Remember the Night (1940). Ha! Fooled you again. You thought I was going to say It’s a Wonderful Life, didn’t you? Well, no. Much as I like the James Stewart movie, it’s not a Christmas film anymore than Bruce Willis’s Die Hard is.
This is a dandy rom-com starring Fred McMurray and Barbara Stanwyk. McMurray is an up-and-coming prosecutor who takes pity on an accused shoplifter and takes her home to Indiana for the holidays. Hearts are melted, American values are reaffirmed, and the power of Christmas is asserted.
You must not, as I have done to my shame, confuse this with A Night to Remember which being about the sinking of the Titanic is much less jolly.