The Miracle of “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek”
How did this movie get released in 1944? Just be glad it did.
When I wrote my recent classic-era movie guide, I thought about including “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek,” but at that point I already had two other movies directed by Preston Sturges (“The Lady Eve” and “Sullivan’s Travels”), and thought I probably didn’t need to try to shoehorn in a third one.
Anyway, a post about “Morgan’s Creek” turned up in my Facebook memories today, and I decided it was time to mention this gem once again.
“The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” may be that the movie was made or released at all. It came out in February 1944, during World War II, and it includes situations which, while innocuous by today’s standards, are quite unlike what the Hays Office, which regulated the content of movies during the Golden Age, would normally have allowed.
The film is set in a small town from which a number of soldiers are about to ship out. Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton) is the oldest daughter of the town’s widowed police chief (Sturges regular William Demarest). Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken) worships the ground Trudy walks on, but Trudy has friend-zoned him. Norval is of draft age but is 4-F and ineligible to enlist.
A party is announced to celebrate the soldiers on the night…
