| The Miracle of Morgan's Creek | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Preston Sturges |
| Written by | Preston Sturges |
| Produced by | Preston Sturges |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | John F. Seitz |
| Edited by | Stuart Gilmore |
| Music by | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $775,000[2] |
| Box office | $9 million (U.S.)[3] |
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek is a 1944 American screwball comedy film written and directed by Preston Sturges, starring Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton, and featuring Diana Lynn, William Demarest and Porter Hall. Brian Donlevy and Akim Tamiroff reprise their roles from Sturges' 1940 film The Great McGinty. Set against the backdrop of World War II-era America, its plot follows a wayward young woman who, after attending a party with soldiers in her small town, awakens to find herself married and pregnant, with no memory of her new suitor's identity.
Sturges began developing the idea for the film in the late 1930s, and wrote both Hutton's and Demarest's roles with the actors in mind. Principal photography took place between late 1942 and early 1943. Early into production, the film was met by considerable objections from the Hays Office for its candid depiction of an unwed pregnant mother, as well as for its representation of American soldiers, which the United States War Department felt may be potentially unflattering.
The film's narrative structure is shaped around the titular "miracle"—the lead character's birth of sextuplets—being revealed at the end of the film, and Paramount Pictures promoted it with the suggestion that audiences and the press avoid revealing its surprise ending.
Released in January 1944, The Miracle of Morgan's Creek was met by critical praise at the time of its release, and continues to receive generally positive reception in modern reviews. It was nominated for a 1945 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. In 2001, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film ranks #54 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list of the top 100 funniest films in history.
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- ^ "The Miracle of Morgan's Creek". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ Curtis 1984, p. 240.
- ^ Curtis 1984, p. 190.