The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944)

90% of critics liked it
(21 reviews)
82% of users liked it
(2,932 ratings)

This wild, once-controversial comedy stars Betty Hutton as Trudy Kockenlocker, a man-crazy single girl whose favorite pastime involves entertaining every visiting GI in town. One morning after a particularly wild night, Trudy labors under the apprehension that last eve, she'd married a soldier named… More This wild, once-controversial comedy stars Betty Hutton as Trudy Kockenlocker, a man-crazy single girl whose favorite pastime involves entertaining every visiting GI in town. One morning after a particularly wild night, Trudy labors under the apprehension that last eve, she'd married a soldier named Ratzkywatzky or something. Evidently something had happened that night, for soon Trudy discovers that she's pregnant. She hides this information from her bombastic policeman father (William Demarest), and before long, Trudy's on-again, off-again boyfriend, hapless bank clerk Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken), gets tapped to be the father of the unborn child. He takes the assumed name Ratzkywatzky and poses as a GI (in a World War I uniform!). Unfortunately, this only leads to further complications. Disasters pile up thick and fast, and before long Norval is facing arrest on a variety of charges. Then the miracle of the title occurs. This vintage Preston Sturges farce plays so fast and loose with the censorial restrictions of mid-1940s Hollywood that critic James Agee was moved to comment that, "the Hays office must have been raped in its sleep." As usual, Sturges populates his cast with steadfast members of his stock company-- including, in guest roles, Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff, the stars of his previous film, The Great McGinty. Originally filmed in 1942, Miracle was held from release for an inordinate period of time. The picture was remade (and considerably laundered) as the 1958 Jerry Lewis vehicle Rock-a-bye Baby. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Preston Sturges
Genres: Romance, Classics, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 5, 1944 Wide
On DVD: Sep 6, 2005
Studio: Paramount Home Video

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Done in the satirical Sturges vein, and directed with that same touch, the story makes much of characterization and somewhat wacky comedy, plus some slapstick, with excellent photography figuring throughout.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Caustic and chaotic in the arch Sturges manner, it's probably his funniest and most smilingly malicious film.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Mr. Sturges as author and director, is thoroughly up to his stinging style in this film.
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media
Hilarious WWII comedy flirts with taboos.
Rob Nelson, minnpost.com
Six decades before Diablo Cody and Juno, Preston Sturges carried unplanned comedy to term.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
One of Sturges' master works, this comedy turns upside down Hollywood's conventions of small-town life with original vision and crackling dialogue. Sturges reverses the notion of boy meets girl and inverts the meanings of masculinity and femininity.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Great verbal gags and non-sequiturs, fast-paced action, and a thorough irreverence for all things deemed respectable -- politicians, policemen and magistrates included -- make it a lasting delight.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
One of Preston Sturges' zanier films, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek begs the question: how did he get away with this?
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...an extremely dated and thoroughly mediocre piece of work.
Michael Szymanski, International Press Academy
A fascinating look at how the Hayes Code affected some parts of the production of the film, including some of the famous double entendres.
Peter Canavese, Groucho Reviews
Stands out for its sheer audacity of subject matter and its sustained emotional-roller-coaster effect: it's quite possibly the most high-strung movie ever made.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The real miracle might be in how the amoral sexual content got by the Hays Office.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Way ahead of its time Sturges comedy, great dialogue, plot
, Film4
Sturges lets it all hang out, never passes over a joke and somehow manages to sustain the pace and quality.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
This is the master of subversion's most subversive work.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Depends a little too much on the viewer's tolerance for Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton trying to out-mug and out-frenzy each other to be everyone's cup of tea.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

Wow, this is a crazy, hilarious, remarkable movie, really worth watching. I highly recommend checking it out.
Randy T

A daring, ahead of its time gem that thinly veils premarital sex and illegitimate pregnancy with a phantom marriage and bust-a-gut humor. A milestone in American comedy and a covert triumph for director Preston Sturges. <i>*Note:</i> Betty Hutton is simply fantastic!

Cast

            Eddie Bracken as Norval Jones

            Betty Hutton as Trudy Kockenlocker

            Diana Lynn as Emmy Kockenlocker

            William Demarest as Constable Kockenlocker

            Brian Donlevy as Governor McGinty

            Porter Hall as Justice of the Peace

            Al Bridge as Mr. Johnson

            Emory Parnell as Mr. Tuerck

            Akim Tamiroff as The Boss

            Victor Potel as Newspaper Editor

            Esther Howard as Sally

            Almira Sessions as Justice of the Peace's Wife

            John Farrell MacDonald as Sheriff

            Julius Tannen as Mr. Rafferty

            Frank Moran as First M.P.

            Georgia Caine as Mrs. Johnson

            Torben Meyer as Doctor

            George Melford as US Marshal

            Jan Buckingham as Nurse

            Nora Cecil as Head Nurse

            Chester Conklin as Pete

            Jimmy Conlin as The Mayor

            Joe Devlin as Mussolini

            Robert Dudley as Man

            Budd Fine as 2nd MP

            Byron Foulger as McGinty's Secretary

            Kenneth Gibson as Secret Service man

            Arthur Hoyt as McGinty's Secretary

            Judith Lowry as Nurse

            Jack Norton as Man Opening Champagne

            Harry Rosenthal as Mr. Schwartz

            Freddie Steele as Soldier

            Bobby Watson as Adolf Hitler

            Roger Creed as State Police

            Hal Craig as State policeman

            Keith Richards (II) as Secret Service man

            Keith Richards (I)
            
See full cast