Waste of time

Overrated and overhyped

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

In the middle of WWII comes this film that is full of references to that war yet manages to undermine the usual image of the valiant warrior marching off to battle, suggesting that along the way one of them took advantage of a tipsy girl, maybe even drugged her drink from her lack of recollection of the evening that was supposed to be an innocent farewell dance for the soldiers, and left her pregnant from a one night stand, never to inquire about her again. In the 21st century date rape comes to mind. If it was even a date.Now of course this soldier is never found or named. And instead a sanitized version of the story appears. What I wrote in the first paragraph is strictly between the lines. Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton) is an underaged girl, probably late teens, back when legal age was 21, who is told by her widowed father, the town constable (William Demarest), that she is not to go to the farewell party because he rightly fears the rowdiness of the event. So Trudy says instead she will go to the movies with Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken). She knows he loves her and she is accustomed to using him, although she would probably never admit that to herself. So she borrows Norval's car, tells him she will pick him up after the last feature, but does not appear again until the next morning at 8AM, with a big blank where the latter part of the evening should be. As they drive away a "Just Married" sign falls off of the car's rear bumper, and when Trudy gets home she notices she is wearing a ring. Slowly, through the haze of memory, a "maybe" wedding comes back to her, but not the who or where. The trouble appears later when Trudy realizes she is pregnant by her anonymous husband, and she has no marriage license to prove her story.As in any Sturges film, there is a veritable cornucopia of wonderful one liners, which can come from any and every member of the large comic ensemble cast, at any time. No scene is too sacred, including a wedding, or a father's viewing of his newborn children. As for the cast, Hutton plays it sweet and somewhat dizzy, showing that she could prevail in other genres besides musicals, Eddie Bracken plays it nervous and a bit over the top as the only man in Morgan's Creek between 18 and 40 who is not in the military because of his 4F status, and the always funny William Demarest is full of pratfalls and one liners and even compassion when it is called for as Trudy's exasperated dad. Why does this remain in Paramount's possession when they sold off just about every other talking picture made between 1929 and 1949 to Universal? It is because, at the time, nobody believed anyone would ever allow this to be shown on TV.Highly recommended.

Another rollicking satirical contemporary comedy from its brilliant writer / director Preston Sturges, taking pot-shots at religion, family values and local politics as well as sailing as close to the prevailing movie censor standards as it dares, all in all a typical piece of work from the 40's wunderkind. Betty Hutton is the small-time far-from-bashful beautiful blonde, the rebellious daughter of the local hard-bitten policeman, as-crusty-as-ever William Demarest, herself introduced to us in a hilarious basso-profundo mime sequence in a music store. When the US army comes to town, determined to show the boys in uniform a good time, she ropes in her dorkish schoolboy-admirer, Eddie Bracken, to provide her with an alibi as well as transport to a series of all night parties where she goes all army-groupie, determined to see the boys off into battle with shall we say, a smile on their faces. She hits her head at one point, the next morning having only a vague recollection that she may have married a soldier and not unnaturally fallen pregnant in the process. Instant, immaculate conception, you better believe it!From there, the movie follows a suitably crazy-course to its six-static conclusion with the hapless Bracken prepared to make any sacrifice for the girl, although most usually doing so at the point of Demarest's gun. Hutton, thankfully, sees sense and becomes devoted to her infatuated beau, brought to earth too by the ministrations of her 14-going-on-41 piano-playing kid sister, Diana Lynn. Fans of the director will get a kick out of previous Sturges characters, cash-in politicians Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff reprising their roles from "The Great McGinty" trying to get a piece of the populist action which in the wake of Trump's election could hardly be more topical.My only criticisms would be that Bracken overdoes the Klutz routine a bit too much as overly-normal Norvel Jones plus there are probably too many pratfalls for my taste, but there's comedy gold in scenes where Demarest is trying to encourage Bracken to "escape" from his prison, the worldwide reaction to the sextuplets ("Hitler Demands Recount!") and Bracken's own reaction to the births at the very end, as he mouths "Which one's mine"? and then gets his answer.As ever, Sturges displays his mastery of pacing, overlapping non-stop dialogue and crowd management. It was just coincidence that I watched it so close to Christmas but what a festive treat it was.

"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-

Betty Hutton is responsible for "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek," a 1944 comedy written and directed by Preston Sturges. A very famous movie and rightly so. Hutton shares the screen with Sturges regulars Eddie Bracken, William Demarest, Brian Donlevy, as well as Diana Lynn, Akim Tamiroff and Porter Hall. Hutton plays Trudy, a small-town girl who lives with her sister (Lynn) and irascible father (Demarest). On the night before a group of soldiers in the area ship out, a big dance is held for them, and Trudy plans on going. Her father forbids it. Instead she makes a movie date with a childhood friend who's crazy about her, Norval Jones. Poor Norval - he can't get into the service because he becomes so overwrought and terrified that they won't take him that he starts seeing - THE SPOTS - before his eyes, and he winds up with a 4-F. The minute they're out of the house, Trudy tells Norval that she wants to borrow his car and go to the dance, leaving Norval watching three features in a movie theater.Once she's there, Trudy dances with practically ever soldier there and goes out drinking and nightclubbing afterward, which she is unaccustomed to. She picks Norval up at 8 o'clock the next morning at the movie theater. Once in the house, she realizes that she got married, but she can't remember to whom except his name had a Z in it. Then she finds out she's pregnant.This is a hilarious film that many people have seen many times - there is an enormous amount of dialogue - if you took three films today and put them together, you probably wouldn't have the amount of dialogue in this film. It also moves at a lightning pace. It's so fascinating to see how this subject was handled in the '40s and how our mores have changed. The Trudy character could never have just gotten pregnant while unmarried and be unsure of the father's identity - or else the censors would have demanded she die at the end. The family goes to such lengths to cover up the pregnancy, even moving out of town to protect Trudy's "reputation." And poor Norval offers to marry her as the soldier, whose name she thinks is Ignatz Ratzkywatzky so she has a marriage certificate, which Ignatz evidently took with him. Since she used a fake name, she won't be able to find it in any documents.Today a young woman getting pregnant and not knowing who the father is has become a common plot. Trudy could have just gone out and had a good time, gotten pregnant, and the father could have been a soldier or one of the guys in town. She'd have the child and remain unmarried if she so chose.A lot of people don't like Betty Hutton - I'm not sure why. She was a vivacious performer and a fantastic singer. She is wonderful as Trudy, showing a great sense of comic timing. Her energy, as usual, jumps off the screen. Eddie Bracken has the better role, and he makes the most of it. He's hilarious as the depressed Norval. Both he and Demarest have some very funny slapstick moments. Demarest comes off as a meanie, but you know deep down he cares. His repartee with Diana Lynn, who plays his other daughter, Emmy, will have you laughing. I think in the movie she said she was 14 - I thought 17 - and sure enough, the actress was 17. Fourteen was really pushing it."The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is a real gem, made during World War II, a fascinating time in our history. Many women met their husbands while the men were at training camps - so did Trudy - but she never knew his name. I wonder whatever happened to Ignatz Ratzkywatzky - and if he'd try to find her if he knew the result of the honeymoon!