Well today, I decided to try one more time to see The Miracle at Morgan's Creek but the same thing happened as has the other few times I tried. It is just so stupid, I can't stand to stay with it. In the first 45 minutes I have yet to see anything funny, so someone, please tell me what the miracle is.
Anne
Tell me the miracle???!!!
Tell me the miracle???!!!
Anne
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movieman1957
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For its day it was quite daring. While the situation may not be amusing some of the treatment of it is considered so.
The "miracle" is her having quintuplets. At that time there had really only been the Dionne quintuplets of Canada that had any real notoriety. (Hence the newspaper headline at the end that reads "Canada Demands Recount" or something similar.)
I think any larger group of babies may have stretched the imagination even beyond Sturges' hope.
The "miracle" is her having quintuplets. At that time there had really only been the Dionne quintuplets of Canada that had any real notoriety. (Hence the newspaper headline at the end that reads "Canada Demands Recount" or something similar.)
I think any larger group of babies may have stretched the imagination even beyond Sturges' hope.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
I am another one who is not all that taken with this film. I think William Demarest falls down too much. (It is funny when someone like Henry Fonda takes a lot of pratfalls, because he so rarely does. With Demarest, it isn't that unexpected, and it seems like the director is running out of ideas.)
My favorite parts of the film are the "Great McGinty" scenes with Donlevy and Tamiroff.
I guess this was a "you had to have been there" kind of film, "there" being WWII Home Front America. "Miracle" pokes fun at the pieties with which other movies surround the Home Front. (Maybe a double feature of "The Clock" and "Miracle of Morgan's Creek" would work to the advantage of "Miracle.") Also, to 1944 audiences, the "miracle" was that Sturges got this past the censors. (I think some movie critic actually wrote that with this film "the Hays (Breen?) Office has been raped in its sleep." (Sorry about the language.)
Personally, I think "Hail the Conquering Hero," Sturges' other film knocking Home Front America, is far better, although I know people who find it too icky.
My favorite parts of the film are the "Great McGinty" scenes with Donlevy and Tamiroff.
I guess this was a "you had to have been there" kind of film, "there" being WWII Home Front America. "Miracle" pokes fun at the pieties with which other movies surround the Home Front. (Maybe a double feature of "The Clock" and "Miracle of Morgan's Creek" would work to the advantage of "Miracle.") Also, to 1944 audiences, the "miracle" was that Sturges got this past the censors. (I think some movie critic actually wrote that with this film "the Hays (Breen?) Office has been raped in its sleep." (Sorry about the language.)
Personally, I think "Hail the Conquering Hero," Sturges' other film knocking Home Front America, is far better, although I know people who find it too icky.
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klondike
Ya ask me, Friends 'n Neighbors, the real miracle in this film is that poor old ex-carny, ex-vaudevillian, ex-Broadway performer, ex-silent-film-star headed-for-60 Bill Demarest, all-time greatest valedictorian for the University of Hard Knocks, could so enthusiatically take so many bruise-worthy pratfalls, and still be on-mark & on-time with every cue & every line!
That's what I call being a real trouper!
That's what I call being a real trouper!
OK, this thread really surprised me...
As I travel through cinema, it became quickly obvious that English humour and American humour have always been completely different. That's come up here on a few threads.
Put simply, Brits really don't find many American movies funny and Americans don't find many English movies funny. Even when we all agree on which films are funny, when analysed we're often really laughing at different things.
Yet, watching for the first time, this to my English eyes felt like a true American classic. My wife and laughed aloud throughout, and while it's incredibly unlikely for me to now become a Betty Hutton fan, I'd watch this one again next week too. It's only my fourth Preston Sturges (and all four were excellent or better), but I preferred this one over The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story, and possibly over Sullivan's Travels.
Is this an American film that works best for non-Americans?
As I travel through cinema, it became quickly obvious that English humour and American humour have always been completely different. That's come up here on a few threads.
Put simply, Brits really don't find many American movies funny and Americans don't find many English movies funny. Even when we all agree on which films are funny, when analysed we're often really laughing at different things.
Yet, watching for the first time, this to my English eyes felt like a true American classic. My wife and laughed aloud throughout, and while it's incredibly unlikely for me to now become a Betty Hutton fan, I'd watch this one again next week too. It's only my fourth Preston Sturges (and all four were excellent or better), but I preferred this one over The Lady Eve and The Palm Beach Story, and possibly over Sullivan's Travels.
Is this an American film that works best for non-Americans?
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klondike
Simple's good, Dawtrina, as long as it holds true; but you need to be careful about not confusing a commonality with a generalism. I'm a seventh-generation American with an entirely blue-collar background; before graduating highschool, I could count on one hand all the not-from-America films I'd seen.Dawtrina wrote: Put simply, Brits really don't find many American movies funny and Americans don't find many English movies funny.
I also tend to be a real hard-sell for comedy, via movies, stage or TV.
And yet, on my very short list of most favorite comedies, I find 1950's A Run for Your Money, '68's The Magic Christian, '79's The Life of Brian, '85's Brazil, '98's Waking Ned Devine, 2000's Snatch, and from just last year: Hot Fuzz.
(And don't even get me started on "Black Adder"!)
Hi Dawtrina:
Born and raised in the heart of Chicago, Illinois, I find most American humor to be childish and foolish. I enjoy British humor, but I have to be truthful, sometimes I have a really hard time understanding the language. One of my favorite shows is the designing one Changing Rooms but between all the different accents, (scottish, Upper class English, and lower class, etc), sometimes it gets wacky. Also, though they are not comedies, I love Cash in the Attic and Bargain Hunt, but the different meanings for words sometimes throws me. ie. some things are made of timber, not wood, at least from movies I know what the loo and the lift are, but it gives you a run for your money.
Anne
Born and raised in the heart of Chicago, Illinois, I find most American humor to be childish and foolish. I enjoy British humor, but I have to be truthful, sometimes I have a really hard time understanding the language. One of my favorite shows is the designing one Changing Rooms but between all the different accents, (scottish, Upper class English, and lower class, etc), sometimes it gets wacky. Also, though they are not comedies, I love Cash in the Attic and Bargain Hunt, but the different meanings for words sometimes throws me. ie. some things are made of timber, not wood, at least from movies I know what the loo and the lift are, but it gives you a run for your money.
Anne
Anne
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movieman1957
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I'm not sure why as it has always seemed to me very American as opposed to British. Maybe the fact that the material, for its day, is so "out there" that maybe it appeals to you as you were not likely to see it anywhere else. Would surprise be the right word for the plot?Dawtrina wrote:
Is this an American film that works best for non-Americans?
Then again, maybe it's just Preston Sturges.
Chris
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."
"Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana."