Remember the Night

Remember the Night. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray star in this little known 1940 romantic comedy set in the holiday season. Stanwyck plays a shoplifter on trial before D.A. MacMurray but circumstances lead them to spend the holidays together. The film features a fine supporting cast including Beulah Bondi as his mother, Elizabeth Patterson as a maiden aunt, and Sterling Holloway as the handyman.

Four years later MacMurray and Stanwyck would play a murderous couple in the film classic "Double Indemnity," but in this earlier film their chemistry together is already apparent.

Screen writer Preston Sturges objected to cuts in the script by Director Mitchell Leisen, but I think Leisen was right. The film is a little gem that expertly brings out the transformation of both characters over the course of the story. Nevertheless, Sturges vowed never to work under another and went on to launch his notable directing career. 94minutes. No captions.

Here is a link to a brief video of Sterling Holloway and the rest of the cast singing a lovely rendition of "A Perfect Day" around the Christmas tree.  ###

Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck

Pushover

Pushover: Fred MacMurray plays a police detective who falls for the gangster’s moll that he has under surveillance. This 1954 film also features Kim Novak in her film debut. It is easy to see why Novak went on to be a big star. Phil Carey and Dorothy Malone also appear in supporting roles. CC. 88 minutes.

Richard Quine directed this film that critics call a "voyeur" film in which two policemen spy on two women living in separate apartments across a courtyard. Each of them falls in love with the object of their attention.

Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak

Coincidentally, Pushover was released August 1954, the same month as Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock's technicolor, voyeur classic. In both films people did not seem to bother with drawing their shades.  

Here is a link to Eddie Muller's introduction to Pushover on TCM's Noir Alley. Or view it below.

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