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It's fascinating to speculate what Preston Sturges would have done with this film had he directed it himself. He reputedly disliked Mitchell Leisen's treatment, but in this he only proves he was a better creator than a critic.

I suspect Sturges wanted to deliver a typically cynical social satire; something about how the rigidity of law must inevitably give way to the caprices of love (with a plot boldly swiped from Camille). But Leisen brought to the project all the delicate sentiment that Sturges would have shied away from, and turned Sturges' clever parable into a heart-rending, almost Dickensian Christmas fable.

Just as Sturges was a genius of dry wit, Leisen was a master at tweaking the heart-strings, and of creating a magically timeless mood. (See Death Takes a Holiday, for instance.) So in Remember the Night we have a one-of-a-kind fusion of opposites. What results is a remarkable film: understated and clever, yet emotional and heroic. And somehow, amazingly, both hopeful *and* downbeat.

Remember the Night is one of a handful of absolutely indispensable Christmas classics: it deserves to be counted right alongside It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol and The Bishop's Wife. It's less-known than the others doubtless because it's less mystical, less whimsical, and most importantly, because it fails to provide the mandatory Happy Ending. But that's exactly its greatest value.

We've come to set impossible standards for Christmas, and bring only disappointment upon ourselves, year after year. Remember the Night reminds us that Christmas is, after all, just one part of the cycle. It can't magically endow us with Joy Everlasting... but it can allow us a chance to raise our sights just a little bit as our lives tumble inevitably onward into the new year. And that's a *real* miracle, not a storybook fantasy that requires angelic intervention to make it come true.

REMEMBER THE NIGHT (Paramount, 1940), directed by Mitchell Leisen, is a sentimental drama with doses of comedy, compliments of screenwriter, Preston Sturges, shortly before winning fame as top 1940s comedy director with such madcap classics as THE LADY EVE (1941), THE PALM BEACH STORY (1942) and MIRACLE OF MORGAN'S CREEK (1944), among others. It also marked the first of four movies to pair Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, with their most famous being DOUBLE INDEMNITY (Paramount, 1944), but REMEMBER THE NIGHT is certainly a movie to remember.

Set in New York City during the Christmas shopping rush, Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck), a classy lady wearing fur coat and gloves, manages to purposely walk out of the store with a diamond bracelet. After heading to another store to possibly do some more lifting, she is recognized by the store-owner and kept there until the police arrive. Lee goes on trial defended by O'Leary (Willard Robertson), with John Sargent (Fred MacMurray) as an assistant district attorney whose job is to send this third time offender to prison. Because it is Christmas Eve, the case gets postponed until January 3rd. Feeling sorry for Lee for having to spend Christmas in jail until her case comes up again, John arranges to have her bailed out. Because she has no place to go, John, learning that Lee is originally from Indiana, his home state, and since he is planning to drive home there to spend Christmas with his family, agrees to take Lee with him and leave her at her mother's home, and pick up her again on his way back to New York. After John witnesses Lee's mother's (Georgia Caine) cold-hearted reception towards her daughter, who has never forgiven her for her past misdeeds, he decides to take her with him to spend the holidays with his family. Upon meeting John's mother, Sarah (Beulah Bondi), his aunt, Emma (Elizabeth Patterson), and their farmhand, Willie Sims (Sterling Holloway), Lee is greeted like one of the family, which changes this hard-boiled dame after being given a real Christmas she never had, and learning a lesson of humility. On top of that, she starts to fall in love with John, in spite of a trial awaiting her upon her return to New York.

REMEMBER THE NIGHT is a well-written comedy-drama that is unjustly ignored as one of the Christmas packages of annual holiday delights, not as well known as the most famous treasures of revivals, such as Frank Capra's IT'S A WONDEERFUL LIFE (1946) for example. Like IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, REMEMBER THE NIGHT blends comedy with sentimentality. It also has its moments of darkness, such as the scene where Lee (Stanwyck) is reunited with her cold-hearted mother, now remarried. After leaving the home where she was raised, she goes outside on the front porch to cry with John by her side. At the same time, the camera, which focuses on the central character, also picks up Lee's mother looking sternly through the curtain of the glass door, shutting off the lights and going about her business, as Lee tells John that she wishes that she had broken her neck upon falling from a tree at the front of the house when she was a child. On the humorous side, the street-wise Lee succeeds in outsmarting a yokel farmer (John Wray) and a small town judge (Thomas W. Ross), which avoids her and John from spending time in jail for unwittingly trespassing on the farmer's property and taking milk from his cow. Then on the lighter side in the Sargent household, there is Willie (Holloway) taking time to sing a nice song, "The End of a Perfect Day."

In the supporting cast are Charles Waldron as the New York Judge; Paul Guilfoyle as John, the district attorney; Frederick "Snowflake" Toone as John's valet, Rufus; and Tom Kennedy as "Fat Mike." Barbara Stanwyck, who gives an excellent performance, as usual, is presented with charm and beauty, especially the scene on Christmas day where she sits by the Christmas tree looking at John's baby picture while John is playing the piano singing "Swanee River." It's a beauty and glitter in Stanwyck that is more noticeable here than any of her other movies. Look for it. Other songs heard in the movie include: "Nothing in Life But You" and "My Indiana Home."

REMEMBER THE NIGHT, which was formerly presented on cable TV's American Movie Classics from 1993 to 1994, and part of the the Disney Channel's former "Best of Hollywood" in the early to mid 1990s, and distributed on video cassette about the same time through MCA (and Turner Classic Movies where it premiered December 17, 2006). Anyone tired of the overplaying of the same Christmas movies presented on TV year after year, and looking for something new and different from Hollywood's golden age, and worthy of rewatchability, REMEMBER THE NIGHT is the one worth seeing. (***1/2)

Watching Remember The Night I remembered something else that audiences might have forgotten in 1940 in seeing this film on screen. The District Attorney of New York County was one Thomas E. Dewey who was definitely not one for mixing business with pleasure. If one of his Assistant District Attorneys went bail for a prisoner he was prosecuting and took her home for Christmas and across a few state lines to boot, that man would not have had a job and Dewey wouldn't have cared about reasons of love.

But with a script by Preston Sturges and direction by Mitchell Leisen you could forget about reality and concentrate on Christmas romance. Leisen assembled a great cast of character players in this very charming comedy/drama. And you can't miss with leads like Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck in the first of four films they did together.

MacMurray's the ADA who's prosecuting Stanwyck for shoplifting and this ain't her first offense. But a combination of her beauty and charm and one flannelmouth defense attorney has him feeling sorry for her and then going her bail and taking her home because, after all it's Christmas.

They have an eventful drive to Indiana where they both coincidentally hail from and MacMurray himself winds up a fugitive from a speed trap in a hilarious sequence. And the two see the kind of homes each came from, something that prosecutors and criminals don't often see from each other's point of view.

Beulah Bondi and Elizabeth Patterson play MacMurray's mother and aunt and are quite the contrast to Georgia Caine who is Stanwyck's cold hearted mom. Spencer Charters does a good job as the speed trap judge in Pennsylvania.

My favorite however is Stanwyck's attorney Willard Robertson who is really carried away with himself as her lawyer. He's giving her a defense on the shoplifting charge that Clarence Darrow gave Leopold&Loeb. Man does love to hear himself talk. But his talk keeps the trial over the holidays allowing cupid to work.

Stanwyck and Sturges became friends and he confided in her that he would be directing as well as writing soon and next year he might just have a project perfect for her. The project turned out to be The Lady Eve according to a recent biography of Stanwyck.

Remember The Night is a charming film by some charm masters. But I suspect that Thomas E. Dewey probably hated it.

Remember the Night is directed by Mitchell Leisen and written by Preston Sturges. It stars Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, Willard Robertson and Sterling Holloway. Music is by Friedrich Hollaender and cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff.

A lovely heart warming tale for the Yuletide season, story pitches Stanwyck as a lady thief and MacMurray as the prosecutor who takes pity on her and takes her home to meet his family. Back stories are revealed and the chemistry between the two principals is palpable. The genius pen of Sturges provides much humour, romance and family values, while Leisen smartly directs his cast to bonzer performances. Also of note is that the director never lets the film slip into deep treacle territory, getting the various balances just right.

A must see Christmas movie across the board. 8/10

A really well done piece from two top notch stars, three years before they would be paired again as one of film noir's classic doomed couples in DOUBLE INDEMNITY. After working on this film, Stanwyck gave Sturges an automatic 'Yes!' when he asked her to be in THE LADY EVE. MacMurray and Stanwyck would be paired in two others, THE MOONLIGHTERS (a western in 3-D, no less) and the soapy THERE'S ALWAYS TOMORROW, but REMEMBER THE NIGHT is their best romance, both of them bringing a fast patter and no nonsense attitude to their characters that is both winning and believable. There are some charming Christmas scenes when they reach his home - a square dance, a dear gift giving sequence and some great supporting work from Beulah Bondi, Sterling Holloway and Elizabeth Patterson. However, I think the previous comment hit it on the nose - it's as close to a noir holiday comedy as you can get. Highly recommended to get you into the holidaze...MDMPHD

TCM aired this Christmas Eve this past year. I can't believe so few people have seen this judging by the 20+ reviews and 500 votes. It is an undiscovered gem waiting to be found. Hopefully with more airings around the holiday it will build a much deserved following.

This is such a charming film with two superlative stars - Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. While they both play roles they easily inhabit - her as the tough broad and him as the good-as-gold good guy - they both bring such warmth, charm and ease into their portrayals as to seem like a warm pair of gloves on a cold's winter night.

I love the references to Indiana. Both of my parents were Hoosiers and we went back to visit many times for reunions and Christmases. So much of the film seemed like a visit home to me. "Back Home In Indiana" is such a great melody, as was "A Perfect Day". Wouldn't it be great if families still gathered 'round pianos for a sing-a-long? MacMurray's farmhouse was such a wonderfully authentic set.

Wouldn't all of us love to be welcomed into a home like this, with so much love and warmth. There are so many nice old-fashioned touches, like popping corn over the fire, stringing popcorn for the Christmas tree, making popovers, a church bazaar, and a New Year's Eve Barn Dance. There is a wonderful touching scene when the spinster Aunt is letting Stanwyck borrow a gown of hers - only to find out it was a wedding dress she never got to use. I had to laugh at all the undergarments that went along with it (corset, bust lace, hip lace, etc, all to make a woman appear curvier). At one point she asks Stanwyck the size of her waist, which she answers is a 25 or 26. The Aunt says when she was young, they thought 19 inches was big. Ouch, those corsets must have hurt!

There are many different moods to this film which made it so interesting. At times, it felt like a screwball comedy, then a noir-ish piece, there's drama, and there's romance. I think this is a film the whole family can watch as it will appeal to most everyone. This one will have you laughing and tearing up at sentimental moments. A true classic that should be more appreciated today.

This little sentimental tale is so sweet and heartwarming, I consider it one of my favorite holiday movies. The beginning is a bit slow, the courtroom scene drawn out and ones mind can wander. But once the story begins, it carries viewers back to a time when simpler pleasures where enjoyed. The popcorn, singing around the piano, simple gifts, popovers, canary in the cage, white elephant sale and barn dance all make one long for those days. Who wouldn't like to step into this movie, and go home with John/Jack, snuggle in the flannel gown, in the cozy bed, and have the Mom and Aunt fussing around, seeing to your every need. I give this movie a 10 and believe it is one of the "overlooked" films of the holiday season. I am a great fan of the classics, Miracle on 34th, Wonderful Life, White Christmas and Christmas in Conneticut. But these smaller, lesser known films, are simply grand. Holiday Affair is another to check out, if you want some variety in your viewing.

"Remember the night" was the follow-up to "Midnight" in Leisen's filmography,and although the director substitutes melodrama for comedy the recurrent feature is the Cinderella syndrome :a false baroness in the latter,a thief in the former.

Whereas "midnight " was proof positive that money can't buy you love in a very funny way,"remember the night' is graver ,although very moving,a true story of redemption at Christmas time.

Fred McMurray is some kind of Prince Charming,but a prince who was not born silver spoon in hand :he had to work to pay his studies,he is a self made man his family is proud of.My favorite moments are the celebration of Christmas in the family home -a thing the girl never knew : mitigating circumstances-.This may be the moral of the tale:your do not have to come from a rich family provided this family cares for you and is a moral pillow.

Barbara Stanwyck and McMurray made a nice pairing that was used again. A wonderful movie for Christmas time ,like "it's a wonderful life" or " the shop around the corner"

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."

If you can accept the premise that a prosecuting attorney would take a shoplifter home for Christmas because he doesn't want her to spend the holidays in jail--and then allows himself to fall deeply in love with her within a short space of time--well, this is the romantic comedy-drama for you.

MITCHELL LEISEN (who had a way with romantic comedies in the '30s and '40s) lets BARBARA STANWYCK and FRED MacMURRAY shine in this tender romance whereby Stanwyck is welcomed into his family in Indiana over the holidays--and gets the royal treatment from BEULAH BONDI (MacMurray's mother) and ELIZABETH PATTERSON (his old maid aunt). Tending to farmhouse chores is STERLING HOLLOWAY, who has an effective moment when he sings a sweet ballad while Stanwyck plays the piano.

It has a cozy ambiance for all of the holiday scenes but there's always a dark undersurface to the story that is kept pretty much under wraps most of the time. But the film gets off to a faulty start with an overdone and overlong courtroom speech by a defense lawyer that is cringeworthy in the way it goes on and on.

Stanwyck is attractively photographed and looks as though she's having a fine time in a typical Stanwyck role and MacMurray more than fills the bill as the lawyer who lets himself fall for a woman he has to prosecute after the holidays are over.

It's typical '40s style corn, but Leisen's direction and the Preston Sturges script gives it plenty of warmth and appeal.

REMEMBER THE NIGHT is one of my favorite Christmas movies, and maybe one of my favorite movies of any genre. The characters, quirky and sympathetic, endowed by writer Preston Sturges with his own unique brand of offbeat wit and wiliness, ring true from the opening sequence to the wrenching last scene.

Barbara Stanwyck is at the peak of her beauty, but here she plays a hardboiled shoplifter, cynical and icy. Her foil is the savvy D.A., played by Fred MacMurray at his most beguiling best. We learn early on that, although working the tough New York streets, they are both from Indiana, giving them the corn-fed, all-American heartland background, and making them somehow, in spite of being on the opposite sides of the law, perfectly right for each other.

A road trip to Indiana (with "Back Home in Indiana" woven into the sound track) brings them to Barbara's home, where Fred intends to drop her off for a Christmas visit. What ensues is one of the most effectively chilling scenes I've ever seen in a movie--a convincing picture of a mother with a hard heart and the total devastation of her daughter as a result. Stanwyck melts before our eyes. The brief performance of Georgia Caine, an actress unknown to me before this film, is one of the subtlest yet most powerful I've ever seen.

The bleak atmosphere is soon contrasted with the genuine warmth and tenderness--and Christmas spirit--of the home Fred grew up in. Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, and Sterling Holloway create a totally convincing family, and Barbara's reaction to them, reflected in the sparkle in her eyes that seems to come from nowhere, is a hallmark of great film acting. I'm a sucker for families singing around the piano, and this scene is one of the most touching in any holiday movie. Sterling Holloway suddenly volunteers that he can "sing 'The End of a Perfect Day'" and Bondi retorts, "So can everybody," but soon he is singing it with full conviction and Stanwyck is accompanying him at the piano.

This is a complex little movie, full of lights and shadows, and ending on a slightly unsatisfying dark note. But you leave it pondering exactly what will happen next, and you can't help but think it will all work out well somehow. You have met some complete human beings, of another time and place, and they have stolen your heart.

If you can just get past the first tedious twenty minutes of this film then you are in for a treat. The opening trial scenes really bog down the movie and although it appears to be written for laughs it's just not funny. However, once Fred MacMurray decides to take wayward Barbara Stanwyck home for Christmas things really perk up as the relationship between them and the people they meet are explored. There are many excellent performances here and you will long remember the hate filled cameo by Georgia Caine as Stanwyck's Mother and the genuine, loving performances by Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson and Sterling Holloway as Fred's family. Unfortunately there is also the casting of Fred 'Snowflake' Toones (as a black servant to MacMurray) in a small part that, seen through modern eyes, is offensive and degrading. MacMurray and Stanwyck are a great couple though and this is a film well worth watching despite the drawbacks.

Now here's an offbeat Christmas classic which must be rediscovered. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray are a pickpocket and district attorney who reluctantly fall in love over the holidays.

It's so nice to see a film with so much warmth, humor, and good will. I know miserable families technically make for much more interesting stories, but I adored seeing the tenderness and strong bonds between MacMurray's character and his family, and the way it radiated onto Stanwyck's lady thief.

Absolutely recommended by me, though with Stanwyck in the line up, I shouldn't have to tell you twice, right?

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.

4 years before the memorable "Double Indemnity," Fred MacMurray first teamed with Barbara Stanwyck in "Remember the Night."

The story is typical Preston Sturgis-people meeting in unusual circumstances and falling in love.

In this one, MacMurray prosecutes Stanwyck for shoplifting, and since it's Christmas time, he takes her home for the holidays. They encounter a madcap adventure before settling in his home.

Virginia Brissac is memorable in a brief but devastating performance as a cold mother whose veneer tells you immediately what she is like. Contrast this with MacMurray's family, the wonderful, understanding Beulah Bondi as his mother and Elizabeth Patterson, as an also understanding spinster aunt. This film tries to depict that we are what we are because of our environment. It alternates in being funny and serious. Stanwyck's hard-nosed character does become gentle right-away but that's due to environmental factors.

The ending may disappoint you at first but upon further thought there is hope for our two major characters.

Shoplifting young woman in New York City is nearly sent to the pokey over the holidays, but is rescued by the prosecuting attorney on the case, who takes her home for Christmas. Mitchell Leisen directs a screenplay by Preston Sturges; despite reported trouble between the two, Leisen seems to completely understand the writer's changes in mood and tone, and the peculiar mixture of comedy and very serious drama is nearly a success. The film's first act verges on screwball, what with the courtroom antics, a car accident, and a cow with a taste for ladies' hats. The sagging midsection aside, the rest of the picture is a bit more serious, almost brazen in its juggling of different themes, and the ending isn't a cop-out. In the leads, brilliant Barbara Stanwyck makes a difficult role seem effortless, while Fred MacMurray has some efficient moments--though his usual sneaky look continues to resemble that of a hanging judge. Leisen does excellent work with the supporting players as well (even the gross caricature of a black servant is handled with unassuming bemusement, and the actor Snowflake is fun to have around). Time is wasted with some nonsense involving a shotgun-toting farmer, but the movie always gets back on track after it missteps, and the final moments with Stanwyck and MacMurray's relatives is surprisingly bracing. *** from ****

A charming depiction of the warmth and love of a family. My favorite moment in the movie is when Sterling Holloway sings "The End of a Perfect Day" accompanied by Barbara Stanwyck. Such a touching moment, and representative of the overall feel of the film.

This is a tough one to rate, because I'm a sucker for romantic films and I'm a sucker for Barbara Stanwyck, but the first 40+ minutes of this film are really not very good. The lengthy courtroom scene in the beginning is silly, we see a lot of shambling from an African-American servant, and the premise of the film which unfolds - that a prosecutor (Fred MacMurray) would bail a defendant (Stanwyck) out and then drive across the country with her to Indiana - is ridiculous. The scene in the cow pasture they end up in one night before being hauled in before a small town judge is too. This is definitely a film where you'll need to be patient.

The point at which MacMurray escorts Stanwyck to her estranged mother's home and she turns to him and says "Gee, you're sweet" in such a wonderfully authentic tone is where the film gets good. Stanwyck is a thief who is literally from the wrong side of the tracks, and the following scene which explains her difficult upbringing is quite good. Soon afterwards MacMurray takes her to his own home, where his loving family embrace her and act with incredible decency and kindness. His mother (Beulah Bondi) and aunt (Elizabeth Patterson) are such a sweet old pair, and a joy to watch. One of the points of the film is that the family we're born into and the love we receive is so important in life, and I liked this message. Meanwhile, as you undoubtedly guess, Stanwyck and MacMurray begin falling for one another.

The romantic scenes are engaging, helped considerably by how attractive and talented Stanwyck and MacMurray are. Stanwyck lights up the screen from the minute she casts a sharp glance at MacMurray in the courtroom, and never lets up. I don't for a second believe her as the product of a broken home and a grifter with a rap sheet - she simply doesn't convey the necessary edge for that here - but the film isn't really going for that. There is an underlying sweetness all around, and the scenes between Stanwyck and Bondi, which might have otherwise been full of suspicion on one side and defiance on the other, have none of that. Instead we see things like Bondi lacing Stanwyck into her old corset ("When I was young, we thought 19 (inch waste) was big"), and having rational heart to heart talks about the feelings that she sees developing. These scenes are just as good as those between Stanwyck and MacMurray.

The softy in me suspends disbelief and is swayed by the love story and touching ending, but I'm not sure I can go higher on the rating. If you're looking for a feel-good movie though, this one is pretty good.

A classic and yet one most people have never even heard of, "Remember the Night" was a Mitchell Leisen movie with an original screenplay by Preston Sturges and stared Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray, (before they got all hot and bothered in "Double Indemnity"), so what more proof do you need that it's a classic and a very funny one, too.

Stanwyck is the jewel thief and MacMurray the District Attorney determined to put her in jail for stealing a diamond bracelet over Christmas but in typical screwball fashion MacMurray ends up taking her home for the holidays to meet the folks. The inevitable happens. Both leads are superb and there are great supporting turns from Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, Sterling Holloway and Willard Robertson as the defence attorney whose opening speech to the jury is worth the price of admission. It may not be "The Lady Eve" but it's certainly the next best thing.

So I was stuck for a good old Christmas movie to watch, keyed in for a list of best festive features and there I found this, as it turned out, charming film which featured both a Christmas and New Year celebration. Actually I should have known I was onto a winner when I saw the cast of Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyck, direction by Mitchell Leisen and best of all, the writing credit of the great Preston Sturges, in fact this was the last time he worked just as a screen-writer before settling into the director's chair himself.

It doesn't disappoint. The plot takes in recognisable Sturges motifs like an opposites-attract chemistry between his leads, their bonding together on a road trip, an eccentric family in the background and a daringly downbeat ending. The mise-en-scene is fast-moving, the dialogue believable and sharp, the ensemble playing excellent.

Oddly enough, in their two later collaborations "There's Always Tomorrow" and most famously of course in "Double Indemnity, Stanwyck also plays the slightly shady temptress luring or as in this case alluring McMurray to her side, but on this occasion she's not all bad and her thieving ways are explained if not excused by her hard upbringing as personified by her cold-hearted mother who turns her own daughter away on Christmas Eve.

She then finds her redemption in the loving family of McMurray's widowed mother, spinster aunt and their yodelling young hayseed help Willy and falls for McMurray symbolically on the stroke of new year, but McMurray is changed too by her, after all, he only got her trial postponed so that she wouldn't escape imprisonment for her minor offence down to the seasonal goodwill of her jury.

In the end she has to face the music for her past indiscretions by returning to stand trial after the holidays which puts prosecuting attorney McMurray in a bind as he's in love with her too. Almost as you'd expect from Sturges, the ending is credibly grounded in common sense and not quite, at least in the short term, the happy ever after ending you'd expect the time of year might have demanded. The only sour note for me really was the stereotypical, subservient way that McMurray's black butler is portrayed.

That apart, discovering and watching this lesser-known feature was certainly an extra Christmas gift for me this year.