Overrated and overhyped

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Blistering performances.

In the middle of WWII comes this film that is full of references to that war yet manages to undermine the usual image of the valiant warrior marching off to battle, suggesting that along the way one of them took advantage of a tipsy girl, maybe even drugged her drink from her lack of recollection of the evening that was supposed to be an innocent farewell dance for the soldiers, and left her pregnant from a one night stand, never to inquire about her again. In the 21st century date rape comes to mind. If it was even a date.Now of course this soldier is never found or named. And instead a sanitized version of the story appears. What I wrote in the first paragraph is strictly between the lines. Trudy Kockenlocker (Betty Hutton) is an underaged girl, probably late teens, back when legal age was 21, who is told by her widowed father, the town constable (William Demarest), that she is not to go to the farewell party because he rightly fears the rowdiness of the event. So Trudy says instead she will go to the movies with Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken). She knows he loves her and she is accustomed to using him, although she would probably never admit that to herself. So she borrows Norval's car, tells him she will pick him up after the last feature, but does not appear again until the next morning at 8AM, with a big blank where the latter part of the evening should be. As they drive away a "Just Married" sign falls off of the car's rear bumper, and when Trudy gets home she notices she is wearing a ring. Slowly, through the haze of memory, a "maybe" wedding comes back to her, but not the who or where. The trouble appears later when Trudy realizes she is pregnant by her anonymous husband, and she has no marriage license to prove her story.As in any Sturges film, there is a veritable cornucopia of wonderful one liners, which can come from any and every member of the large comic ensemble cast, at any time. No scene is too sacred, including a wedding, or a father's viewing of his newborn children. As for the cast, Hutton plays it sweet and somewhat dizzy, showing that she could prevail in other genres besides musicals, Eddie Bracken plays it nervous and a bit over the top as the only man in Morgan's Creek between 18 and 40 who is not in the military because of his 4F status, and the always funny William Demarest is full of pratfalls and one liners and even compassion when it is called for as Trudy's exasperated dad. Why does this remain in Paramount's possession when they sold off just about every other talking picture made between 1929 and 1949 to Universal? It is because, at the time, nobody believed anyone would ever allow this to be shown on TV.Highly recommended.

After an all-night send-off party for the troops, a small-town girl (Betty Hutton) wakes up to find herself married and pregnant, but with no memory of her husband's identity.There were problems with the censors at the Hays Office over the film's subject matter. In October 1942, after a story conference, the office sent Paramount a seven-page letter outlining their concerns, including remarks made by the character Emmy, who is 14 years old; the potential of the film's portraying Trudy as being drunk; and reducing anything to do with Trudy's pregnancy. Of course, all these objections are part of what makes the film so darn funny, along with the screwball nature of it all. The scene where the cop tells a man over and over how to escape is just hilarious.Critic James Agee noted (not too subtly) that "the Hays office must have been raped in its sleep" to allow the film to be released. Although the Hays Office received many letters of protest because of the film's subject matter, it was Paramount's highest-grossing film of 1944, playing to standing-room-only audiences in some theaters. Such an interesting situation of humor trumping censorship... today, do we even have a censor? The MPAA is a shell of its former self.

Another great Sturges comedy, though nowhere near as good as The Palm Beach Story. Betty Hutton is Trudy Kockenlocker (amusing name!), a small-town girl who feels it's her civic duty to give the boys a good time before the go off to war. But one night she gets herself married AND knocked-up, and can't remember who the father is! Interesting that this even got made in 1944, with the Production Code in force. I guess Sturges skirted around the censors by insisting Hutton drank only "victory lemonade" (yeah, right) and having her actually marry the father of the baby. Eddie Bracken is Hutton's stuttering long-time friend, who's been besotted with her forever. The guy's so in love he's willing to pretend he's the father, and the film becomes quite touching when Trudy really sees what a great guy that nerdy Norval is. Although this film didn't give me quite the laughs I was expecting, and the crazy humor seems strained at times, it's still very good. I especially liked the scenes between the precocious 14 year-old sister and her high-strung, yet caring, father.

After viewing this comic masterpiece I find during my research that the real miracle here is that the film ever got made in the first place! Coming as it did in 1944 wartime the film literally takes the rise out of everything held so wholesome in those troubled times. Preston Sturges has in his sights promiscuous servicemen, small town mentality, and the church, and it all makes for a complete riotous piece of work. Throw into the pot that Sturges cast the pristine Betty Hutton as a man mad airhead with few morals of note, well you can see that Sturges was pushing the censors as far as he could.Trudy Kockenlocker {Huton} gets drunk one night and has a night of passion with a soldier, in the morning she has sketchy recollections but thinks she may have married the guy,! and not only that,! she then falls pregnant,! and sure enough the soldier has long since gone. This turn of events is a big no no and Trudy's on & off boyfriend Norval Jones {Eddie Bracken} gets landed with the tag of being the Father. This sets us on an hilarious journey as Norval winds up being sought after by the authorities for a number of crimes he is oblivious to committing, there is no hope for the couple unless a miracle can save them.............The performances here are sublime, both Hutton & Bracken seem to be having a competition to see who can out zany the other the best in each scene, and it really results in comedy gold. All the other actors give special shows as well, William Demarest is top dollar as Trudy's Policeman Father, Brian Donlevy, Diana Lynn & Akim Tamaroff are all great, no frame wasted, no line a throw away, it's all right on the money. The direction is as flawless as the writing and it is just further proof that Preston Sturges was one of the greatest comedy directors to have ever worked, if you aren't holding your sides in during the final scenes here then you need to seek medical help immediately, either that or pray for a miracle......10/10 in every respect.