The Miracle of Morgans Creek

 Posted on May 23, 2024  |  4 minutes  |  779 words  |  Jenniffer Sheldon

Morgan's Creek is the name of the town where the action takes place and the miracle, as director Preston Sturges terms it, is the birth to Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton of a set of sextuplets.

Morgan’s Creek is the name of the town where the action takes place and the miracle, as director Preston Sturges terms it, is the birth to Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton of a set of sextuplets.

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. The Sturges manner of handling crowds and various miscellaneous characters who are almost nothing more than flashes in the picture, such as the smalltown attorney and the justice of the peace, contribute enormously to the enjoyment derived.

However, some of the comedy situations lack punch, and the picture is slow to get rolling, but ultimately picks up smart pace and winds up quite strongly on the birth of the sextuplets with the retiring Bracken and Hutton as national heroes.

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Bracken is a smalltown bank clerk who yearns to get into uniform and is madly in love with Hutton. Getting out on an all-night party with soldiers, the latter wakes up to remember that she married a serviceman, but can’t remember the name, what the spouse looked like, or anything except that they didn’t give their right names.

Bracken does a nice job. Hutton and he make a desirable team. Among the supporting cast, largest assignment is that given William Demarest, smalltown cop father of Hutton, who has his troubles with his daughters, the other being attractive Diana Lynn.

1944: Nomination: Best Original Screenplay

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The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek

  • Production: Paramount. Director Preston Sturges; Producer [uncredited]; Screenplay Preston Sturges; Camera John F. Seitz; Editor Stuart Gilmore; Music Leo Shuken, Charles Bradshaw
  • Crew: (B&W) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1944. Running time: 101 MIN.
  • With: Eddie Bracken Betty Hutton Diana Lynn William Demarest Brian Donlevy Akim Tamiroff

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