MovieChat Forums > Remember the Night (1940) Discussion > The scene at Lee's childhood home

The scene at Lee's childhood home

posted 15 years ago by rpatter6
16 replies | jump to latest

The scene at Lee's childhood home when Jack takes her back home to her mother's house is such a chilling scene I always shudder when I watch it. Listening to her mother's "good riddance" speech and Lee's comments in the yard afterward, when she tells Jack that she wishes she had fallen from the tree and broken her neck, while her mother watches through the window in the door behind them, and then turns off the lights - it's just such a creepy, lonesome moment, filled with utter rejection.

In contrast, the scenes at Jack' house are warm and welcoming and filled with love, forgiveness and acceptance. It's easy to see how Lee is awed by the family and fell in love with them. I think that was one of the reasons why she's willing to face a prison sentence because she knows what's waiting for her when she's released.

I also like to think that Jack is able to work out a deal where she's given a reduced sentence and perhaps even a pardon.

[–] misspaddylee 15 years ago

It's a heartbreaker. To be totally cut off from any hope of ever having a family, and then to find such love in another home.

"Fortunately, I keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency."

[–] Devinm1978 15 years ago

That's the scene that has stuck with me, too! I kept thinking about it days after I saw the movie.
I agree with you 100% - it is an extremely heartbreaking sequence. What impressed me the most, though, was how well the scene works. It could easily have dissolved into an ooey-gooey mess but with Stanwyck, who was the master of those tough-yet-vulnerable roles, everything is 100% honest. It is simply a terrific, extremely well-done scene.

[–] Danusha_Goska 15 years ago

I love this movie and I love that scene. Thank you so much for mentioning it.

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[–] pietromas 15 years ago

I agree with all of the above. It's a powerful and memorable scene. Very economic, too, with a minimum of dialogue and action. Excellent work from Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray. Special kudos should go to Georgia Cane, unpleasant and mean here as Stanwyck's mother, but completely heartwarming later the same year as Dick Powell's mother in CHRISTMAS IN JULY.

[–] jackgriffin1-1 15 years ago

But if you look closely her mother watches her from inside as she's standing on the porch, showing that she still did care about her.

[–] Danusha_Goska 15 years ago

"her mother watches her from inside as she's standing on the porch, showing that she still did care about her."

Baloney. That is very much not why that woman is watching. She's simply looking for trouble, for another excuse to do damage to a child she hated.

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[–] jackboot 14 years ago

jackgriffin1-1 ~ But if you look closely her mother watches her from inside as she's standing on the porch, showing that she still did care about her.

I have to disagree with jackgriffin1-1 and go along with Danusha_Goska on this one, too. I think she's watching from inside, through the glass in the door, to make sure that her daughter, Lee, gets out of there and doesn't stick around. Georgia Caine was so warm and loving in another Sturges favorite of mine, "Hail The Conquering Hero", it was kind of shocking to see her as such an un-loving and mean woman! Also, she had a brief villainous bit in "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington" reading some of the Taylor machine's anti-Jefferson Smith propaganda on the radio.

We just watched "Remember The Night" again tonight and I noticed for the first time Lee's mother, played by Georgia Caine, looking through the glass lights in the door at Lee and Jack on the porch. A very effective touch. Really put a cap on an agonizing scene.

[–] nutsberryfarm 11 years ago

full of shadows.

Season's Greetings!

[–] donofthedial 14 years ago

I agree with you, jackgriffin1-1.

She knows it's the last time she'll ever see her daughter.

[–] fgoodwin 13 years ago

Agreed that was a sad (but necessary) scene. It helps us understand why Lee is how she is as an adult. And it explains her heartfelt gratitude for how John's family welcomed her with open arms.

This "dark" scene reminded me a bit of "It's a Wonderful Life" when George Bailey sees how Bedford Falls turned into Potterville without him around. It was dark and scary, but necessary in order for George to see his worth and it ultimately led to his redemption.

I think Lee's rejection by her mom was also necessary to her redemption, although we are left to infer that from the ending.

[–] chipe 13 years ago

Yes,
¶ that scene with Lee's mother has always stuck in my mind, the scene I most remember about the movie.
¶ I forgot about her mother looking through the window at the end, don't even recall if I was aware of it. I don't know what to make of it. For one thing, it was a brief look, then she moved away and glanced back while walking away..
¶ picture perfect movie. Sort of implausible story that could have easily been ruined, but here the film makers were quite deft. They made everything smooth and convincing, EXCEPT for one scene that seemed pretty silly, troubling and unbelievable to me -- the scene just prior to meeting Lee's mother: when Lee set fire to the Judge's waste basket, and they fled in their car.

[–] slou61 12 years ago

I've been watching the VHS copy of this that I'd taped from TCM nearly 20 years ago until last week, when a friend surprised me with the DVD of it. I've watched it three or four times this week and the two scenes, contrasting Lee's relationship with her mother and the dark, gloomy home that she came from, with John's warm, loving relationship with HIS mother and the love and warmth of HIS home are just wonderful. There's a moment when John is playing the piano and his family is gathered around when Lee looks around her in wonder. Barbara Stanwyck did a brilliantly subtle job of expressing the thought "What would it have been like to have grown up in a home like this?" in that brief moment.
Looking forward to watching it again closer to Christmas!

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 10 years ago

This may be a nitpick, but the OP Said the scene was "creepy". This has become the most overused, fad word of the past decade. There's nothing creepy about it. It's frustrating, sad, and anger- inducing. There's nothing creepy about this, unless I just have the wrong understanding of what "creepy" means.

When adjectives like this are over- or misused, they lose their power.

[–] vironpride 8 years ago

This scene rings all too true to me and I imagine to a lot of kids who grew up in abusive "families." No phony lovey-dovey Christmas reunion goo here! Just as truthful in its way as "It's a Wonderful Life," but really dark and depressing.

[–] Popcorngal (4937) 5 months ago

Maybe she put her mom through a lot, but her mom was beyond chilly. It doesn't seem her relationship with her husband is "roses and sunshine "either.

[–] liscarkat (19418) 2 months ago

It's a truly depressing scene, like a bad dream.