrust upon an unlikely recipient.
Sturges's crazy combination of really smart banter, simple-minded slapstick and a perfect sense of comic timing works miracles with a great supporting cast: Diana Lynn, William Demarest, Julius Tannen and Porter Hall.
DVD Review: One of the Funniest Films Ever Made!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Preston Sturges, writer-director of this wonderful picture was a master! He set the bar at Paramount in the 1940s for comedy and this is a prime example.
It is great stuff indeed. With a cast that could not be bettered, this is one of the funniest films ever made. It starts off fast paced and there is not one single moment the screen is idle.
Betty Hutton gives a great performance and she was only 22 years old at the time. This film was her breakthrough in Hollywood and she is charming and endearingly funny.
Eddie Bracken is marvelous as the leading man with the funny face and the stutter. In my opinion he should have gotten nominated for an academy award. I think he is the glue that holds the film together!!
William Demarest (later Uncle Charley on Tv's "My Three Sons") as Betty's father is deliciously hammy and bombastic.
Diana Lynn, fourteen at the time, plays the kid sister with acerbic aplomb and sarcastic wit. She is amazing. Watch the scene toward the end when she and Betty are tying Bill Demarest in the jail cell and she conks him on the head.....what a howler!!
This film is hilarious and for the time it was made...at the height of WWII, was a refreshing escape from the madness that was going on in the world at the time.
When you have a couple of hours on a rainy Saturday morning or you feel like a good movie on a late night, a movie to make you feel good and that will make you laugh your head off, I recommend this classic! Comedy doesn't get any better than this!!
Description of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
After a wild farewell party for the troops, Trudy Kockenlocker, a small-town girl with a soft spot for American soldiers, wakes up to find that she married someone and can't remember his name. Even worse, he's disappeared and she learns she's pregnant!During World War II, Hollywood's patriotic duty was to shoot stirring dramas and good-hearted comedies that celebrated America's brave soldiers and honored their loyal, virtuous wives and girlfriends. Which goes a long way toward explaining why this delirious Preston Sturges farce, filmed in 1943 at the height of the war effort (and of its director's powers), was delayed for a year while Paramount executives wrestled with Sturges's irreverence: in Morgan's Creek, the writer-director tweaked those stereotypes with his tale of Trudy Kockenlocker, a small-town girl who only wants to send our boys off with a smile. That she does, but she wakes up after an all-night party with vague memories of a dubious wedding and soon finds herself pregnant.
Trudy, played by the ebullient Betty Hutton, is wholesome, sexy, and something of a ditz, in contrast to Sturges's usual savvy heroines (represented instead by Trudy's teenaged younger sister, played by Diana Lynn). Trudy's savior is would-be boyfriend Norval, played to apoplectic perfection by the rubber-faced Eddie Bracken, who was never better than in this wide-eyed, pratfall-happy performance as the weary but loyal draft reject who stands by his girl. As Trudy's father, Sturges regular William Demarest likewise achieves a series of comic peaks as the exasperated and increasingly desperate Officer Kockenlocker.
Like Sturges's other Bracken-Demarest vehicle, the equally fine Hail, the Conquering Hero, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek was unique among wartime movies for its satirical sting and unblinking eye for hypocrisy on the home front. It's also enormous fun, a comedic romp that epitomizes Sturges's kinetic, high-speed style. --Sam Sutherland
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