The Bogdanovich Challenge: Week Ten

THE FILM: 

The Miracle of Morgan's Creek, released January 5, 1944.

Directed by Preston Sturges.

Starring Eddie Bracken, Betty Hutton, Diana Lynn and William Demarest. 


PETER BOGDANOVICH SAYS:

"Not only are all the performances top-notch but there's that flawless comic rhythm that is uniquely Sturges--his stock company certainly knew his beat--like a conductor with his own orchestra. This was especially important with Sturges, who created all his scripts by improvising them for his secretary to write down."

THE TRASH MAN SAYS:

Writer/director Preston Sturges makes his second appearance on Bogdanovich's list of 52 essential films for the year with The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1944). Another screwball romantic comedy, this time dealing with a promiscuous party-girl, Trudy (Betty Hutton), who ends up married to The Unknown Soldier. Or, well, close enough. Maybe his name is actually Ratzkiwatzki or something else with a Z in it, she's not really sure. Complicating matters, Trudy quickly discovers that the fun-filled night of dancing, drinking and blacking out also left her fun-filled with child.

So, she does the honorable thing and tries to conceal the truth by convincing a stupid, stuttering bank-teller by the name of Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken) to propose, wed, and claim to be the father-to-be. Norval, madly in love with Trudy, is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her and hopefully win her heart and her hand for real. Naturally, things escalate and matters become even more complicated and comical from there.

The climax involves bank robberies, Sturges' regular William Demarest wrestling a cow, and Adolf Hitler.

I'll admit that I'm amazed at the subject matter that's presented, and for comedic-effect no less, in a film from the mid-Forties. The concept of an expected mother, one who doesn't even know the identity of the true father, as the film's protagonist seems pretty novel for a film from the Golden Age of Cinema. Doubly impressive was Trudy's whip-smart and sarcastic kid sister, Emmy (Diana Lynn), who runs circles around the rest of her family and the rest of the cast.

The Bogdanovich Challenge: Week Two

THE FILM:

The Lady Eve, released February 21, 1941.

Directed by Preston Sturges.

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn, William Demarest and Eugene Pallette.


PETER BOGDANOVICH SAYS:

"Exhilarating fast-paced and surprisingly complicated, The Lady Eve has numerous snake-like twists, and the sophisticated moral view that emerges is also neither predictable nor easy, as it never was in Sturge's best work. The dame may be wrong, but the guy turns out to be more wrong until he learns his lesson: the battle of the sexes is an uneven one in many ways--woman having the advantage over the long haul."

THE TRASH MAN SAYS:

Another solid pick by Bogdanovich.

This movie marks my personal introduction to the work of writer/director Preston Sturges, and if the rest of his filmography holds up as well as this, I'm going to have to seek out more. While hardly breaking new ground with camera-work, it's the whip-smart dialogue that really shines here. Sturges' strength really does lie within his writing, and it's brilliantly delivered by the film's all-star cast.

Henry Fonda's portrayal as Charles Pike, the naive and absent-minded ophiologist, is perfect. Some might mistake his performance as wooden; he's stiff when necessary, sure, but has no problem handling all the slapstick comedy that permeates the film's later scenes. He also has no trouble keeping pace with his leading lady co-star, Barbara Stanwyck.

It would be impossible to discuss The Lady Eve, even on the most basic of levels, without talking about Stanwyck. As the sultry con-artist, Jean Harrington, she almost literally steals every single scene that she's in. There is little doubt that she's always in control; whether it's seducing [and later falling in love with] Charles or out-smarting her conniving father (Coburn), it's obvious who is running the show. And, like Sturges, this was the first time I've watched one of Stanwyck's films.

It will not be the last.