Remember The Night (1940)

 

Remember The Night - 1942

Coming up next is 1940's "Remember The Night", the story of a thief who spends the Christmas holidays with a down to earth family who make her question everything she's ever known.

The film's cast includes Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Beulah Bondi, Elizabeth Patterson, Willard Robertson, Sterling Holloway, and Virginia Brissac.

Jewelry thief Lee Leander is on trial after being caught stealing and trying to sell the stolen merchandise.

Nearly Christmastime, the prosecutor asks for a recess until after Christmas in order to give him an edge.  Lee is devastated that she'll have to spend the Christmas period in jail.  She can't post bail because she has no money.

The prosecutor, John Sargent, overhears Lee's conversation with her lawyer.  Feeling badly, he decides to put up the bail money himself so that she can spend Christmas with her family.

At first, Lee is a little apprehensive about John's motives.  He tells her that she deserves to have Christmas with her family no matter what she's done.  They can resume their mutual animosity when the holiday is over.

He takes her for dinner and dancing to begin the holiday right.  There, Lee's defenses begin to drop.  John agrees to drive Lee to her mother's home in Indiana.  He's going the same way, just a little further, so it will be no trouble.  He will pick her up when he's on his way back.

They get a little lost on the way and have to spend the night in a field.  When they wake up in the morning, they realize that they are in the middle of a field of cows who are very curious about the strange object in their pasture.

When they finally get to Lee's mother's house, they find that the woman wants absolutely nothing to do with her daughter and turns them from the house.

Feeling terrible about the situation, John decides to take Lee home with him for the holidays.  His family is overjoyed and welcomes her with open arms.  Lee is overwhelmed by their generosity.

They whisk Lee right into the living room, where they start trimming the tree and singing while John plays the piano.  Lee even gets in a little piano playing of her own.  The next day, which is Christmas, Lee happily watches the family open the gifts they've gotten for each other.

And she gets overwhelmed once again by their generosity when one by one they each give her something for Christmas.

Christmas night, the entire family and Lee attend a charity bazaar and dress-up dance.  John gets a look at Lee and sparks fly!

They spend the evening dancing.  His family watches with joy on their faces.

On the way back to New York, John decides to go by way of Canada, and they stop at Niagara Falls.  John tells Lee he loves her and wants to marry her.  He also hopes that she'll skip bail.  Lee feels the same way about John, but she doesn't want to skip out on her bail.

Back in New York, Lee now says that she never loved John.  She wants to put some distance between them as she knows she will be headed for jail.  John mentions to her that he thought it was all settled.  Lee replies, "That was in Niagara Falls!  People aren’t responsible for what they say in Niagara Falls!"

Lee tells the judge that she's guilty, despite the protests of John.  She says that when a person makes a mistake they've got to pay for it, otherwise they might never learn the lesson.  She also tells John that they can get married once she's out of jail.

Cast rundown:

   Barbara Stanwyck................................Lee Leander

   Fred MacMurray...................................John Sargent

   Beulah Bondi.......................................Mrs. Lucy Sargent

   Elizabeth Patterson..............................Aunt Emma

   Willard Robertson.................................Francis X. O'Leary

   Sterling Holloway.................................Willie Simms

   Virginia Brissac....................................Mrs. Emory

And that's it for Remember The Night.  Barbara Stanwyck so impressed screenwriter Preston Sturges that he told her that he was going to write her a  screwball comedy film.  That film eventually became "The Lady Eve".  Stanwyck initially didn't believe him, because she was primarily known for playing dramatic roles, such as femme fatales and fallen women.  This movie was completed ahead of schedule and came in way under budget.  The director attributed this to Stanwyck professionalism.  "She never blew one line through the whole picture.  She set that kind of pace and everybody worked harder, trying to outdo her," he said.

A little while after the film's release, the Lux Radio Theater adapted the script for use on the radio.  Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray reprised their roles for the one hour production.  You can hear it in its entirety here.

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Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)

 

Sorry, Wrong Number - 1948

Coming up next we have 1948's "Sorry, Wrong Number", a film about a woman who overhears a murder plot on the telephone.  What she doesn't initially realize is that the intended victim is herself.

The film's cast includes Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, Harold Vermilyea, Leif Erickson, William Conrad, and Dorothy Neumann.

On a dark night in New York City, invalid Leona Stevenson is trying to get ahold of her husband.  She calls his place of work repeatedly without success.

Just as she is about to hang up the telephone, Leona hears voices.  Raising the receiver to her ear, she listens in on a horrible conversation between two men describing murder plans for later that evening.

Fearing for the victim's safety, Leona calls the telephone company and the police.  Since she can't really give them any real details, they can't help her.  "Oh, for heaven's sake, all this idiotic red tape.  You'd just sit there and let people die!" she says excitedly.

Leona keeps trying to reach her husband.  As she makes calls trying to place his whereabouts, Leona unknowingly calls her husband's old girlfriend, Sally.

Through flashbacks, we are acquainted with more of the story.  Leona actually stole her husband Henry from Sally, who has never quite forgiven her.

Henry and Leona are eventually married, and, as Leona is a very wealthy heiress, the two of them have a whirlwind honeymoon through Europe.

Leona becomes very upset when she sees a picture of Sally in Henry's wallet one evening.  Henry is one of the working class and is having trouble adjusting to Leona's style and way of living.

Back in the present and through her various phone calls, Leona pieces together more of the mystery and also finds out some very unpleasant things about her husband.

In a flashback, we find out that Henry is very unhappy with working for Leona's father.  They have a huge argument one evening after Henry says that he wants to strike out on his own.  Leona ends up having a heart attack, which begins her life as an invalid.  Later, we find out that Leona's ailments are psychosomatic in nature, which greatly annoy Henry.

Eventually, Leona comes to realize that the intended murder victim is herself, and she continues frantically trying to get a hold of Henry.

When she finally does get ahold of him, Leona and Henry each confess their grievances and ask each other's forgiveness.

Henry tells Leona that she must get up and go out onto the balcony to scream for help.  However, Leona is paralyzed with fear and cannot move.

About this time, Leona sees a shadow in the hallway and becomes hysterical.  The shadowy figure comes close and there is a struggle.

The call having been disconnected, Henry calls the apartment again.  This time, a man's voice answers and says, "Sorry, wrong number".

Cast rundown:

   Barbara Stanwyck...........................Leona Stevenson

   Burt Lancaster................................Henry Stevenson

   Ann Richards..................................Sally Hunt Lord

   Wendell Corey.................................Dr. Alexander

   Harold Vermilyea.............................Waldo Evans

   Ed Begley.......................................James Cotterell

   Leif Erickson...................................Fred Lord

   William Conrad................................Morano

   Dorothy Neumann...........................Elizabeth Jennings

And that's it for Sorry, Wrong Number.  Barbara Stanwyck was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress, a well-deserved honor.  Stanwyck claimed that the terror her character underwent in the bedroom scenes was what turned her hair prematurely gray.  She shot her scenes over a twelve-day period.

In one scene, Leona offers Henry a cigarette from a jeweled cigarette case.  The case was Barbara Stanwyck's own, and it had been a gift to her from her good friend, Joan Crawford.

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