
Remember the Night.
Remember the Night is a 1940 romantic comedy drama.
Cast[]
Singing roles[]
- Fred MacMurray - John Sargeant, DA
- Sterling Holloway - Willie
- Beulah Bondi - Mrs. Sargeant
- Elizabeth Patterson - Aunt Emma
- Martha Mears - Nightclub Singer
Non-singing roles[]
- Barbara Stanwyck - Lee Leander
- Georgia Caine - Lee's Mother
Plot[]
Lee Leander is arrested during the Christmas holidays for trying to shoplift a bracelet from a New York jewelry shop. Assistant District Attorney John Sargeant is assigned to prosecute her. The trial begins just before Christmas, but rather than face a jury filled with the holiday spirit, he has the trial postponed. He generously posts her bail so she does not have to spend Christmas in jail.
Discovering that Lee is a fellow Hoosier (a native of Indiana), he offers to drop her off on his way to visit his mother, cousin Willie, and aunt Emma. During the road trip, they get lost in Pennsylvania and end up crashing through a fence and spending the night in a field. The next morning, they are arrested by a farmer and taken to an unfriendly justice of the peace. Lee starts a fire in his wastebasket as a distraction and the pair flee.
When Lee's mother gives her a cold reception, John decides to take Lee home with him. She is warmly received, even though John tells his mother about Lee's past. During the holiday, John and Lee fall in love. His mother has a private talk with her before she leaves, telling her how hard John had to work all his life to reach his present position. Lee agrees to give him up so as not to jeopardize his career. On the way back to New York via Canada (to bypass Pennsylvania), John offers Lee a chance to escape, but she turns down the opportunity.
Back in New York, Lee is put on trial, but she pleads guilty when she realizes that John could get into trouble for attempting to throw her case. As she is led away, John proposes to her, and she tells him that if he still feels the same way when she gets out, she will marry him.
Musical numbers[]
- "Easy Living" - Nightclub Singer
- "Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)" - John
- "A Perfect Day" - Willie, John, Aunt Emma and Mrs. Sargeant