“The
trouble with kids is they always figure they're smarter than their parents”
If you are a fan of Old Hollywood you would know that
there were several taboo subjects that could not be addressed or even joked
about. Marriage was often taken as a joke, well to a certain extent like two
people accidentally getting married in a drunken stupor. Motherhood was never
really taken as a joke because it was a serious duty for a woman back in the
age of Old Hollywood. Well, The Miracle
of Morgan’s Creek take both marriage and motherhood and turns it into a
free for all comedy.
The film opens up on the governor of a state on the phone
with a newspaper editor from the small town of Morgan’s Creek. The editor is
frantic asking the governor for back up and more supplies because people will
be flooding their town soon. When the editor finally reveals why he needs the
supplies for the governor gets extremely excited and he wants the press called
to the small town.
Going back to Morgan’s Creek where everything all began:
a group of soldiers looking for a date to a dance. It is to be their last dance
before they leave for war. A girl on the street points them towards the record
shop where Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton) works. As soon as she sees the
soldiers she has stars in her eyes. She agrees to go to the dance with the
group of soldiers. As the soldiers walk out of the shop Norval Jones (Eddie
Bracken) walks in. Norval is in love with Trudy. He wishes he could be going to
the dance but he is not a soldier. He has tried to enlist time and again but
every time he goes to get his checkup he breaks out in spots because he gets so
nervous.
That night Trudy has gotten all ready to go out but her
father is furious with her and will not let her leave the house. Trudy calls
Norval to come get her. Her father knows Norval is a good guy who would not try
anything with his daughter so he lets Trudy go out. Trudy has other plans. She just
wanted Norval to come get her so she can go off and have some fun with the
soldiers. She tells Norval to stay by the movie theater and she will be back to
get him at 1:30.
Trudy has more than a great time. She pulls up to the
movie theater later than 1:30 in the morning. As she drives away a sign falls
off her car that says “Just Married”. At home while sitting with her sister,
Trudy recalls what she can remember of that night. She recalls someone mentioning
something about getting married. She looks down at her hand to see a ring on
her finger. Trudy cannot do anything because she gave a false name when she and
one of the soldiers got married.
With a lot of coaxing and nudging Trudy manages to get
Norval to propose to her. She explains to him what has happened that she knows
she got married. She needs Norval know because she is going to have a baby.
After some thinking Trudy does not want to have Norval marry her because he
loves her so much and he so nice. They decide to go get married at a Justice of
the Peace out of town. They give false names but Norval messes everything up
handing the JP a piece of paper with his real name on it. The JP thinks Norval
is abducting Trudy because she is a minor. The police and a whole crowd of people
bring Norval and Trudy home. Trudy’s father manages to get the JP to rip up the
marriage certificate to make it look like the wedding never happened. Trudy and
her sister finally break down and tell their father why she had to marry
Norval. The father is a police officer he tells his girls that he can try to
get Norval out of jail by making it look like he escaped. Norval is such an
idiot he does not realize what is going on until Trudy and her sister show up
at the jail.
Months go by. Norval went to see if he could find the
group of soldiers Trudy went out with but he was unsuccessful. He comes back to
town. Trudy and her father and sister are living somewhere out of town. Norval
is still wanted but he has to find Trudy. A storeowner was just about to take
Norval to Trudy when the bank owner notices him and calls the cops. The
storeowner tells Trudy that Norval is back in town. She feels so bad about what
has happened to him. She has her father and sister bring her to town to explain
everything to set Norval free.
The sister rushes up to where her father is trying to
talk to some of the council members to say Trudy needs to go to the hospital.
Turns out Trudy has SIX babies! That is the reason the newspaper editor called
the governor. The governor pardons Norval since he could not have it reported
that the father of the towns new fame is in jail. No one knows besides Trudy,
Norval, her sister, and father that the babies are not his. Poor Norval has a
nervous breakdown when he sees the babies in the hospital.
Oh my god I felt so bad for Norval! The poor guy got into
something that he had nothing to do with in the beginning. If I were him and I saw
those six babies I would have told Trudy goodbye she is on her own I did not
sign up for this! My good lord six babies. I would have told the hospital to
take them back I do not want that many. My one cousin has four month old twins
and they are an absolute handful, never mind the thought of more than two
babies. The story in the film did remind me of something my cousin and her
husband were talking about: they have identical twin boys Aiden and Paul. I do
not even know what got the conversation started but my cousin asked her husband
if he could imagine when the boys are older a girl coming to the door telling them
one of the boys got her pregnant. We all laughed and hoped to God that that
does not happen.
I was not crazy about The
Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and I think it had a lot to do with Eddie Bracken
and the character of Norval Jones. Holy crow the actor and character were
beyond annoying. Betty Hutton was good but not as good as the other films I have
seen her. Now I know this was during World War II but almost half the film felt
propaganda and it got annoying really fast. I had heard so much about The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and how it was incredible that the
story got by the censors. With Preston Sturgess as the director and Betty
Hutton in the lead I was expecting a good film. I felt let down. Still do not
let me and my negative feelings towards it keep you from seeing the film. It is
worth watching at least once.
