DramaFamilyWestern

Star in the Night

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Nick, a motel owner who has lost faith in more than just the humanity of mankind, is visited by a kindly stranger on Christmas Eve. The motel's guests are only concerned for themselves until a poor man and his wife drive up to the motel, unable to go any further. Out of rooms, Nick's wife prepares a place for them in a shed under a neon star Nick had just finished hanging. Their plight brings out the generosity in everyone, including Nick, who remembers another family almost two thousand years earlier that also found a makeshift room at an inn under another kind of star.

Release Date : 1945-10-13

Language :English

Adult : false

Status : Released

Production Company : The Vitaphone CorporationWarner Bros. Pictures

Production Country : United States of America

Alternative Titles : Featurettes (1945-1946 season) #2: Star in the NightClassics of the Screen (1952-1953 season) #4: Star in the Night

Cast

J. Carrol Naish

Character Name : Nick Catapoli

Original Name : J. Carrol Naish

Gender : Male

Donald Woods

Character Name : Hitchhiker

Original Name : Donald Woods

Gender : Male

Rosina Galli

Character Name : Rosa Catapoli

Original Name : Rosina Galli

Gender : Female

Richard Erdman

Character Name : Middle Cowboy

Original Name : Richard Erdman

Gender : Male

Lynn Baggett

Character Name : Maria Santos

Original Name : Lynn Baggett

Gender : Female

John Miles

Character Name : Left Cowboy

Original Name : John Miles

Gender : Male

Anthony Caruso

Character Name : Jose Santos

Original Name : Anthony Caruso

Gender : Male

Irving Bacon

Character Name : Mr. Dilson (uncredited)

Original Name : Irving Bacon

Gender : Male

Claire Du Brey

Character Name : Traveler's Wife (uncredited)

Original Name : Claire Du Brey

Gender : Female

Dick Elliott

Character Name : Traveler (uncredited)

Original Name : Dick Elliott

Gender : Male

Virginia Sale

Character Name : Miss Roberts (uncredited)

Original Name : Virginia Sale

Gender : Female

Cactus Mack

Character Name : Right Cowboy (uncredited)

Original Name : Cactus Mack

Gender : Male

Reviews

C

CinemaSerf

@Geronimo1967

2024-02-08

In what is a fairly straight re-imagining of the Nativity story, we encounter three cowboys riding across the desert armed with an huge great pile of recently bought gifts - it seems two of them rather fancied the sales-girl in the shop! Anyway, when they see a bright star they decide go and investigate. Pretty swiftly, they arrive at a motel where the rather curmudgeonly owner "Nick" (J. Carrol Naish) has only just, reluctantly, agreed to let a newly arrived and expectant couple use his lobby as a place to sleep for the night. Luckily, his wife "Rosa" (Rosina Galli) has a little more of the Christmas spirit to her, and soon she and just about everyone else in her hotel are mobilised to prepare for their other new arrival. Every sheet and towel is provided and other guests cannibalise their own clothing to make swaddling clothes and bandages. Don Siegel uses a choral score full of carols to do much of the guiding here as the cast deliver a typically life-affirming endorsement of the Christmas story. Even the grumpy landlord eventually falls victim to the charms of events as they unravel. It's not one of the more memorable of seasonal movies, but's it still quite a poignant little adaptation that works fine and is well worth a watch.