The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
During World War II, the citizens of Morgan Creek are saying farewell to the enlisted men heading off to war. Trudy Kockenlocker is one of the Morgan Creek residents who feels it's her patriotic duty to give the soldiers a happy send off, this against the wishes of her stern and overprotective policeman father who forbids her to attend the farewell parties. Trudy co-opts her naive childhood friend, bank clerk Norval Jones, to help her clandestinely go to the festivities. Norval, who so wants to enlist himself but has some medical issues preventing him from doing so, does anything Trudy asks since he loves her. The next morning, Trudy doesn't remember everything of the previous night due to an accidental bump to the head, but she does know that she got married to one of the enlisted men - she doesn't know who or even what his name is - and that the evening resulted in her getting pregnant. Trudy's pragmatic younger sister, Emmy, becomes Trudy's confidante. To get Trudy out of her predicament, they decide tricking Norval into marrying her will prevent scandal from happening. She decides she can't put Norval through this illegal action since she is falling in love with him. However once Norval finds out what's going on, he hatches a plan that he thinks is somewhat legal that will legitimize Trudy's pregnancy. When the plan backfires, Norval is arrested and Trudy's father finds out the predicament his daughter is in. - Actors:
- Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn, William Demarest, Porter Hall, Emory Parnell, Al Bridge, Julius Tannen, Victor Potel, Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff, Fred Aldrich, Don Anderson, Hank Bell, Jan Buckingham, Georgia Caine, Bill Cartledge, Nora Cecil, Tom Coleman, Chester Conklin
- Directors:
- Preston Sturges
- Producers:
- Buddy G. DeSylva, Preston Sturges
- Writers:
- Preston Sturges
- Aka:
- Sensation in Morgan's Creek
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Romance
- Collections:
- Top 100 AFI Laughs, Top Films
More like The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Found in these customers lists
Reviews (1) of The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Polite Chaos, Loud Punchlines - The Miracle of Morgan's Creek review by griggs
There’s a sweet spot where farce stops being a racket and starts being satire. When this film finds it, it’s terrific: small-town respectability exposed, with just enough bite to feel genuinely improper for a censored 1940s comedy.
Preston Sturges has fun needling wartime virtue, moral panic, and the way a community can turn gossip into law. Betty Hutton plays Trudy like a lit fuse—exhausting, impressive, and sometimes both at once. Eddie Bracken is perfectly cast as Norval, the decent sap trying to keep a straight face while his life collapses. William Demarest turns fatherly outrage into an art form.
The rhythm is the snag. When it hits those Ealing Comedy beats of polite chaos and social embarrassment, it sings. When it shifts into pure slapstick, it starts to clatter. A messy miracle: clever, uneven, and still oddly charming.