The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek (EOTWS)

End Of The Week Shorts #31.2 extract: The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek (1944)

I honestly thought that the Marx brothers made the most absurd screwball comedies. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

On one level this is a dark social drama, on another this is a story of heroism and righteousness. However, infused into these two serious strains of narrative is an almost surreal level of stupidity, flippancy and slapstick nonsense, that has left me tingling with confusion - and I wish that was a hyperbole. There's very little I can say with this one. Sometimes I was too empathetic and took the themes too seriously, other times I was swept away by the mad-cap tone. As a result, I was lost in a whirr of thought that I still can't make sense of. 

Try as I might, I can't explain The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek. It's imperfect, but fiendishly effective; a masterpiece of pure cheek and daring. I think I have to recommend it.