Star in the Night

1945 0h 22m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

⭐

7.7

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 24★7.7IMDB · 1,234

DramaFamilyWestern

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

J. Carrol Naish
Nick Catapoli
Donald Woods
Hitchhiker
Rosina Galli
Rosa Catapoli
Richard Erdman
Middle Cowboy
Lynn Baggett
Maria Santos
John Miles
Left Cowboy
Anthony Caruso
Jose Santos
Irving Bacon
Mr. Dilson (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Don Siegel
Writers: Saul Elkins, Don Siegel
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 22-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

81 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Don Siegel, shot by Robert Burks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Rex Steele shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

J. Carrol Naish and Donald Woods and Rosina Galli carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0038115 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 24 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Don Siegel directs. Robert Burks behind the camera. Rex Steele cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 22-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
281 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Don Siegel, shot by Robert Burks. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Rex Steele shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6J. Carrol Naish and Donald Woods and Rosina Galli carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0038115 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 24 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Burks
Editing: Rex Steele
Runtime: 22 min · 0h 22m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Star in the Night (1945)
IMDB rating: 7.7/10 · 1,234 votes
MPAA: Approved

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 1 win total

Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Two-reel

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Don Siegel

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-02-08
★ 7/10
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.

Production companies