[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miracle_of_morgans_creek_5806.jpg]]

->'''[[TheCameo Governor [=McGinty=]]]''': This is the biggest thing to happen to this state since we stole it from the Indians!
->'''[[ContinuityNod The Boss]]''': [[InsistentTerminology Borrowed]].

''The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' is a 1944 ScrewballComedy from Creator/PrestonSturges, set in the epomymous small town during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII.

Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton), daughter of the town constable (Creator/WilliamDemarest), sneaks out against her father's wishes to a dance for the soldiers, using a date with Norval Jones (Creator/EddieBracken) as an excuse. While she [[WhatDidIDoLastNight doesn't quite remember what happens that night – except that she thinks she got married to a soldier]] (named, or so she thinks, "Ratzkywatzky") – she subsequently learns that, as a result of the night's activities, she is pregnant. Her younger sister Emmy (Diana Lynn) convinces her to trick Norval into marrying her. Trudy can't quite bring herself to do it – especially after she sees Norval's reaction to the happy news – but Norval ends up wanting to marry her anyway. Because this is a Creator/PrestonSturges movie, HilarityEnsues.

Despite the fact this its release was delayed for nearly two years due to censorship issues with UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode, this film remains one of the most adroit examples of censorship subversion ever made.

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!!This film provides examples of:
* AccidentalMarriage: Trudy gets married in a fit of intoxication. [[WhatDidIDoLastNight She cannot remember the details the next day]].
* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: The German SpinningPaper sports wrong grammar in the head line. Also Hitler's speech is pseudo-Germanic gibberish.
* BadLiar: Norval, and his stutter only makes it worse.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Early on in the movie, Norval says to Trudy, "I almost wish you were in serious trouble, so I could help you out." Oh, Norval.
* TheCameo: Brian Donlevy and Creator/AkimTamiroff reprise their roles from ''Film/TheGreatMcGinty'' as [=McGinty=] and The Boss.[[note]]As you can see above, the poster [[SpoilerCover spoiled it]].[[/note]]
** There's also a ContinuityNod when The Boss repeats a gag from the earlier film.
** This causes a ContinuitySnarl, as [[spoiler:[=McGinty=] and The Boss had fled to Latin America at the end of their film]].
* CannotSpitItOut: Well, Norval can say it, but because of his SpeechImpediment, it just takes him a while.
* DelayedReaction: The father's delayed surprise reaction when Trudy mentions her pregnancy.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Let's see now; [[Literature/TheBible a woman gets pregnant without any idea how she did, her boyfriend wants to leave her but is later convinced to marry her]], [[AwayInAManger they're eventually forced out of polite society, and she ends up in a house with a barn during Christmas season when she's finally about to give birth]].
** Also, the fact Trudy has six babies is a loose reference to the Dionne Quintuplets. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by the headline "Canada Protests: 'Possible but not Probable' says Premier".
** Trudy's father mentions that Jesus was born "in a cowshed" and then we see that there's a cow in the house.
* DoubleTake: Norval does several of them when Trudy lets him know she wants him to marry her and why.
* EarnYourHappyEnding: Norval starts out as the DoggedNiceGuy and has to go through some hardship to finally get his happy ending with Trudy.
* {{Fainting}}: Papa Kockenlocker faints when hearing about his [[TooManyBabies six grand sons]].
* FirstPersonPeripheralNarrator: The local newspaper editor is the one who tells the story to The Governor and The Boss, yet in the flashbacks, we only see him a couple of times; when Norval is arrested and brought back to the Kockenlocker house, and once in the hospital waiting room. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], however, in that it's likely Emmy told him the whole story in the hospital waiting room, so he was able to tell that to the Governor.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Right before Trudy tricks him into taking his car to go out, Norval proudly declares that he almost wishes Trudy was in trouble so he could get her out of it. He has ''no'' idea.
* FramingDevice: The film starts with the editor of the local paper calling Governor [=McGinty=] to tell him the story, and it ends up being a flashback to what happened.
%% * Getting Crap Past The Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.
* GiveTheBabyAFather: Central theme. Norval saves Trudy's name by posing as the actual father.
* GoodTimesMontage: Trudy at the various dances (strung together with her and the soldiers singing "Row, Row Your Boat" as they drive from place to place), right up until she "hits her head".
* GreenEyedMonster: Norval doesn't qualify for the army because every time he goes in for an interview, he gets nervous and excited, he starts to see spots, and his blood pressure gets too high. So he's jealous of all of the soldiers, especially about the fact Trudy seems more interested in them than him.
* IHaveThisFriend: When Emmy and Trudy go to see Mr. Johnson, the town lawyer, they use this. Because they're more vague than most people who use this trope are, he doesn't see through the ruse. Later, when they're walking home, Emmy insists on using this trope when talking to Trudy because it makes things easier to discuss.
* ImmediateSelfContradiction: Norval when talking to his mother on the porch:
-->'''Norval''': I'm perfectly calm. I'm as cool as ice.
--> ''(phone rings)''
--> ''(Norval has a seizure)''
* InsistentTerminology: See the quote at the top of the page.
* InstantlyProvenWrong: The EpicFail when Norval breaks into the bank.
--> '''Norval''': You have to know exactly what to do or else... it'll set off the alarm.
--> '''Old Kockenlocker''': Can you do it?
--> '''Norval''': Yes.
--> ''(Cue the alarm going off as Norval opens the safe.)''
* JurisdictionFriction: The army, the state police, and the federal police all want to arrest Norval after his failed attempt at marrying Trudy (see NiceJobBreakingItHero below).
* LawOfInverseFertility: Trudy gets pregnant via one night stand.
* LittleMissSnarker: Emmy is 14 years old and almost every line she delivers is snarky
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Norval gets the idea of pretending to be "Ratzkywatzky", dressing up as a soldier, and driving to an out-of-way town with Trudy so she can have a marriage license that says she's married, and therefore will be spared the shame of being an unwed mother. So what happens? The marriage goes through without a hitch, but instead of signing Ratzkywatzky's name, he signs his own name, which gets him and Trudy in trouble.
* OhCrap: Trudy and Emmy when they see the wedding ring on Trudy's hand.
* PapaWolf: Constable Kockenlocker, though his daughters are normally able to get around that.
* PatientChildhoodLoveInterest: Norval and Trudy are childhood friends and at one point Norval confesses that he was always in love with her but [[CannotSpitItOut couldn't spit it out]] all this time.
* PreemptiveDeclaration: On the porch with her father, Emmy mentions that she heard a police siren. The father notes that there are no sirens in town. Seconds later, her prediction comes true as a convoy delivers Trudy and Norval to their doorstops.
* RapidFireComedy: Particularly at the beginning and the end.
* RealMenWearPink: Constable Kockenlocker may act rough with everybody, but he also wears an apron.
* RunningGag: "Shut up! Not you!" "Retroactive!"
** "The SPOTS!"
** Whenever Emmy says something to annoy her father, he tries to kick her, but ends up slipping and falling instead.
* SeriousBusiness: The [[spoiler:birth of the sextuplets]] literally changes the course of WWII.
* ShoutOutToShakespeare: The title card at the end quotes ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'': "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
* SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan: She's indifferent to Norval for most of the movie and seems much more interesed in flirting with the soldiers but is heavily implied she's attracted in them for doing their duty for their country, she ends falling in love with Norval for real after she finds out about all the things Norval did for her through their lifes.
* SpeechImpediment: Norval has a pretty bad one.
* SpinningPaper: The reactions from around the country, and the world, to the "miracle", including from UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler and Mussolini.
* SpitTake: A variation; the Governor drops his cigarette on his lap when he hears what the "miracle" is.
* SteppingOutForAQuickCupOfCoffee: The father desperately imposes this trope on Norval to help him escape from his prison cell but the latter doesn't seem to comprehend.
* SurpriseMultipleBirth: The titular miracle of the film turns out to be sextuplet boys.
* TakeThat: UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode wouldn't allow Sturges to portray Trudy getting drunk. His solution? Have her drink what looks like [[FrothyMugsOfWater lemonade]], then have her hit her head, so she'd be acting drunk and [[WhatDidIDoLastNight completely forget about critical details of what happens to her that night]].
** Trudy also acts indignant every time someone asks her if she was drunk the previous night, claiming she never gets drunk.
* TitleDrop: Partially. The father calls the incident "The mystery of Morgan's Creek" when hearing of his daughter's pregnancy. Little does he know of the upcoming ''miracle''.
* TooManyBabies: Trudy giving birth to sextuplets.
* UnusualEuphemism: Trudy refers to being drunk as being "swiffled".
* WhamLine: A rare funny example: "Six; all boys!"
* WhatDidIDoLastNight: Trudy only has a vague memory of the night before where she may (or may not) have gotten married to a soldier who may (or may not) have been named "Ratzkywatzky".
* WhosYourDaddy: Trudy just can't remember who the father of her babies is.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Emmy. She's the one who comes up with the plan to marry Norval.
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