The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek (1944)

A small town girl (Betty Hutton) feels it's her patriotic duty to dance the night away with soldiers who are headed overseas. But when she wakes up the morning after with a wedding ring on her finger, she can't remember what happened and who it happened with. When she finds out a baby is on the way, she needs all the help she can get. Written and directed by Preston Sturges (THE PALM BEACH STORY), MORGAN'S CREEK is one of the most acclaimed screwball comedies of the 1940s. But honestly, the film just exhausted me and not in a good way. A lot of people have problems with Betty Hutton but I'm not one of them. Still, both she and Eddie Bracken (as a nerd in love with her) wore me out and I found them more annoying than amusing. Fortunately, the film has two aces: Diana Lynn as Hutton's smart ass kid sister and William Demarest as her father (who does a great pratfall), who can keep pace with Hutton and Bracken without wearing us out. The film's provocative subject (unwed motherhood) must have had the Hays office censors pulling out their hair by the roots! Contemporary reviews raved about the movie and it's still considered a classic comedy to this day so clearly I'm in the minority. With Brian Donlevy, Akim Tamiroff and Porter Hall.