Preston Sturges directed and wrote seven great comedies that were released from 1940-1944. Then there’s The Great Moment which was filmed in 1942 but not released until 1944. I just saw it for the first time on an excellent Kino Lorber disc which has fine extras. The video is in excellent shape, too.
It is known that Paramount recut the film. However, I don’t think it would have been up to the standard of the other seven even if Sturges had complete control. He filmed what we see which is a bewildering mix of comedy and drama. He used his regular comedy supporting actors to try to make something more dramatic. It’s clear from the trailer that the studio wanted a comedy.
The Great Moment is worth seeing…after you’ve seen the other seven films. They’re all on Blu-ray except for The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek which is not in print in any form now. It was on DVD. That’s my favorite Sturges film and I hope some studio releases it soon.
Sad! 