Slideshow
THE GREAT MOMENT
U.S., 1944
Written and directed by Preston Sturges
Starring Joel McCrea, Betty Field, Franklin Pangborn, Porter Hall, Harry Carey
Approx. 83 min. 35mm.
Joel McCrea, as W.T.G. Morton, the 19th-century dentist who discovered anesthesia, plays the straight man to the Sturges stock company in a bizarre combination of slapstick and stark drama — told in complicated flashback style that ultimately sets up the electrifying final moment. Despite being shelved and tampered with by befuddled studio execs, it's still a rare personal statement.