Customer Reviews

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Had the undiluted pleasure of watching "Morgan's Creek" twice in one night on Turner Classic Movies ... talk about OD!! Wonderful!! The same frenetic pacing as my all-time favorite comedy, Billy Wilder's "One, Two, Three"; funny, funny lines and characterizations; and (listen to it) a near-perfect musical score. This is one of the comedy greats.
BUT ... I see where a number of reviewers claim that Trudy gets drunk, and so does not remember the evening. No, no, a thousand times NO! She says repeatedly that she has never drunk a drop. Watch what actually happens: (1) Trudy hates the "Victory Punch" (no sugar!) so does NOT drink it ... (2) then during a swing boogie dance she is thrown up in the air ... and (3) hits her head on the mirror-ball and is knocked senseless.
Sturges may have been playing with the morals of the time, but he was nonetheless a traditionalist himself.

"Miracle of Morgan's Creek is, in my opinion, the funniest movie ever made. All about a girl(Betty Hutton) who, after attending a "kiss the boys good-bye" party finds herself married and pregnant without a clue of who her husband is. She faintly remembers someone saying "let's all get married!", but unfortunately she also remembers someone saying "let's not use our real names." at the justice of the peace. The next thing she remembers is driving through town the next morning with "Just Married " on the back of her car. But as one reviewer already pointed out, Trudy NEVER touches alcohol! Most of the reviews indicate she got drunk but she even mentions several times throughout the movie that she never drank any alcohol. The cause of her amnesia is in fact that she hit her head while dancing. "Miracle" is a wholesome family movie that did not "slip by the production code" as some have indicated. There is nothing in it that would upset the production code in any way. This is just the kind of movie that is extinct in the Hollywood of today. One the whole family can watch. A must see!

Here is a case of censorship making a great comedy even greater by forcing the writer/director to replace explicitness with suggestion. And no one was better up to the task than Preston Sturges. Sturges was a veteran of WWI, and when the second one broke out he told an acquaintance that he wasn't going to fall for the same line twice. His cynicism about the war may have been misplaced but the country needed an occasional break from the homefront propaganda. This wild and lascivious tale about a never-was wartime marriage and the resulting pregnancy makes mincemeat of a lot of 40's sacred cows. Especially great are Brian Donleavy and Akim Tamiroff in an uncredited reprise of their Sturges roles in "The Great McGinty."

This is entertainment at it's best. One of the funniest movies of all time. Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton really shine. It is a must see movie. I only regret it isn't on dvd.

Steven Speilberg said a few years ago that he would gladly replace one of his films on that absurd TOP 100 films with " Sullivans Travels" another Sturges masterpiece.

Mr. Speilberg, with all due respect..I would replace most of your films with " The Lady Eve" " The Great McGinty" and " Hail The Conquering Hero" et all..

"There will never be another Sturges' comedy" Paul Schrader.
I agree with Mr. Schrader. " The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is a unique film experience! Mr. Bracken is missed sorely now but we can see him on display in films like these !

CP

I'm not a believer in contests for film or music...perception and appreciation are so subjective, how can something be unequivocally a 'best'? However, this amazing film by the master Sturges comes close to being the exception to my rule. The first time I saw it, my jaw just dropped: how did he ever get away with the subject matter at a time when practically nothing sexual was allowed to be seen or discussed on screen?? Married couples couldn't even be shown sleeping in the same bed! Yet here was a WILDLY irreverent film about a woman who can't rememeber who slept with her and fathered her child. I still don't know why Paramount agreed to make it and release it. The dialogue and performances are perfect; Sturges really doesn't set a foot wrong. It comes as close to 'perfection' as any film comedy ever has. Watch this one, then watch the rest of Sturges' films...again and again and again. And read a biography or two of this amazing man as well, he lived an extraordinary life and died too young. Why do you think the Coen Brothers worship him?

The best comedy ever made. Impresive script, full of comedy and, at the same time, very modern for its times. Preston Sturges is the real genius of the filmmaking, forget about Hitchcock, Welles or Ford. Sturges is the number one.

I've watched this dozens of times and know the ending and all the jokes but I still laugh my brains out every time I see it. Hutton and Bracken (and everyone else in it) are hilarious. The writing is superb. I love all Sturges' films but this is my favorite.

Not as well known to the general public as the Marx brothers movies, this film is unquestionably one of funniest, best-written, best-acted & best-directed comedies of all time, up there with Bringing Up Baby, Duck Soup & The Bank Dick. The writing in particular is extraordinary - just check out the names: Gertrude Kockenlocker & Ignatz Ratzkywatzky? It's full of memorably hilarious set-pieces . 6 stars!

To me, "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek" is the "Citizen Kane" of comedy -- the greatest film comedy of all time. Eddie Bracken, Preston Sturges and William Demarest all should have gotten Oscars -- what the heck, even Betty Hutton should have gotten an Oscar for this! All the character actors are wonderful, but I especially like Al Bridge's portrayal of a sympathetic lawyer (Al Bridge usually was consigned to playing villains in B-westerns). This is also a great Christmas movie -- a sort of unsentimental "It's a Wonderful Life" (surely Capra made his masterpiece somewhat under the influence of this film). The lines of dialogue sparkle like diamonds. Is there any line of this film you could cut? No! Can I say the same for Shakespeare's "Hamlet"? No!!! Therefore, I proclaim Sturges to be a greater writer than Shakespeare.