The Miracle Of Morgans Creek is a Screwball Comedy from Preston Sturges set during World War II.Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton), the daughter of the town constable (William Demarest), sneaks out against her father's wishes to a dance for the soldiers, using a date with Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken) as an excuse. She doesn't really remember what happens that night, except she thinks she got married to a soldier (named, or so she thinks, "Ratzkywatzky"). Later, she finds out, as a result of that night, she's pregnant, and her younger sister Emmy (Diana Lynn) convinces her to trick Norval into marrying her. She can't bring herself to do it, especially when she sees how Norval reacts to it, but Norval ends up wanting to marry her anyway. Because this is a Preston Sturges film, Hilarity Ensues.Despite the fact this was delayed two years due to censorship issues with the Hays Code, this remains one of the most adroit examples of Getting Crap Past the Radar ever made.
This film contains examples of:
The Cameo: Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff reprise their roles from The Great Mcginty as McGinty and The Boss.
There's also a Continuity Nod when The Boss repeats a gag from the earlier film.
Dawson Casting: Both Betty Hutton (21 at the time of filming) and Diana Lynn (16 at filming) were slightly older than their characters (18 and 14, respectively), though Lynn does a better job passing as a younger character.
Also, the fact Trudy has six babies is a loose reference to the Dionne Quintuplets. Lampshaded by the headline "Canada Protests: 'Possible but not Probable' says Premier".
Executive Meddling: Because of Sturges' battles with the censors, the film sat on the shelf for two years. Also, the head of Paramount was unhappy with the film and wanted to edit it, but Sturges stood his ground.
Framing Device: 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.
Green-Eyed Monster: 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.
I Have This Friend: 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.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: 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's signs his own name, which gets him and Trudy in trouble.
Papa Wolf: Constable Kockenlocker, though his daughters are normally able to get around that.
Real Men Wear Pink: Constable Kockenlocker may act rough with everybody, but he also wears an apron.
Refuge in Audacity: When Trudy pretends to go to the movies with Norval so she can really go to the dance, she tells Norval she should be going to the dance instead because they should think of all of the soldiers who won't get to say goodbye to anybody, and she even gets his car because, otherwise, who would drive the soldiers around?
Whenever Emmy says something to annoy her father, he tries to kick her, but ends up slipping and falling instead.
Shout Out to Shakespeare: The title card at the end quotes Twelfth Night: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them."
Spinning Paper: The reactions from around the country, and the world, to the "miracle", including from Adolf Hitler and Mussolini.
Take That: The Hays Code wouldn't allow Sturges to portray Trudy getting drunk. His solution? Have her drink what looks like "lemonade", then have her hit her head, so she'd be acting drunk.
0 reviews