magnitude of his revelation, reviled, hated by his fellow men, forgotten before he was remembered, morton seems very small indeed until the incandescent moment he ruined himself for a servant girl and gained immortality. the film was heavily re-cut, to the point that some of the narrative became almost incomprehensible. eliminated from the re-cut version was a brief sequence which preceded even the framing story with frost and widow lizzie. this initial sequence shifted back and forth between a scene of child in a contemporary hospital (early 1940s) being wheeled into the operating room and being assured by his parents that the operation will not hurt and a scene of a broken and impoverished morton in the previous century pawning his medals. the first flashback sequence was cut particularly heavily by the studio, since it was not only chronologically subsequent to the second flashback, but also was almost totally devoid of humor. the most significant segment eliminated from the first flashback was morton's confession to lizzie on the evening after his sacrifice, which would have appeared very early in the sequence. it reads in part (hesitation ellipses in original): morton: "oday at the hospital ... the medical society wouldn't let them use the letheon ... unless they knew what it was so ... they asked me what it was." mrs morton: (staccato and smiling, on the verge of hysteria) "but you didn't just tell them ..." (she twists her hands) "... i mean you weren't such a fool as to tell them the most valuable secret in the world, just for the asking?" morton: (miserably) "but lizzie they were going to take her leg off without it ... without anything!" (he seems on the verge of hysteria himself) "they were just going to strap her down and hack it off!" mrs. morton: (vehemently) "whose leg?" morton: (with a trace of exasperation) "i don't know ... some servant girl!" the studio was concerned that revealing the nature of morton's sacrifice so early in the movie would lessen the dramatic impact of that sacrifice at the climax. the downside of the elimination of this scene was, however, that the audience was all the less aware of how the remaining events in the first flashback sequence, especially as further whittled down by the studio, related to the story. (the reference in the prologue to morton's having "ruined himself for a servant girl" is left hanging and would seem to point to, if anything, some illicit affair.) the second flashback (which forms the great majority of the film) was left comparably intact, for it was the traditional linear narrative with which the hollywood film industry was most comfortable. particularly, the humorous and slapstick episodes, which paramount felt that audiences expected from a sturges film, were preserved—so much so that sturges suspected the film was being "cut for comedy." the title was changed over sturges' strong objections—unclear is whether the "great moment" refers to the first ether operation or morton's sacrifice at the climax. (because of the re-editing, the film is listed with various runtimes of 80, 83, 87, and 90 minutes, and some of the actors listed in official cast lists may not actually appear in the film.) at some point in this process, sturges' contract with paramount ran out, and he left the studio (although he came back to do some unpaid re-shooting and re-editing of hail the conquering hero) sturges later wrote about his departure "i guess paramount was glad to be rid of me eventually, as no one there ever understood a word i said." the great moment premiered in los angeles on august 24, 1944, more than two years after filming had wrapped, and went into general release on september 6 of that year. the film was not well-received, either by the critics or at the box-office, becoming the only film directed by sturges for paramount not to turn a profit. sturges' reputation never quite recovered from its failure, and his post-paramount career is the record of a sad decline. the great moment was released on video in the u.s. on november 11, 1990 and re-released on june 30, 1993. it was released on laserdisc on october 26, 1994. it was released on dvd (as part of a seven-disc set entitled preston sturges - the filmmaker collection) on november 21, 2006. notes tcm notes nixon, rick "the great moment" (tcm article) preston sturges 1995 four more screenplays by preston sturges, university of california press; james curtis 1982 between flops: a biography of preston sturges, brace jovanovich; diane jacobs 1992 christmas in july: the life and art of preston sturges, university of california press; preston sturges 1990 preston sturges by preston sturges: his life and words, simon & schuster; donald spoto 1990 madcap: the life of preston sturges, little, brown; james ursini 1973 the fabulous life and times of preston sturges an american dreamer, curtis books. tcm overview erickson, hal plot synopsis (allmovie) this line, which remains from the original prologue, is taken from the epitaph on morton's tombstone. sturges 1995 op cit., p. 329. tcm misc. notes