Sometimes the algorithm can be your friend, even if it is finicky and mysterious.  Because I recently watched two classic Christmas movies in a row, Amazon Prime has decided that is all I want.  It is not a bad assumption.  I like to think that my preference for nostalgic material is partially motivated by my Catholic Faith.  If nothing else, my cinematic penchant and my religion share deep roots, relatively speaking.  At the same time, nostalgia is the enemy of faith.  God gives us the present, and dwelling on the past can be dangerous.  Nonetheless, I cannot think of any Yuletide film I would watch that was made in the past few decades rather than any of their forebears.  Remember the Night (1940) is no exception, and it actually raises the bar for the kind of quality I want to see from others of its ilk.

You would not think Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck) to be a quality person, at least not with what we see her doing at the beginning of Remember the Night.  She is in a New York department store trying on a diamond bracelet.  When she asks to look at another piece, she takes off without paying for the one on her wrist.  Making her way down the street to a pawn shop, instead of giving money for the goods, the establishment’s owner locks her inside and calls the police.  It being close to Christmas, nobody at the district attorney’s (DA) office is eager to be the one to prosecute the case, especially considering it is for a female thief.  Indeed, John Sargent (Fred MacMurray) has to be tricked into taking the job.  During the first part of the trial, Lee’s appointed defender’s argument is a mix of mental duress and sympathy.  Wanting to get away for the holidays, and believing that juries are more sympathetic towards those on the docket this time of year, John successfully motions that they recess until after the new year.  Unfortunately for Lee, this means spending a few weeks behind bars.  Sensing that he is somehow responsible for this, John arranges for his bail bondsman friend, Fat Mike (Tom Kennedy), to secure Lee’s temporary freedom until the trial recommences.  This happens, but instead of turning her loose on the city, Fat Mike brings Lee to John’s residence.  This is not something John is expecting, but his kindness continues by taking Lee to dinner.  While out, they learn that they share common Indiana roots, which is where he is headed the following day.  As she shares about the fact that she has nowhere to go in the city, he offers to drive her to Indiana to reconnect with her mother.  As they go along, they bond over experiences like accidentally going off the road and ending up in a cow patch.  Deciding to spend the night in the field turns out to not be taken kindly by the farmer, who demands they be taken to the local magistrate for recompense.  When the judge proves unfriendly to their circumstances, Lee lights a fire in the trash can and she and John slip out in the midst of the distraction.  While that is a fun moment, it is spoiled when they arrive at her childhood home.  The trepidation she has felt about returning is confirmed when her mother (Georgia Caine) is not only unwelcoming, but unforgiving of Lee’s past transgressions.  Once more being friendly, John invites Lee to come spend Christmas and New Year’s with his family.  Upon pulling up to the house, Mrs. Sargent (Beulah Bondi), John’s mother, immediately opens her door to Lee.  Of course, Mrs. Sargent and her sister, Aunt Emma (Elizabeth Patterson), think that Lee is there as John’s fiancée.  Instead, John later confides Lee’s situation to his mom.  Even though Lee has a record, the newcomer is warmly accepted.  The kindness extends to making sure she has gifts on Christmas day despite getting there with short notice.  Despite her past, Aunt Emma and Mrs. Sargent want to see Lee be with John, especially after the two older ladies see the budding couple kiss on New Year’s.  The ladies make their appeal to Lee upon getting home from the celebration.  Lee is touched, but she claims that there is no way that she and John could ever get married.  The older women try to cheer her by claiming anything is possible since John and Lee love one another.  With that in the back of Lee’s mind, she and John depart for New York, being sure to avoid going near where they ran afoul of the law.  Their route takes them through Canada, making a romantic stop at Niagara Falls.  It is there that John admits what we all know to be true: that he does love her, and that he wants to marry her.  As for the trial, he has a plan for how to make sure she does not spend any time in prison.  When the trial reconvenes, she is put on the stand.  Hoping to get the jury on Lee’s side, John harshly questions her.  Instead, it makes her realize that she is guilt, and she thus opts to change her plea to guilty.  Though the judge (Charles Waldron) warns her of the consequences of doing so, she persists.  Before being taken into custody, she shares a last embrace with John, making him promise to not forget her as she serves her time.

Though Lee is looking at a few years behind bars by the end of Remember the Night, my synopsis is a bit shorter because of the film.  It is on the shorter side because it features a few courtroom sequences with long soliloquys.  What these speeches pertain to Lee’s innocence, or lack thereof.  It is evident from the start that she is guilty.  Guilt and innocence are something that we are quick to assign, even outside of the courtroom.  It is also a tricky subject when it comes to faith.  In Matthew 7:1, Jesus says, “Stop judging, that you may not be judged.”  There are many cliches based on this Scripture, like “those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.”  From the Christian point of view, this simply means that God is the only one who can truly judge us.  We can see this attitude mirrored in the behavior of Aunt Emma and Mrs. Sargent.  Actually, their behavior goes beyond the kind of trust such hospitality requires.  What they see in Lee is the child of God she is, which is a person capable of redemption.  When we judge others, particularly when it comes to negative perceptions, much of the time it is something that sticks with us and is difficult to shake.  Alternatively, Lee points out something that is equally true: that we have to pay the consequences for our transgressions when we commit them.  To be sure, there will be a final judgement for all us, which will determine where we spend eternity.  God asks that we discern everything, which is another way of saying to judge people and situations wisely.  What is needed is to keep Him at the center of all such thoughts.  If a person seems difficult, like accepting a thief into your home for the holidays, then trusting in God will at least absolve you of any guilt.  Finally, by doing so, maybe you will change someone’s heart for the better.  This is what we get with Lee, and changing hearts and minds is one of the reasons Jesus’ was born on Christmas.

Then again, Remember the Night is not the strongest Christmas movie, despite being one of the better films I have seen this season.  As with most of them, they have little to do with Jesus, and this just happens to take place during the holidays.  It could have been set at almost any time of the year and had the same outcome.  All the same, I will take it over many like it.