Miracle of Morgan's Creek, The (1944)
Director: Preston Sturges
Starring: Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton
Honors:
Filmmaker Preston Sturges pokes fun at the general skewing
of patriotism into mindless acts of a ruckus behavior by misguided fractions of
the population in his 1944 release of The
Miracle of Morgan’s Creek. This off the wall screwball comedy quietly
tested the limits of the Hollywood Production Code, toeing lines of motion
picture sexual promiscuity, what then may or may not have been acceptable
subjects of conservation in movie, and testing the freedoms given to a prized
studio director. Since its release the film has become a beloved movie, hailed
as one of the finest comedies of all time by generations of critics, audiences,
and filmmakers alike.
The Miracle of
Morgan’s Creek is a screwball comedy about small town girl whose drunken send
–off with local departing soldiers threatens to tarnish her good name as she
enlists the help of a friend to her aid. When Trudy (Betty Hutton) wakes up the
morning after a rowdy troop send-off party she discovers she is married and
pregnant, only she cannot remember the soldier to whom she had wed. Fearing
moral judgment and the wrath of her over-protective father (William Demarest),
who happens to be the town constable, she enlist the aid of Norval, a nervous
and clumsy young man who has been deeply in love with her for years to hide her
shortcomings by staging a marriage with him. Complications of their actions
lead to Norval being arrested for their misleading ways. However, quick actions
of caring lead to a pardon for Norval by the governor as he vows to care for
Trudy and her expecting child. Arriving to the hospital moments after Trudy
concluded her labor, Noval learns she had delivered sextuplets, prompting our
clumsy, feel-good hero to faint at the news.
This picture is a simple, yet fun piece of motion picture
comedy with excellent pinpoint timing and memorable deliveries. Looking back it
is easy to see how this has become a rather well loved piece of comedic
celluloid, but we must remember that for its time the picture was a bit controversial,
which adds to the wonderful intrigue of the film. It is so vastly different
from the squeaky-clean, over-the-top goofiness of other comedies of the day,
making a quiet statement underneath its screwball exterior, while at the same
time pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable in mainstream motion
pictures.
At the time of World War II writer-turned-direct Preston
Sturges had become Paramount’s prized filmmaker producing rather inexpensive
productions with his creative comedic writing into legitimate box office
success. Here he had planned on producing a story that shared his thoughts of
how some women mistake their promiscuity with troops with being patriotic.
Immediately his ideas would be met with objection from people for the
Production Code office, but by limiting himself to only 10 written pages of
script at the time of submission he was able to hide his overall plans while
being given the green light for production. From then on Sturges was to be
playing a game with himself where he would film by day while writing his
oncoming scenes by night, consistently chasing himself in order to have
something to shoot the next day. It was not anywhere near the conventional way
to work, but it allowed his ideas to be produced alluding censors going into
and through production.
The film stars two relative young unknowns in the leading
roles in Eddie Brackman and Betty Hutton in the early stages of their careers. As
a young Broadway actor with some screen experience Eddie Bracken lacked the
handsome looks of the usual Hollywood lead, but his exaggerated mannerisms,
facial reactions, and moments of slapstick allows for the subject matter of the
picture to appear masked as a light hearted comedy. Betty Hutton had worked
more as a singer attempting to break into movies in recent. She could be easy
and soft in performance when needed, but her experience as a vocal performer is
manifested when she delivers the large, grand gestures similar to that of any
singer of that day. Both are over the top, but completely lovable and relatable
with the remarkable writing by Sturges.
Character actors abound in this picture, many of whom fall
within that familiar realm of Sturges’ own favorite band of performers whom he
appeared to use and reuse over and again within his pictures. William Demarest portrays
the stern father who at times can take a pratfall. Sixteen year-old Diana Lynn
plays Trudy’s younger sister and closest confidant. She was new to the movie
scene and being pushed by Paramount for her prodigy-like talents in her
performance. Porter Hall, an experienced character actor with great delivery
timing, makes his appearance as the Justice of the Peace that reveals Trudy’s
and Eddie’s scheme sending this picture into its third act.
Reprising their roles from an earlier Sturges’ picture, The Great McGinty, are Brian Donlevy and
Akim Tamiroff making a surprise appearance as the same characters we met in the
1940 picture, making the two picture happen to take place within the very same storied
universe as each other. The appearance of these two characters might feel a bit
too tacked on within the picture, because in a way they were. As mentioned
beforehand Sturges was writing the feature as he filming, but he had one huge
snag… He did not know how to end the picture. He had Eddie in jail and Tudy in
trouble with no real way to get them back together that may please everyone,
censors included, so Sturges wrote in Governor McGinty (Donlevy) to pardon
Eddie just in time to be by Trudy’s side after she just given birth. It makes
for a unique little call back to another picture, something audiences had never
experienced in movies before. In a way it kept The Great McGinty memorable for those familiar to it, but The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek can still
be enjoyed without prior knowledge of McGinty.
The film although shot in 1942 was held from release by the
studio to space out their pictures releases at the time of World War II in
order to better spread them out and produce hopefully more income, with The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek eventually
premiering in early 1944. Preston Sturges was burnt out by the experience of
making this picture as he oversaw the release of a previous production while writing
and shooting The Miracle of Morgan’s
Creek at the same time. This left him little if any sleep, making him
irritable and running his production over schedule and over budget, leading to
an unhappy studio. Already having issues with producers this experience further
created a rift between filmmaker and employers that led to eventual downfall
within the studio and career on a whole.
From the beginning censors would have issue with this
picture. Censors, especially during wartime, wished that all soldiers were
manifested as upright, healthy men of moral action. For the Tudy character is
was frowned upon the idea of her appearing drunk or even overly flirtatious.
This film even helps open that door to the idea of the immorality that takes
place behind closed doors with soldiers and flirtatious women, although the
picture never once mentions sex. The idea of pregnancy, although entirely
normal, was usually avoid at that time in motion picture, reiterating the
avoidance of the idea of sex. The word itself “pregnant” surprisingly does occur
within the picture, but not once does Trudy show physical signs of expecting a
child. Of course, the only sign of labor is portrayed in the picture by nurses
running in and out of the delivery room as she gives birth to her six sons.
One major Production Code underlining rule is that anyone
that does anything immoral must be shown that they are punished for their
actions. Sexual promiscuity on behalf of Trudy was generally frowned upon in
most moral circles, thus influencing the negation of the subject within
mainstream motion pictures. However in this story the main female character experiences
the result of a night of carousing resulting in a thoughtless marriage and
pregnancy. If it were up to censors any girl that acted like this would be
shunned, but the story moves forward with a redemptive quality that is
completely screwball as Eddie, the “I’ll do anything for you” male character
comes to the rescue, manning up to take care of the woman he loves and her
eventual children. Trudy would never
receive what would usually be prescribed by the Production Code as her receiving
her comeuppance.
With this picture Preston Sturges was attempting to make a
small statement about society and its ridiculous views on how one believes they
are doing something for a good cause, but in reality are just being selfish.
This is represented by Trudy going out to the sendoff party for the local
soldier boys thinking it is the most important thing in her small world.
However, it is simply a night were she carouses and dances with a legion of
boys and obviously results in a drunken night of irresponsible pleasure she
cannot even recall, but is left with tokens of a wedding ring and a bun in the
oven. To drive home Sturges’ moral to the picture he originally had a with a
sermon that shared what were generally Sturges’ thoughts on the matter, but it
was cut due to the overall silliness of the preacher. Sturges moral lesson
remains within the movie, but is so cleverly dressed within this screwball
comedy that it goes rather unnoticed.
The film would release to mixed reviews. Some critics loved
the picture; others found the subject matter appalling. Letters from all over
the nation poured into decency and censor offices protesting the film’s more
racy subject matter. Despite all the self-appointed moral police that abound The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek was one of
the best films at the box office for the studio. Preston Sturges received an
Academy Award nomination for his script, one of two nominations she had that
year. With time the feature would become a beloved classic of motion picture
comedy. Today the feature is hailed as one of the most beloved classics
comedies of American cinema.
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