Remember the Night has been oddly obscure for a very long time, a forgotten gem somehow avoiding a proper DVD release despite starring two popular Golden Age icons, being a Christmas themed movie, and having been written by well-known filmmaker Preston Sturges. It’s the first film (of four) with Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray in the lead roles and the last to be penned by Sturges before he started directing his own scripts. It’s also one of the most moving, humorous and unique films of 1940.

Startlingly naïve, moral, law-abiding, honest and innocent district attorney John Sargent (Fred MacMurray) hasn’t lost a case yet.  And with the perfect face for prosecuting women, a difficult task if not handled with care, he’s called in to take a case for an easy conviction for the state. Anna Rose Malone (Barbara Stanwyck) sometimes known as Lee Leander (or even Mary Smith when it’s convenient), was caught by a pawnbroker while shoplifting during the Christmas season. It’s her third offense and she’s aided by defense attorney O’Leary’s (Willard Robertson, reciting a noticeably Sturges monologue) grandstanding and excuses of schizophrenia and hypnotism. But even the judge grows impatient with his wild stories, overly dramatic reenactments and outrageous interactions with the jury, and they prove to be no match for Sargent who gets a continuance until after the New Year.

Feeling a little guilty and trying to do a simple good deed, John bails out the beautiful young thief, but the bondsman accidentally delivers her to the district attorney’s apartment. “I suppose you do this with all the lady prisoners?” she teases. When she finds out her placement was a mistake, she decides to stay, which interferes with John’s plans of visiting his mother’s farm for the holidays. He decides to get her the Christmas dinner he cheated her out of by removing her from the clinker, and the two start to realize how much they have in common. Since they’re both from Indiana, he offers to drop her off at her mother’s place along the way.

Hilariously (as things often are in Sturges’ stories), they get arrested after unintentionally trespassing when their car crashes through a fence (destruction of property) in the middle of the night and matters sour after they take a little bit of milk from a nearby cow (adding petty larceny to the charge). In the presence of an old rube judge, they resort to fleeing, becoming fugitives from justice. “It’s better than going to jail isn’t it?” Lee insists. But looming in the background is the idea that she must still pay for her real crimes.  So it’s a good thing she’s a young, saucy and sexy Barbara Stanwyck, because she’s not a kleptomaniac or under the spell of shiny jewelry – she’s a good old-fashioned crook. She’s certainly not honest, but prides herself on being smarter – until eventually she grows a conscience.

“She probably didn’t get enough love as a child,” comments Mrs. Sargent (Beulah Bondi), who falls for Lee’s charms despite her troubled past. Remember the Night is a story of uncommon kindness to someone who may not deserve it but needs it just the same. The dialogue is sensational as always, and refreshingly, it’s not all comedic. Heartrending drama makes an appearance as Lee copes with not needing any of the loving family stuff until she experiences it first hand – a completely new surrounding and a new ideal. With an unusually bittersweet conclusion, the film is pleasant, irresistible and unforgettable, creating characters to care about, situations to smile over and conflicts to tear up to.

- Mike Massie

More Recent Reviews:

Woman in Black, The (2012)

Man on a Ledge (2012)

Grey, The (2012)

Red Tails (2012)

Coriolanus (2012)

 

  Recommendations: