Remember the Night (1940) - Christmas Classic Archive
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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.
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.
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December 22, 2015
December 22, 2015
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