Directed by Mitchell Leisen, Remember the Night (1940) stars Barbara Stanwyck as Lee Leander, a shoplifter who is arrested during the Christmas holidays after attempting to steal jewelry from a jewelry shop. Fred MacMurray portrays Assistant District Attorney John Sargeant, who has the job of prosecuting her. Her trial date is right after Christmas, and rather than have her spend the holidays in jail and interrupt his vacation, he has the trial delayed until afterwards. Discovering that she is a fellow Hoosier from Indiana, he offers to drop her off at her parents' house on his way to visit his mother (Beulah Bondi), cousin Willie (Sterling Holloway), and aunt (Elizabeth Patterson). When her mother rejects her for her past crimes, John brings Lee to his family's house, where she is warmly received. During the course of the holiday season, John and Lee fall in love, much to the shock of his mother. On the way back through Canada (an earlier escapade with the law in Pennsylvania forced the couple to return to the US a different way), John offers Lee a chance to escape, and she must decide whether or not to do so.
Just before Christmas, Lee Leander is caught shoplifting. It is her third offense. She is prosecuted by John Sargent. He gets the trial postponed because it is hard to get a conviction at Christmastime. But he feels sorry for her and arranges for her bail, and ends up taking her home to his mother for Christmas. Surrounded by a loving family (in stark contrast to Lee's own family background) they fall in love. This creates a new problem: how do they handle the upcoming trial? Written by John Oswalt
