REMEMBER THE DAY (1941)

A heart-warming movie with elements of GOODBYE MR. CHIPS, SUMMER OF '42, and the Andy Hardy movies. Claudette Colbert is an elderly schoolteacher who has come to a hotel in Washington to catch a glimpse of presidential candidate Dewey Roberts (Shepperd Strudwick), who was a student of hers 25 years earlier. As she waits in the lobby, she reminisces about 1916, a year that changed her life. Dewey is just a lad (Douglas Croft) at the end of his grammar school years, nursing a crush on his teacher, Colbert. Meanwhile, another teacher that Dewey idolizes (John Payne) meets Colbert and a romance develops. She goes off for the summer to a resort farm and Payne follows her, leading to a scandal, at least in the eyes of the school principal, so Payne leaves and joins the Canadian military. At Christmas, just before he is to be sent overseas to fight in WWI, Payne returns to marry Colbert, impulsively and in secret. Croft sees the two kissing and is distraught, leading to a tearful climax in which Colbert has to say goodbye to both her man and her student. The frame story, set in the present, has potential but isn't given much time to develop. Luckily, the bulk of the film works quite well, thanks to the strong performances of Colbert, Payne, and Croft. Ann Revere is a "spinster" schoolteacher who lives at the same boarding house as Colbert, and Frida Inescort has a small role as the adult Dewey's wife. Very sweet piece of Americana. [FMC]