Remember the Night (1940)

Director:

Mitchell Leisen

Writer:

Preston Sturges (original screenplay)

Release Date:

19 January 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Just before Christmas, Lee Leander is caught shoplifting. It is her third offense. She is prosecuted by John Sargent...

Plot Keywords:

Barn Dance | Bail Bondsman | Aunt | Girdle | Cow

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Lee Leander
Fred MacMurray	...	John Sargent
Beulah Bondi	...	Mrs. Sargent
Elizabeth Patterson	...	Aunt Emma
Willard Robertson	...	Francis X. O'Leary
Sterling Holloway	...	Willie Simms
Charles Waldron	...	Judge in New York
Paul Guilfoyle	...	District Attorney
Charles Arnt	...	Tom (as Charlie Arnt)
John Wray	...	Hank
Thomas W. Ross	...	Mr. Emory
Fred 'Snowflake' Toones	...	Rufus (as Snowflake)
Tom Kennedy	...	'Fat' Mike
Georgia Caine	...	Lee's Mother
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Emory

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #5592) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Finland:S

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Filmed July-September 1939, and bears a 1939 copyright statement on the title card, even though it was not actually copyrighted until January 1940.

Quotes:

John Sargent: You threw a lighted match into the wastebasket?!
Lee Leander: Well I wasn't aiming for the spittoon.
John Sargent: You know that's called arson?
Lee Leander: No! I thought that was when you bit somebody!

Movie Connections:

References Svengali (1931)

Soundtrack:

Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)

Charming, Sentimental Christmas Comedy

When you think of holiday classics you might not think of "Remember The Night." You may have never even heard of it. But it is a must see and as good as "Miracle on 34th St." or "It's a Wonderful life."

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck star perfectly together (before they re-temed for "Double Indemnity.")

He is a prosecutor for the district attorney, she a shoplifter who gets caught stealing some jewelry just before Christmas. With the Christmas weekend holiday approaching, he arranges her bail so she won't be locked up over the holiday. Thinking he only did this so she would, um you know ... she shows up at his apartment as he is preparing to go home for the holiday. He convinces her that he's not after her uh ... you know.

Over dinner they discover they are both from Idaho, "how'd you like to go home for Christmas?. he asks her. He offers to drop her off at her folks on the way to his.

A road trip, comedy, drama, funny and likable supporting characters, and love and tears follow. Also, a wonderful moral to the story. All this without bit of sex, a word of profanity, violence or an explosion. This picture is for all ages. It won't offend or insult anyone.

Don't miss it.