The Miracle of Morgan's Creek · reception & legacy
1944 · Preston Sturges
How The Miracle of Morgan's Creek has been received, argued over, and remembered.
The arc
A smash hit in 1944 — one of Paramount's biggest comedies of the year despite (or because of) the scandal of its premise — and it's only grown in stature since, now enshrined in the National Film Registry as the high-water mark of Hays Code-defying audacity.
What's debated
The perennial cinephile fight is where it ranks in Sturges' miraculous 1940–44 run — above or below The Lady Eve and Sullivan's Travels — with Betty Hutton's full-throttle performance splitting viewers into devotees and the overwhelmed.
Its footprint
James Agee's review line is immortal: the Hays Office 'has been either hypnotized into a liberality for which it should be thanked, or has been raped in its sleep.' The film remains the go-to example whenever anyone discusses sneaking outrageous material past the censors — starting with the surname 'Kockenlocker.'
Where it stands
Essential Sturges and a fixture of the screwball canon — the 'how did they get away with this in 1944?' film that classic-Hollywood fans hand to newcomers as proof the era wasn't tame.