CHRISTMAS SPOTLIGHT: REMEMBER THE NIGHT (1940)

Remember the Night (1940) is a romantic comedy/drama Christmas film written by Preston Sturges and directed by Mitchell Leisen. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray and features Beulah Bondi and Sterling Holloway.

Lee Leander, is arrested during the Christmas holidays after trying to shoplift a very expensive bracelet. Assistant District Attorney John, is assigned to prosecute her. Thinking he may lose his case against Lee Leander when he hears argument to have the case decided quickly. He postpones the case until after the first of the year.

John, posts her bail so she does not have to spend Christmas in jail. When John learns that she is from Indiana, where he is about to drive to visit his mother for the holidays, he offers to drop her off at home. Unfortunately, they get lost in Pennsylvania and end up crashing the car and spend the night in a field. The next morning, they are arrested by a farmer and taken into the justice of the peace. Lee starts a fire in a wastebasket as a distraction and they escape..

When they arrive at Lee's mother's farm, Lee's mother turns her away, Lee is devastated. John decides to bring her home to his mother and Aunt Emma. Lee is looking forward to visiting a loving home for Christmas. John in confidence tells his mother about Lee and she welcomes Lee into her home, with open arms. A romance between her and John, begins to bloom. Jack's mother, believes that a relationship with Lee would destroy her son's career and asks Lee to give him up. On the drive home, John comes up with a plan so that she can avoid prosecution. Will Lee pay for her crime?

I think that you will want to add the the film, Remember the Night, to your list of Christmas classics: It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Christmas Carol and The Bishop's Wife.

Beulah Bondi (May 3, 1888 – January 11, 1981, began her acting career as a young child in theater, she reprised her role in Street Scene for the 1931 film version. She played supporting roles in many films during the 1930s, and was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She played the mother of James Stewart in four films, including Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and It's a Wonderful Life (1946).

She continued acting into her old age, and won an Emmy Award for an appearance in the television series, The Walton's in 1976.