gavin6942 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.

Michael Neumann To quote the bard: "some men are born great; some achieve greatness; and some have greatness thrust upon them". Into the latter category falls Norvil Jones: 4-F Marine Corps reject and reluctant fiancé of happy-go-lucky Trudy Kockenlocker, who after getting a little too happy and too lucky finds herself pregnant by an outbound soldier whose name she recalls only dimly as something like Ratskywatsky.Of all the classic Preston Sturges comedies in the 1940s none was more miraculous than this outrageous wartime farce, which dared to satirize the war effort while the war was still being fought. How it ever escaped the censors is anyone's guess (critic James Agee maintained the Hays Office was "raped in its sleep"); perhaps because the Allied armies were by then on the offensive Sturges was allowed to do likewise at home.Either way, it remains a model of sophisticated slapstick entertainment, as fresh and funny now as it was more than 60 years ago. If made today (under similar circumstances of wartime morale boosting: just substitute Iraq and Afghanistan for Europe and the Pacific) the film would almost certainly be vilified as immoral and unpatriotic, which only shows how dearly Sturges' wit is missed.

Robert J. Maxwell Preston Sturges, who wrote and directed this headlong parody of small-town life and war-time patriotism, was a man of multiple talents. Take his direction, for example. He pulls of this outrageous stunt without any razzle dazzle at all. Any modern comedy would blast us with funny music and shots that last about as long as a lightning strike. But Sturges' takes tend to be long, though not in the least leisurely. A contentious couple walking down the street may be followed in one take for half a block, turn a corner, and be followed for another half block.The story concerns mainly Trudy Kockenlocker (a tempestuous Betty Hutton) and her suitor, the good-hearted but goofy Norval Jones (Eddie Bracken). Norval has been in love with Trudy for years, even taking the same high school classes so he could be near her. "I didn't mind the cooking," he explains, "but the sewing...." Norval would be in the army himself but every time he tries to enlist he becomes so nervous that he stutters and shakes, his blood pressure soars, and he sees black spots in front of his eyes.After a wild night on the town with some soldiers about to be shipped out, Trudy sobers up the next morning to find herself married but unable to remember the name she used or the soldier she married. As always, Betty Hutton brings to the part the energy of a gamma ray burst. Pregnancy adds to the problem. Her young sister, Diana Lynn, advises her that she needs a husband -- fast. There's always Norval, ready to do anything for her. She prompts the innocent, unknowing Norval into a proposal, which takes him several minutes to sputter out. She accepts of course after several agonizing minutes ("Oh, Norval, this is so SUDDEN!") But compelled by her conscience, Trudy tries gently to spill the beans. She really shouldn't marry him, she tells Norval, because she made a big mistake the night of the dance. "What mistake? I thought you had a lot of fun!" Trudy: "Well, I did -- in a way -- but some kinds of fun last longer than others, if you know what I mean." The censors must have been visited by an incubus. The more Trudy explains, the more excited and frightened Neurotic Norval becomes. He stutters to the point of unintelligibility, occasionally interrupting himself to slam a fist into his palm and shout, "The SPOTS!" She and Norval decide to plunge ahead with the marriage anyway. They visit the Justice of the Peace in a nearby town and Norval poses as the soldier husband that Trudy can't remember. Norval is outfitted in the only army uniform available, a left-over deal from World War I. His collar insignia show the Marine Corps on one side and the Cavalry on the other. They must make up a name for him -- Ignatz Raskywasky -- which neither can pronounce. It ends with Norval in jail.I don't want to run out of space but this is one hilarious skewering of ordinary middle American life. The dialog is often corrosive."Daughters!", Trudy's father (William Demarest) complains. "They hang around the house like Spanish moss until they shame you into an early grave." Norval's lawyer. "Norval, I'm a lawyer. I WORK as a lawyer. I'm ready to sue anybody, anywhere, at any time." And, "You haven't asked my advice, and I'm not going to give any. But if I were you I'd get out of town fast and hide someplace." Trudy's sister (Diana Lynn) tells Demarest: "Can't you think of something? You're always having bright ideas." Demarest: "Listen, Zipperpuss, some day they're going to find your hair ribbon and an ax someplace, and that's all." One of the most mirthful movies of its decade.

PWNYCNY There was second Lucille Ball, her name was Betty Hutton. The latter's resemblance to the former is uncanny, especially in this movie. As for the movie itself, although there are amusing moments, the movie is woefully dated with a story that's a stretch. But the real star of this movie is William Demarest who gives one of the great performances in a Hollywood movie. Although Eddie Bracken and Betty Hutton got top billing, this movie is a vehicle for William Demarest whose performance outshines that of the other performers. This movie offers an interesting glimpse of Hollywood's impression of the American military personnel circa World War Two. The movie has not aged well, it's story is corny, full of hokum, and suggests an amazing naiveté. All the performances are good but the story is simply too weak to make this movie more than just an interesting antique.