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.

Signet I am astonished every time I see this film that it was ever released, despite the prestige of Preston Sturges as its director. The very notion that a comedy could be made in the war-time forties about a woman who may ---or may not--- be legally married to a soldier whose name she can't remember after an evening of dancing and "lemonade" and who becomes exceptionally pregnant as a consequence is mind-boggling. But, we should be grateful that it slipped under the censors' noses because it is still as smart and subversive now as it was then. Even the cameo appearances of Donleavy and Tamiroff are a witty commentary on Sturges's earlier political satire, the Great McGinty.A great movie, to be seen more than once and savored, particularly for how it bloomed in an era that might have been inclined to suppress it.

bkoganbing In the Paramount All Star spectacular Star Spangled Rhythm, Betty Hutton does a number called Doin' My Bit For Defense. In The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek, Betty does in fact really give her all to the boys going over there.How Preston Sturges got this one past the censors is beyond me. Not only the fact that it deals with illegitimate births in a light hearted way, but it shows the fighting men of the US Armed Services in a less than favorable light during World War II. But because he did this film holds up remarkably well. I like it almost as much as I like my favorite Preston Sturges film, Sullivan's Travels.Betty Hutton as Trudy Kockenlocker of Morgan's Creek feels it her patriotic duty to give her all for our fighting men. One night she does just that, she can't remember whom she might have married that night, if anyone and is left quite pregnant. Though how much pregnant we don't know until the end of the film.Eddie Bracken is her poor dumb schnook of a boyfriend who's a 4-F and he's willing to take the rap. William Demarest is caught between wanting to strangle the guilty party and seeing someone make an honest woman of Hutton. All this is watched with some amused detachment by Hutton's younger sister Diana Lynn.The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek got Preston Sturges an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Sad to say though Sturges was up against himself that year because he was also nominated in the same category for Hail The Conquering Hero. Both lost to 20th Century Fox's solemn biographical film Wilson.This film is Betty Hutton's best screen role in my humble opinion. And quite possibly the same for Eddie Bracken. Certainly no other director was able to utilize the personalities of both these performers as well as Preston Sturges.This is one eternal comedy classic, absolutely don't miss this.

bob the moo Trudy Kockenlocker feels she is only doing her patriotic duty when she sneaks off the a farewell dance for the young men of Morgan's Creek as they mostly head off to war. However the next morning she turns up drunk and married to boot. The problem is she has no memory of doing anything or who she may have done it with and the only thing she knows for sure is that she is going to be in a lot of trouble in this small town when news gets out – not to mention the trouble in her own home. Fortunately young Norval Jones (prevented from military service due to his medical condition) is besotted by her and agrees to try and help her out. What could go wrong? This films appears to have much in common with Sturges' Hail, The Conquering Hero, not least of which is the fact that I came to both on the strength of five stars next to it in the Radio Times listings. Also in common is that I was not as impressed as I thought I should be but still enjoyed it as a "watch it once" affair. The narrative is a comedy but it is built on a foundation of showing how small town America is when it comes to certain subjects. Again it has this in common with Hail because it is clear that the film has a satirical edge to it that runs behind everything else – but both there and here the downside of this is that it is not that sharp or obvious. Indeed with modern eyes it seems very tame indeed, mainly because my cynical generation has not only gotten used to very sharp comedy but also we long since gave up on the idea that anyone was just plain good and homely! What this leaves is a perfectly fine comedy with a good mix of slapstick, screwball stylings and funny dialogue. IMDb tells me that this did show up on Premiere's list of 50 greatest comedies, but that to me smacks of them making sure they have some "classics" in there rather than them actually rolling over it. I might be wrong on that but I do know that I did not find it hilarious and only laughed out loud a couple of times. What it did do though was have me chuckling for the majority. This is driven by the material and the upbeat comic feel the delivery has but also by the cast. Bracken is enjoyable and is another link to Hail (there are many in this cast though). His shy and put upon young man is sympathetic but never pathetic – an distinction that is important for keeping the viewer on board. Hutton works really well alongside him, particularly with some fast paced dialogue. Demerest is a hoot as her father and most of my laughs were for him. Support is roundly good because mostly they match the tone of the film.I'm not sure of the relationship between Miracle of Morgan's Creek and Hail The Conquering Hero (it looks like they were made back to back) but for me they both have similar problems when watching now. The relevance and impact of the background is less important to the viewer and does feel dated. The comedy is good without being brilliant, leaving an enjoyable film that is worth seeing as long as you take the gushing praise to be more representative of the film's place in history rather than how the casual viewer will find it today.