The Worst Film Ever

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

Now here's an offbeat Christmas classic which must be rediscovered. Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray are a pickpocket and district attorney who reluctantly fall in love over the holidays.It's so nice to see a film with so much warmth, humor, and good will. I know miserable families technically make for much more interesting stories, but I adored seeing the tenderness and strong bonds between MacMurray's character and his family, and the way it radiated onto Stanwyck's lady thief.Absolutely recommended by me, though with Stanwyck in the line up, I shouldn't have to tell you twice, right?

It's the Christmas season in NYC. Lee Leander (Barbara Stanwyck) is a well dressed thief who gets caught trying to pawn stolen jewelry. Her attorney is a wild performer. Prosecutor John Sargent (Fred MacMurray) is assigned the case. He's concerned that Christmas is a bad time to get a conviction. He gets a continuance for the case. John takes pity on the girl and gets her bailed out. Unbeknownst to John, Fat Mike misunderstands and bring her to him. She refuses to leave and they start up a friendship. He drives her back to her mother. They get lost and go on a crazy road trip. After being rejected by her own mother, she joins him in a family Christmas in Indiana.Stanwyck is sharp, lovely and enticing. MacMurray is an endearing stand-up guy. Together they have great chemistry. They're fun together. The Preston Sturges dialog is snappy and quick. The sentimental rom-com is touching, romantic, and funny.

I was disappointed by "Remember the Night". Not that it is bad film – on the contrary, it is a good film. It is just that I was expecting a great film of the same quality as "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Miracle on 34th Street. Compared to these films, "Remember the Night" just does not have the quality of the story, the acting, the performances, the direction and the overall quality compare to the better known films of its era.For me, there are 11 classic Christmas films that I try, as best as I can, to find time to watch during every Christmas season. Generally, I think people use the phrase "classic Christmas films" to mean the best films of the genre made in the 1940s and 1950s. In my list of the top 11, I also insert three more "recent" films. They are, in order:1. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 2. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) 3. A Christmas Carol (1951) 4. The Bells of St. Mary's (1945) 5. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 6. The Bishop's Wife (1947) 7. The Homecoming, A Christmas Story (TV, 1971) 8. The Holy and the Ivy (1952) 9. Holiday Inn (1942) 10. Home Alone (1990) 11. Christmas in Connecticut (1945)I feel that "Remember the Night" falls into a second tier of classic Christmas films that include the following. The films in this list, I like to watch but not every Christmas and only after I have exhausted the list above:• All Mine to Give (1957) • Blossoms in the Dust (1941) • Bush Christmas (1947) • Holiday Affair (1949) • I'll be Seeing You (1944) • It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947) • The Miracle of the Bells (1948) • We're no Angels (1955)Overall, I like to divide Christmas into 4 sub-genres as follows: Golden Oldies (made before 1960), "Modern" dramas (made after 1969), Comedies (made after 1969) and Animated. My top films in each sub-genre are:Golden Oldies: as aboveModern Dramas (made after to 1969) 1. The Homecoming, A Christmas Story (TV, 1971) 2. Joyeux Noel (a. k. a. Merry Christmas) (2005) 3. Silent Night" (TV, 2002) 4. The Christmas Shoes (TV, 2002) 5. The Gathering (TV, 1977)Modern Comedies (made after to 1969) 1. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (1989) 2. Home Alone (1990) 3. The Santa Clause (1994) 4. Home Alone, Lost in New York (1992) 5. The Santa Clause 2 (2002) 6. Christmas with the Kranks (2004) 7. Love Actually (2003) 8. A Christmas Story (1983) 9. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2002) 10. Elf (2003)Animated 1. The following tie for first: • Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV, 1964) • A Charlie Brown Christmas (TV, 1965) • Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (TV, 1966) • Frosty the Snowman (TV, 1969) • Mickey's Christmas Carol (TV, 1983) 6. The Polar Express (2004) 7. Walt Disney/Donald Duck Christmas (a. k. a. A Disney Christmas Gift) (TV, 1982) 8. A Garfield Christmas Special (TV, 1987) 9. The Wish that Changed Christmas (TV, 1991) 10. The Little Drummer Boy (TV, 1968)

I have a soft spot for late '30's and '40's films. 65 to 80 years of nights (remembered and unremembered) have passed since these films were made - 72 years and counting for this one. The actresses and actors - some born just after the Civil War, others so impossibly young then that it's hard to believe they would be over 100 now - and the America itself shown in this cinematic B&W snapshot all continue to fascinate.A film like "Remember the Night" will thus grab me at the get go with a marvelously attractive Barbara Stanwyck to set the hook and a great ensemble cast to keep my interest when the story itself is less than compelling. I won't recap the plot - you can get that many times elsewhere in these reviews. What I will do is promise you that if you will give this movie even half your attention you will be rewarded. I can also promise you that if you view this with anyone under the age of 20 you will have to explain the middle American reality that underpins the entire movie and gives it its power and its poignancy. It's not just a good Christmas movie (though it is that), it is a good movie set around Christmas time.Also, a big thank you to THIS-TV for showing this classic as I would never have seen it otherwise. I encourage any of you reading this who lives in a larger TV market and doesn't have cable (20% of households still don't) to check an internet source (I use TV Guide.com) in your area and see if THIS-TV or Antenna-TV are available on some broadcast sub-channel in your market. The digital conversion 2 years ago has had one benefit - these sub-channels (THIS-TV is 2.2 in Denver, AntennaTV is 31.2) which are now providing all households with a TV with a digital tuner to see a lot of classic movies which we haven't been able to see anywhere for many, many years. In the case of a movie like "Remember the Night" which only recently became available on DVD (in October 2010) this may be your most economical way to see it. These new sub-channel networks are especially good at showing movies from the '30's through the '50's which seem to have dropped off the cable TV map as well. (Note to cable TV subscribers: buy a cheap antenna and use your set's digital tuner. You can see these stations too!) Check them out and enjoy this movie and others like it.