Remember The Night (1940): Sweet Christmas with Barbara

ByFabian Bullitt

1940 • Mitchell Leisen • 1.37:1 • Jump to Gallery ↓

Four years before they became one of the most iconic pairings in film noir history in Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity, Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray first collaborated in Mitchell Leisen’s Remember the Night, a tender Christmas romance with a legal twist. While it may not be a holiday season staple on a par with It’s a Wonderful Life, it is still a delightful film.

Nevertheless, Remember the Night’s legacy is more closely linked to its writer, Preston Sturges. Leisen made significant changes to the original script, prompting Sturges to direct his own scripts, resulting in multiple classics. One of these was The Lady Eve, which came about after he promised Stanwyck on the set of Remember the Night that he would write a screwball comedy for her.

Aside from that, it is a well-directed film that never strays from its main appeal: the legendary Barbara Stanwyck. She shares great chemistry with Fred MacMurray, but it is Stanwyck that the camera loves most. From the screwball legal issues at the beginning to the sweet melodrama that follows, she captivates. Whether in front of a judge or a Christmas tree, she always shines in Edith Head‘s costumes and, with shiny tears in her eyes, is impossible to forget.

Technical Specs:

  • The Story: Just before Christmas, a tough assistant district attorney takes pity on a shoplifter he’s prosecuting and offers to drive her back to her hometown for the holidays. Along the way, unexpected feelings develop, shaping a bittersweet romance of conscience, circumstance, and compassion.
  • Actors: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, Willard Robertson, Sterling Holloway, Charles Waldron.
  • Director: Mitchell Leisen
  • Year: 1940
  • Cinematographer: Ted Tetzlaff
  • Origin: American Cinema
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
  • Genre: Romance / Christmas Movie
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