Scarecrow-88 Really laid back Christmas Eve-New Years Day holiday romantic comedy melodrama with the star power of a very comfortable Fred MacMurray and effortlessly charming Babs Stanwyck giving the material a major bump, even though Preston Sturges' original screenplay once again provides a discomforting treatment towards a highlighted supporting African-American character, this being a butler talked down to and presented as none too bright. I always had a problem with how Sturges presented black characters, and this film goes down that road once again. But when the film gets away from that it can be quite a cozy little holiday movie. MacMurray is a prosecutor who strategically convinces the judge to allow a pickpocket (Stanwyck) the week from Christmas Eve through New Years before her trial (she stole a bracelet from a jewelry store in New York City). The move was clever because he wanted to keep the jury from considering him a meanie for putting her through a trial during "the most wonderful time of the year". As serendipity would have it, the two wind up together during the holiday season (a bond paid by an associate of MacMurray's drops her off at his apartment!) and fall in love while on a road trip to his mother's home in Indiana (with an unfortunately melancholy stop at her hateful mother's house). MacMurray just seems at ease and wears the part like a comfy pair of loafers. Stanwyck is the kind of actress who can take a part in what is basically supposed to be frothy romance and reveal a wounded young woman MacMurray learns is an actual product of a cold and indifferent upbringing, waffling between allowing her emerging love for him to reveal itself and concealing it so his career won't be jeopardized (a favorite scene of mine has Stanwyck and MacMurray's mother talking about where he came from, the humble beginnings and the hard work to achieve what he has, and how if he allows his caring for her to usurp the accomplishments built over time it would be a detriment to a promising career, with admittance of love unveiled to no surprise) through the influence of their feelings for one another. What stood out to me in her performance is how she could just burst into tears (her glassy eyes often seem to gradually wet up but hold in place) during several moments but almost always maintains a resolve…it is only when she returns to mother's home, and is greeted cruelly does Stanwyck's character break down. MacMurray has a character so at peace in his own skin, that even when he faces possible criminal trouble (while on a joyride, he accidentally drives through a farmer's fence, parks in the farmer's field, and disturbs the farmer's cows; the farmer, with shotgun in hand, demands they drive into the town (outside NYC) to face a local magistrate for what he done, Stanwyck in tow), he is cool and calm…what makes this amusing is how Stanwyck commits arson to open an escape for them as the farmer and judge put out the flames! The visit to MacMurray's family (mother and spinster sister, and relative Willie) in Indiana presents them as solidly cohesive and warm towards each other, an exact opposite of Stanwyck's mother and stepfather in the nearest town not far distant in another county. A majority of the film takes place on Christmas Eve and Day concluding after New Year's Day…so it constitutes as a breezy 90 minutes of holiday fun. As 40s melodramas go, you can't beat the team of MacMurray and Stanwyck…a fascinating alternative to Double Indemnity. A key scene of hilarity has Stanwyck's defense lawyer laying on the theatre in regards to how his client was a *victim* not a criminal during that day's theft in NYC! It goes on for minutes! Stanwyck's unwillingness to allow MacMurray to lose his case at the end just emphasizes her redemption.

larry41onEbay I first became a fan of writer-director Preston Sturges' films "Sullivan's Travels," "The Lady Eve," "The Miracle Of Morgan's Creek" and "The Palm Beach Story" – all four star screwball romantic comedies – and started to seek out all the films he worked on.Displeased with the way other directors interpreted his scripts, "Remember the Night" was the last film Sturges wrote before directing his own works. This is where I must step in and say that RTN director Mitchell Liesen was at his peak and did an excellent job with the material. His judicious editing of the script and his many light touches helped to draw natural and touching performances from the entire gifted cast. It couldn't be a more perfect movie. And I should know, I have watched "Remember the Night" more than 25 times, continue to be charmed and find something new to love with every viewing.I first saw RTN on TV back in the 1980s when cable TV started playing black and white classics on the old AMC (American Movie Classics). I found it a completely original story, about a pretty young thief who meets a district attorney with a heart of gold. (I know that's rare, but believe me it's possible.) Assigned to prosecute Lee Leander after she is caught stealing an expensive bracelet, John Sargent manages – with the inadvertent help of her blowhard defense lawyer (a hilarious Willard Robertson) - to get the trial put off until after the Christmas holidays. Feeling guilty that the shoplifter will have to wait out the postponement in jail, Sargent arranges bail. This first act of kindness sets off a domino effect of compassion and grace that shows the healing powers of love, acceptance and absolution.Twenty years ago, on one of our first dates, I showed my future wife just one scene from this film on a poor quality video tape I made of that early TV broadcast. The scene where Sargent's family sing "The End of a Perfect Day" is just a fragment of this heartwarming film, but when I looked over to see my sweetheart's reaction, she already had tears welling up in her eyes and I realized that she got it. And to me, getting it is everything.This is my wife's favorite movie, a one-sheet poster from it now hangs over our fireplace, and we've told hundreds of people how RTN is (to us) as good as "The Wizard Of Oz," "Casablanca," "Singin' In The Rain," "It's A Wonderful Life," "The Thin Man," "It Happened One Night" and many other four star classics you can watch over and over again and still feel all the magic of a perfect film."Remember the Night" was finally released on VHS in 1998 and looked fine when compared to a broadcast quality picture on TV. But it soon went out of print and still remained difficult to find or see for years. We started buying up VHS copies to pass on them on to other film buff friends. We held screening parties in our home. We took copies on the road and introduced the film to others. "Remember the Night" was both loved by those who had seen it and lost to those who could not find a copy.After years of petitioning, the wonderful TCM put it out on DVD in 2010. It looked better than the VHS and sold well for a forgotten little gem. Though the market for DVD's had started to fall off, because of its success, TCM released another version, now restored by no less than the Library of Congress, three years later. And now finally the topper – a brand new Blu-Ray version is finally available and it is stunning! The picture is a super sharp fine grain, showing more detail to enhance those subtle performances and the delightfully funny script. Watch it on the biggest screen you can find with the lights low, the phone turned off, next to the love of your life. You will thank me later.P.S. As I type these words I am reminded of the inscription my wife had engraved inside the wedding ring I now wear… "Remember The Night."

Richard-Flude-1 I was disappointed by "Remember the Night". Not that it is bad film – on the contrary, it is a good film. It is just that I was expecting a great film of the same quality as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street. Compared to these films, "Remember the Night" just does not have the quality of the story, the acting, the performances, the direction and the overall quality compare to the better known films of its era.For me, there are 11 classic Christmas films that I try, as best as I can, to find time to watch during every Christmas season. Generally, I think people use the phrase "classic Christmas films" to mean the best films of the genre made in the 1940s and 1950s. In my list of the top 11, I also insert three more "recent" films. They are, in order:1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 2. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) 3. A Christmas Carol (1951) 4. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) 5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 6. The Bishop's Wife (1947) 7. The Homecoming, A Christmas Story (TV, 1971) 8. The Holy and the Ivy (1952) 9. Holiday Inn (1942) 10. Home Alone (1990) 11. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)I feel that "Remember the Night" falls into a second tier of classic Christmas films that include the following. The films in this list, I like to watch but not every Christmas and only after I have exhausted the list above:• All Mine to Give (1957) • Blossoms in the Dust (1941) • Bush Christmas (1947) • Holiday Affair (1949) • I'll be Seeing You (1944) • It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) • The Miracle of the Bells (1948) • We're no Angels (1955)Overall, I like to divide Christmas into 4 sub-genres as follows: Golden Oldies (made before 1960), "Modern" dramas (made after 1969), Comedies (made after 1969) and Animated. My top films in each sub-genre are:Golden Oldies: as aboveModern Dramas (made after to 1969) 1. The Homecoming, A Christmas Story (TV, 1971) 2. Joyeux Noel (a. k. a. Merry Christmas) (2005) 3. Silent Night" (TV, 2002) 4. The Christmas Shoes (TV, 2002) 5. The Gathering (TV, 1977)Modern Comedies (made after to 1969) 1. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) 2. Home Alone (1990) 3. The Santa Clause (1994) 4. Home Alone, Lost in New York (1992) 5. The Santa Clause 2 (2002) 6. Christmas with the Kranks (2004) 7. Love Actually (2003) 8. A Christmas Story (1983) 9. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2002) 10. Elf (2003)Animated 1. The following tie for first: • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV, 1964) • A Charlie Brown Christmas (TV, 1965) • Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (TV, 1966) • Frosty the Snowman (TV, 1969) • Mickey's Christmas Carol (TV, 1983) 6. The Polar Express (2004) 7. Walt Disney/Donald Duck Christmas (a. k. a. A Disney Christmas Gift) (TV, 1982) 8. A Garfield Christmas Special (TV, 1987) 9. The Wish that Changed Christmas (TV, 1991) 10. The Little Drummer Boy (TV, 1968)

vincentlynch-moonoi With one caveat (below), this is a darned good romantic comedy, and one -- though not well known now -- that was very popular with the public and reviewers.Let's tackle the caveat first. I'm not a prude about how Blacks were depicted in movies from the 1930s through the 1950s. History is history, and it is easy to wonder just how an enlightened Hollywood in many ways could be so insensitive about race. Even historical Blackface doesn't bother me much more than an occasional wince (such as with Bing Crosby's black-face number in "Holiday Inn"). It's part of entertainment/film history. But Hollywood could also be downright cruel when it played the Black stereotype, and to m, this film is a good example of that. Fred "Snowflake" Toones plays a really, really dumb man-servant, and it is pathetically demeaning here. Ironically, Toones -- a prolific supporting actor -- actually also ran the shoeshine stand when he worked at Republic Studios. Shame on the screen writers and director of this film for perpetuating such stereotypes.Beyond that, Barbara Stanwyck plays a shoplifter who is arrested just before Christmas. Fred MacMurray plays the Assistant DA who is assigned to prosecute her. With the trial beginning just before Christmas, he sees the writing on the wall -- that the holiday spirit will probably lead to an acquittal. So, he postpones the trail and posts her bail so she won't spend the holiday in jail. Although soft-pedaled, she thinks he's hitting on her...which he isn't. But soon, romance begins to weave its way into the relationship, and he offers to drop her off at her hometown in Indiana on his way home for Christmas. Unfortunately, on the way to Indiana, MacMurray and Stanwyck get arrested and then flee the law. When Stanwyck's mother rejects her (albeit for reason), MacMurray invites her to his mother's home for Christmas. MacMurray tells his mother about Stanwyck's past. But before leaving, MacMurray's mother has a chat with Stanwyck, reminding her of the hard work MacMurray put in to reach his role as Asst DA. Stanwyck agrees to give him up. On the way back to the city -- via Canada so as to avoid the small town judge where they had been arrested -- MacMurray offers to let her escape, but she refuses. She goes on trial in New York for the shoplifting charge, but she realizes he is being particularly cruel toward "a woman" on the stand so that the jury will feel sorry for her and not convict her...which might land him in hot water. So, she pleads guilty. She goes to jail, but tells him that if he still loves her after jail, then she'll marry him.This is another example of what a wonderfully affable actor Fred MacMurray was in his prime Hollywood years. Far more than the man too many Americans only remember from "My Three Sons". And, this is one of Barbara Stanwyck's best roles. Also notable are three supporting actors -- Stanwyck's mother is played by Beulah Bondi, her cousin by Sterling Holloway, and his aunt by Elizabeth Patterson. Bondi is the classic old-fashioned mother figure, and is welcome in most any film; though very good here, this may not be her best role. Holloway is no favorite of mine, but here he sings a wonderful version of "The End Of A Perfect Day", and after being very unappealing early in his scenes, turns in a rather sensitive performance. And Patterson is another of those "old lady" character actresses who just seems so very right.There are a few aspects of this film that unrealistic, but the story is heartwarming, even a bit uplifting. Yet it is not sugary...after all Stanwyck does go to prison and for quite a long time.Highly recommended.