Remember the Night

If you are looking for a Christmas movie that doesn't involve lust for a Red Ryder BB gun or Clarence the Angel proving your worth, but still want that Christmas feeling...look no further than:

Remember the Night - 1940

Barbara Stanwyck/Fred MacMurray

Preston Sturges script!

The best Christmas movie you probably haven't seen!

Take some Stanwyck at her sassy best and most gorgeous...toss in some handsome and high minded MacMurray...throw in the perfect mother types Beulah Bondi and Elizabeth Patterson...and just for kicks...add in a young Sterling Holloway!

Cast of Characters:

Lee - a career criminal - a petty thief who has been arrested yet again.

Jack - an Assistant District Attorney - a crackerjack attorney who only wants go prosecute and move on.

Lee's Mom - A BITCH

Jack's Mom - A SAINT

Jack's Aunt- A saint in training

Willie - Some random teenage cousin of Jack's living with his mother and aunt

Assorted background characters

Lee and Jack meet in criminal court Christmas week. He is prosecuting her for theft, and her defense attorney is attempting to get her charge dismissed with some hilarious courtroom dramatics...here's a small taste:

The defense attorney fails, and due to Jack's request for a continuance, she is stuck in jail until after the Christmas holiday. Jack's conscience suddenly bothers him, so he asks a bail bond guy to bail Lee out of jail for Christmas. Of course, the bond guy takes this to mean deliver the chick to Jack's house:

This was not Jack's plan, as he is already overdue in Indiana for Christmas with his mother. But, being a gentleman, he takes her out to dinner and they get to know each other. Here is a great scene where Lee very deftly explains the difference between right and wrong and how each person views rights vs. wrongs:

So they dance and Lee turns out to be from Indiana also and Jack decides to drive her to her mother's home for a reunion while he is on the way to his own mother's home. When they arrive at Lee's mother's house (on the wrong side of the tracks, mind you), you immediately understand why Lee ran away and hasn't been home in a long time:

So...being a nice guy, Jack rescues her again and takes her home with him for Christmas. Please note the extreme difference in arrival greetings:

You get the picture. Over the course of the Christmas week, Lee and Jack bond, doing things like this:

But this film isn't simply about two people meeting and falling in love. There's a secondary plot going on involving two people learning to adjust their codes/standards and pre-conceived notions of people. Lee is living her life by the code she invented to protect herself from want. Want of material goods, and more importantly, want of love. MacMurray is living his life by the code he was raised with. A Code involving love, honesty, hard work, and so on. Lee and Jack want each other, badly, but can their lives intersect? Should they? I don't want to ruin the film for you, but let me tell you, despite being 1940, the film is very honest in it's treatment of the characters, the situation they are in, and what should happen to them.

There is this scene, for example:

So Christmas is over, Stanwyck has to return to jail and MacMurray to prosecuting her. Will he prosecute her? Will she allow him to throw his case just so he can marry her? Here they are at Niagara Falls on the way back to New York, discussing what they should do:

and that, dear readers, is where I shall leave it - get the movie on amazon.com or tcm.com....you won't regret it!

O Tanennbaum...

It's December.

It's cold.

It's raining.

This can only mean one thing....

It's time to go hunt down a Christmas Tree!! As I gathered the necessary supplies to go on such a rough hunting trip, I attempted to get OTHERS interested in displaying some Christmas spirit:

I even tried to show Killer Diller that DP was willing to wear the hat:
Oh well...after a "long and arduous" car drive into the wilds known as "Lucky's Parking Lot", we headed in to claim our kill:Of course, some people made their choice very clear:
Perhaps it was the rain, or the snappy breeze in the cold air, or perhaps it was the smell of food nearby, but whatever the cause...the clear winner was chosen quickly enough:

a mere $4o dollars later (plus $5 for a tip), the tree was "safely" tied to the car for the long, arduous journey home:

There were some tense moments on the road when the strings got taut and the tree appeared to be heading for the side of the hood...but I haven't lost a tree on the freeway yet! Once home, I noticed that someone...I WON'T SAY WHO...was RUDELY staring at us while we unloaded the tree:

or this:
or this:

Soon enough, the tree was safely ensconced in its more "natural" environment:

and just as quickly, I put DP to work untangling the lights:

Ta Da!
Here's what the tree looks like after a few glasses of wine:

The Thanksgiving Blog- Before December hits!

Before Dec 1st hits, I thought I better upload the photographic evidence of Thanksgiving.

I spent the morning wrapped up in jammies, bathrobe, slippers, socks, undershirt and mittens...it was dang cold!!

As is my personal tradition, I cracked open a DP at 9am and watched the Thanksgiving day parade:

Made some HOMEMADE Butterscotch Pies (hey, I had to MIX all these ingredients!):
Ta Da!
and then I watched some more of the parade:

As the afternoon dawned and some rays of sunshine appeared, I donned my gloves, packed up the car with stuffing, crafts, olives, cranberry sauce and awesome butterscotch pies, picked up a niece living nearby and headed over to my BRAVE brother and sister in law's house. The three mile drive was GRUELING. The traffic, I swear- three stoplights!!

These brave souls were hosting about 30 people...10 of which were kids. That is not a good control ratio, FYI! Before I was attacked by small fry demanding crafts and personal attention, I managed to get in one photo of the lovely table:

Our brave hostess and her mother:

and some random hams....I mean nephews...who showed up:

The youngest of the brood, affectionately known as "The Escape Artist" is on her feet now - god help us!

and yet another kid...I swear they were all over the place! It was like a horror movie!

Being the kind hearted auntie I try to be, I brought over some crafts to keep them occupied while dinner was being prepared. Crafts included:

* Color your own drinking mug

* Make a beaded snowflake

(me saying...stop whining, there is one for everyone!)

* Make a beaded wreath

* color a damn picture

(me saying...shut up already, I 'm getting the next one! Get off me!)

* Color your own wooden ornament

(me telling one to stop crying, I didn't mean to kick you when I stood up to catch The Escape Artist before she got to the stairs!)

and I think that was it...whew! The average craft completion time was 3.5 minutes per craft...these kids need to learn to slow the hell down!

Here are the kiddos, enjoying the crafts, somewhat:

Meanwhile, the adults were awaiting the Thanksgiving feast:
While more crafts were being completed in less than 3.5 minutes per craft:

Finally! The 30 pound (yes, THIRTY POUNDS) turkey was ready for it's debut:
and the people flocked to the table - side one:
side two:
Of course, my stove top stuffing (homemade dang you!!) was given high ratings by some:
Others were more interested in the traditional "olive fingers":

Other than my AWESOME BUTTERSCOTCH PIES, there was some kind of pumpkin, pumpkin cheesecake, lemon meringue, apple pie and I think that was it:

Pie Grades:

Awesome Butterscotch Pie - A+

Other Pies - uh, yeah, I didn't get a chance to try them....C+, B+? I heard the pumpkin cheesecake was good!

The kids look forward to attacking their personal butterscotch pies each year...each in their own special way:

After dessert, things kinda spiraled downhill a bit:

But I managed to get a few good shots (although my niece took the one of me with some of "the blondes"):


I finally managed my escape.....excuse me, I mean I finally headed home around 7pm. Good food, Good fun, and MOSTLY good kids....Happy Thanksgiving all!

Broken Lullaby - another great film lost to time.

The other night I watched a somewhat profound precode film that has been lost to time. It's a rare occasion that I watch films that have war as their subject. In fact, I can count on one hand the films concerning war that I enjoy:

The Big Parade

Shoulder Arms

The Eagle and the Hawk

BUT...anytime I see a film with an early 1930's release date, I DVR it. Seven times out of ten there is something great about even the trashiest early 30's film. So, I see in this film's description three things that make me want to record it...1932, Ernst Lubitsch as director and Nancy Carroll...and one thing that makes me put off watching it...the film concerns the "effects of war". When I do get around to watching this film, I find myself (once again) wondering how these great films slip by those "Top 100 lists" of critics.

To start with...while the first 15 minutes of this film are incredible, the rest of the film kinda slips into a sort of rather maudlin sentimentality, but not badly enough to make me turn it off. Here we have the cast of characters:

It's got a lot going for it, actor wise - a Barrymore, the wonderful Nancy Carroll in a rare dramatic role, a totally intense Phillip Holmes and Zasu Pitts thrown into the mix!

The first 5-10 minutes of the film are essentially silent, with fantastic imagery showing the end of WWI - the returning soldiers as filmed through a soldiers missing leg:
The church services celebrating the end of the war, with the soldiers swords in the church aisles:
Then, and this is where the film grabbed me, the camera produces a shot of the empty church..with only one thing visible among the empty pews:
zooming in:
it is a single pair of praying hands:
and a tortured face:
Paul is a returning French soldier, who is absolutely consumed with guilt over killing a German soldier on the battlefield:

"Father help me...I can't get away from his eyes."
"I wasn't born to be a murderer!...I was a musician...there is no music left...nothing in my ear except the sound of a dying man!"

The priest decides to hear his confession, and the film takes us back to the battlefield, to watch as Paul kills the German solider, who was writing a letter to his girl back home:
Paul helps him sign his name as he lays dying:
and the soldier dies in Paul's arms:
The priest attempts to console Paul with:

"The agony of your soul is unnecessary...you've done nothing but your duty."

This statement completely unhinges Paul...

"Duty? Duty?? Duty to kill? Is this the only answer I can get in the house of God?"

Now here is where the film gets a little strange for me...the priest tells Paul it would be a GOOD IDEA to go to Germany and find the German soldier's) family! "Go to his people" he tells Paul, thinking this will give him closure. I am not so sure of that.

Paul tells the priest: "You think I'm mad? Am I? Nine million people slaughtered and already they talk of another war! How many dead then? And the world calls that sane! Then I want to be insane! I killed one man...Walter...and I can't escape."

Paul makes his way to Germany and shows up at Walter's father's house, where he immediately chickens out on the plan to tell him he killed his son (as would I!) and tells the family he merely "knew Walter in Paris":
Now this family is as tortured as Paul is, the parents walking zombies since their son died and ex fiance Elsa is living with them to help them through this. At Paul's proclamation of knowing Walter in Paris during the war...the family brightens up, clinging to Paul as a last link to their dead son. They ply him for stories of their son, memories of his last days...you get the picture...this is not helping Paul!
The movie ambles on a bit..then there is a GREAT scene with Barrymore ultimately breaking away from his French hating friends:
They cold shoulder him for befriending a Frenchman who killed Germans. Barrymore, still unaware that Paul is responsible for his son's death, lays into them:

"No one here can tell me the meaning of death or hatred...I've drunk deep of both of them. Who sent our boys out to kill? Who gave them the bullets, the gas, the bayonets? We did! The fathers! We're too old to fight, but not too old to hate! When thousands of other men's sons were killed, we called it victory and celebrated with beer!...and when thousands of our sons were killed, they celebrated with wine! Fathers, drinking to the death of sons."

He prepares to leave, then turns to lay into them some more:

"My heart is not with you any longer...old men.

My heart is with the young - dead and living - everywhere and anywhere!"

Outside the hotel, he pauses:

"I stood in front of this hotel when my son marched by...he was going to his death...and I cheered."

Meanwhile, back at the house, Paul can no longer take it...his tortured soul cannot find the peace he wants:
In a misguided effort to comfort him, Elsa decides to read Walter's last letter to Paul. YES, THAT LETTER...the one Paul helped the dying Walter sign. As she reads the letter aloud...Paul begins to say the last lines before she gets to them, and Elsa now KNOWS THE TRUTH:After berating the already unhappy Paul for coming to Germany and daring to come into the house of Walter's family, she ultimately forgives him and yes...they are now a couple:

But this is no happy movie...by marrying Elsa, Paul will literally be TAKING THE PLACE OF WALTER in the family's home:

To celebrate that Paul has decided to stay in Germany, the family gives him Walter's violin and Paul begins to play what can only be described as "the saddest piece of violin music" I have ever heard:
Music and life and love have entered the home again:

But, as I said earlier...this is no "happy ending" - the movie ends with "the saddest violin music ever" playing and Paul's sorta happy face comes into view:

There is no real resolution here, though. Paul has given up his life to take the place of Walter in this house. Elsa knows Paul killed her fiance, and the parents I think are just happy to have some sort of link to their son.

Now I am not "anti" or "for" war - I see both the necessities and the evils of war. A precode movie like this dares you to think about the bigger consequences of young men killing for reasons they know not. I don't know how I feel about this. I still don't.

If you get a chance to see this film, do so.