Remember the Night (1940)

"Look when court reconvenes, I'm going to try my best to put you in jail for a good long time. That's my business, but you haven't been convicted yet, so I don't see why you shouldn't enjoy Christmas like the rest of us."

Director

Mitchell Leisen

Cast

Fred MacMurray - John Sargent
Barbara Stanwyck - Lee Leander
Elizabeth Patterson -as Aunt Emma
Beulah Bondi - Mrs. Sargent
Sterling Holloway - "Chilly" Willie Simms
Willard Robertson - Francis X. O'Leary
Charlie Arnt - Tom
Tom Kennedy - "Fat" Mike
Georgia Caine - Lee's mother

Believe it or not, it's still the Christmas season. As Candlemas approaches on February 2, I suppose it’s coming to a close as I post this.

Back in Christmas of 2024, which feels too long ago, my wife and I made it a point to check out a handful of not as popularized Christmas movies, "Christmas in Connecticut," "The Holly and the Ivy," "The Lemon Drop Kid," "It Happened on 5th Avenue," and "The Shop Around the Corner." There's one other Christmas movie Iv6e wanted to add to that list but never did until now. It's the Christmas romance movie, "Remember the Night" directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. 

In this movie, Barbara Stanwyck plays shoplifter Lee Leander who's arrested after lifting some jewelry just days before Christmas. 

Her prosecution falls upon Assistant District Attorney Jack Sargent (Fred MacMurray). However, the sentimentality of the holiday season may soften the hearts of the jury and lead them to decide not to acquit. So, to ensure a fair and impartial trial, Jack postpones it until after Christmas. 

However, that same softness of heart that Christmas is notorious for entices Jack to post Lee's bail. He had overheard her complaining to her attorney about spending the holidays in jail. To prevent that, he asks the bondsman, Fat Mike (Tom Kennedy, not me) to post bail. 

Fat Mike does that and then brings Lee over to Jack's apartment thinking he wants to, ummm, show Lee a good time...so to say. 

Of course, Jack is a gentleman and a man of integrity so that wasn't his actual intention. Fat Mike just has a filthy mind, I guess. Seriously, Mike? Fat and perverted!  

Anyways, Jack finds that he and Lee have some things in common, like both being Indiana natives. He also can't help but feel bad that Lee doesn't have a place to spend Christmas. 

As Jack is going to be driving to visit his family for the holidays, he offers to give Lee a ride to her mother's place as it's on the way. 

So, the two take a little road trip during which they park to rest in a random field for the night. They're then arrested for trespassing, and are hauled off to a cantankerous Justice of the Peace. They flee from his office thanks to Lee's expertise at evading lawful trouble. 

Jack drops Lee off at her mother's house, but she wants nothing to do with her daughter. As far as she's concerned, Lee is a hopeless case. 

So, Jack decides to take her to his family's place for Christmas. Lee is warmly welcomed by Jack's family. As they love having her around, she learns a lot about Jack. 

As expected, a romance forms between Lee and Jack though once Christmas is over, the trial will still have to commence. 

"Remember the Night" is like a Hallmark Christmas movie before Hallmark movies were a thing. And I've seen so many Hallmark Christmas movies, plus a bunch of Christmas movies from Great American Family that I recognize recycled plots faster than I can process the shame of admitting to it. I’m not proud of it or anything. My wife loves those Hallmark and Great American Family flicks. And this classic flick feels like one of them. However, despite what seems like a rather comedic premise, it doesn't have the gingerbread trauma, the kind that one feels when the poor local cupcake shop is threatened with closure due to financial troubles, that Hallmark movies have. 

Nor does it beat the audience over the head with tinsel demanding they feel the tidings of comfort and joy. Rather, it comes across as genuine... somewhat. 

"Remember the Night" has that Christmassy tenderness with a hint of raw feeling to it when compared with other holiday romance films. 

I appreciate romantic comedies like this with a premise that consists of a budding romance between a fellow and a dame in which some sort of duty over love gets in the way. It's quite a workaround that gives the audience something to ponder. 

"Remember the Night" is a perfect example of such a romance. Other movies such as "The Lady Eve" (1941) and "Ball of Fire" (1941) have a similar law or love premise. 

"Bluebeard’s Eighth Wife" (1938) and "Meet John Doe" (1941) also have similar plots but with reversed roles in which the male leads are boggled down by their misdeeds while romance is on the horizon. 

"Remember the Night" also reminds me a bit of "Roman Holiday" with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck in that it's a romance that isn't really "supposed" to occur. 

The chemistry between Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck hits the audience as soon as they're on screen together. Their respective performances give the story enough screwball comedy elements that doesn't get in the way of the story's subtle melancholy tone because despite how much the audience wants to see these two characters hook up, there's that pesky legal matter that can't just go away. 

Though she's technically a criminal, Lee is still a genuinely sympathetic character. Something is clearly at the root of her poor decisions, and her mother doesn't have any hope for her own daughter.

It's worth mentioning that Stanwyck and MacMurray would go one to star in "Double Indemnity" in 1944.
"Remember the Night" may not have the emotional impact that "It's a Wonderful Life" has, or the triumph of something like "White Christmas," or the glorious conversion of "A Christmas Carol," it works well to deserve an annual slot in the Christmas movie rotation. It has its own little conversion premise worthy of some appreciation around the holidays. 

Check out my commentary on other generally unheralded Christmas films!