The Miracle of Morgan's Creek

Dir. Preston Sturges, 1944

First, a quick rundown of the plot. The scene: small-town America, 1944. A pretty young lady gets drunk then, after some anonymous sex (possibly with multiple partners), gets pregnant. What ensues is The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, a flagrant and hilarious thrashing of American mores, military, marriage, family, law, and almost every other realm of civic and social life.

For The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek, I was going to write about the genius of Preston Sturges’ comedy. In fact, the playful machinations by which he first circumvents, and then impishly and effortlessly skewers the sappy Hays Code morality of the 40s could be called little else than genius. But it turns out that the commentary on the DVD provides this praise more aptly than I can here.[1]

Therefore, I only wish to make two remaining points:

First, I don't agree with the auteur theory as a whole. But it asserts that there is a necessary tension between the director and the constraints placed upon the means at their disposal, and this seems perfectly illustrated by Sturges' handling of studio censorship. Proof that this tension can lead to artistic strength, discipline, and creativity can be found with one look at The Miracle of Morgan Creek.

Second, see this movie. My admiration for its director grows with each film. Although it is not his best (for that, see either Unfaithfully Yours or Lady Eve…Sullivan’s Travels is good, but overrated), it is a terribly funny film.



[1] It even includes James Agee’s wonderful contemporary review, which includes the following bon mot: “Thanks to Sturges the Hays office has been either hypnotized into a liberality for which it should be thanked, or has been raped in its sleep.”