The Cockeyed Miracle

Keenan Wynn and Frank Morgan make a wonderful father-son ghost team in this fabulous movie about family life in the 1940's. All the actors are delightful and the roles are terrific. The story line is funny and unusual. Sure there are lots of ghost movies, but I can't think of one that involves deceased father and son. The scenery is quite simple ... taking place primarily in the Griggs home with a few scenes in friend Tom's lighthouse. Audrey Trotter is gorgeous and lovable in her role as the Griggs daughter and Cecil Kellaway plays the part of Sam Grigg's long time friend with excellence. This must have been one of Keenan Wynn's early roles, but he already showed the acting skills that carried him through Hollywood for decades

"The Cockeyed Miracle" is a wonderful, humorous comedy about family, friendship, death, and temptation for greed. It's a simple plot, with fantasy built around two souls - a father and older son who meet after the latter's death. Sam doesn't want to go off into eternity just yet - until he sees his family are taken care of. The nest egg, from his investment with his best friend, Tom, is about to hatch, but Tom is tempted to keep it all for himself. Son Jimmy and daughter Jennifer each have a big event just around the corner. How can Sam go off to bliss and joy with his father, Ben, who came to escort him up - until this is all squared away?

The setting is a small New England fishing village. Except for the opening scene of the village docks and a later horse and buggy and barn scene in a rainstorm, most of the story takes place in the Griggs home. The plot is based on a play, and it's easy to see how it would have been staged, but the film doesn't have a stagy feel to it. This film has some superb technical work in the filming of Sam and Ben walking through walls and windows and ascending through a ceiling into an upper room.

The cast are all excellent, with some very prominent senior actors of the day and other well-known supporting players. Frank Morgan is Sam Griggs, Cecil Kellaway is Tom Carter, Gladys Cooper is Sam's wife, Amy; and Leon Ames is her brother Ralph Humphrey. Keenan Wynn plays Sam's father in the afterlife, Ben Griggs. Marshall Thompson plays Sam's son, Jimmy, and Audrey Totter plays the daughter, Jennifer.

What makes this a superb comedy is the screenplay and a script with witty exchanges and some very funny dialog. It's a feel-good film that people young and old should be able to enjoy well into the future.

Here are some favorite lines from this very good movie.

Amy Griggs, "Just the same, we've got to do what the doctor says." Sam Griggs, "The only time you do what he says is when I'm sick."

Sam Griggs, "Oh, I'm sorry, Amy. I know I'm not a good patient." Amy Griggs, "That's because it takes practice to be, and you've never been sick before." Sam, "You always find excuses for me." Amy, "Nonsense!"

Amy, "My, it adds up. Four thousand seems too much when you borrow it, and so little when you spend it."

I have to admit i was overly excited about seeing this because I loved the cast. I probably expected too much based on that alone. I think it is a charming film but pretty low on laughs.

This movie, about a dreamer who never plans for the future, dies suddenly and doesn't know it. He attempts to speak with his wife and children, but gets frustrated when they can not hear him. He is then met by a man who explains to him that he is dead, and has come to escort him to heaven. Suddenly the dead man realizes that his "guide" is his own dead father. Together, the two dead men connive to arrange for the family's future security.

I found this movie to be surprisingly funny. The charachters are a little predictable, but they fit the movie well. Frank Morgan and Keenan Wynn are wonderful as son and father, after you get used to seeing a father who is younger than the son.

Funny B-comedy from MGM. Morgan plays a man who dies and leaves his family in a tight spot. When his father (Wynn) arrives to fetch him to heaven, it's up to them (as ghosts) to make sure Morgan's fetching daughter (Totter, in a rare lilly-white role) gets hitched and that Morgan's partner (Kellaway) doesn't rip the family off on his most recent investment.

The gimmick of having the middle-aged Wynn play elderly Morgan's father pays off with some witty jokes and the 2 stars' wonderful playing off each other. It's interesting to speculate whether if Ed Wynn had been playing movie roles at this time he would have been cast as Keenan's son, thus making this ridiculous situation even more amusing.

A quality script and cast with OK production (directing and photography) produces a likeable, funny situational comedy.