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Claudette Colbert was always good no matter what kind of part she had to play, but although never funny she was always the perfect comedienne. Here she displays quite a different sort of character, and the moment she appears on the screen you are touched by her sincere melancholy. She plays a teacher, she has been a teacher all her life, she is about 60 when the film begins, and as she has to wait for the arrival of the public person she has come to catch a glimpse of, she recalls the days before the First World War (1916) when she found her husband, a colleague among the teachers at her school. She had very good relationships with her pupils, and one of them stuck out in particular, who actually became jealous of her becoming husband and almost became a rival of his in sending valentines. The film tells the story of these two lovers of hers, one her husband who never came back from the war (John Payne, very similar to James Stewart here,) and the boy, who eventually grew up to become a presidential candidate. The film is very sweet and warm, it's a heart-warming picture, it is well made with good music by Alfred Newman and well up to the best American standard of the time, and anyone could enjoy it for its genuine humanity bordering on sentimentality but never falling out of character. This kind of lovable Hollywood pictures were typical at the time, while the flair for this Hollywood sweetness got hopelessly lost by the war that broke out the year this film was made, 1941.

A marvelous film in the genre of Miss Dove, Mr. Chips and every wonderful teacher you ever had.

The role was just perfect for Claudette Colbert. She really worked magic with co-star John Payne.

This picture really offers Americana circa 1916 in Indiana. The embodiment of the school structure at that time is so well done. The obedient student, the prim and proper schoolteachers who dedicated their lives to teaching and nothing else.

Nora Trinell (Colbert) is a dedicated, wonderful teacher but she goes against what society thought of as a role for teachers when she finds love with Payne.

The "crisis" that leads to his dismissal and his ultimate redemption on the part of the principal is beautifully done here.

For me, the picture was so good because Trinell reminded me of my grade 5 teacher who inspired me in the field of social sciences.

Colbert, as the teacher who found love and tragically lost it, has one of her best film roles here. A caring person to her students, especially Dewey, she certainly tells the truth when she says that each year a teacher finds a student who she can really love as her own. Those words will forever stay with me.

As the typical spinster teacher, Anne Revere, was wonderful. Prone to be a gossip, she embodied what society thought was the role of a teacher in this period.

The ending will tug at your heart. Nostalgic and so wonderfully realized.

I have long loved Claudette Colbert in films and am a bit surprised that she isn't more well known for her part in this terrific film. While naturally people tend to think of her from IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and SINCE YOU WENT AWAY (two terrific films), it's a shame more people haven't seen REMEMBER THE DAY, as it offered a side to her that wasn't seen so often in films. Here, Colbert is both more sexual and less motherly than she usually seemed in films. Part of this is because her usual asexual hairstyle is gone and she seems to be more of a real woman with real needs and desires. Frankly, apart from her role in SIGN OF THE CROSS, it might just be the sexiest part she ever played. Now this does NOT mean that she was a slut or a loose woman--far from it. But she just seemed more approachable and warmer than in other films in which she appeared.

REMEMBER THE DAY is also a highly sentimental film about a beloved teacher who makes her mark on students. However, unlike films like GOODBYE MR. CHIPS and THREE CHEERS FOR MISS BISHOP, the focus in this movie is on the effect she had on one particular student--one who grew up to be nominated for President of the US. The sentimentality is strong but thanks to an excellent script, direction and acting, the film seemed more believable, less maudlin and more authentic than most films of the style.

In addition to wonderful work by Colbert, John Payne had one of his better performances and this is a film everyone involved should have been proud of making. A sweet old film that seems to be rather timeless--it's well worth a look.

I've been trying to remember the name of this movie

for 30-40- years ,,, and found it tonight ! I've looked before but couldn't find it ..

i remember watching this on TV in the 50's and loved it and always thought about it .. the ending..was to me ..one of the Great movie endings..

the theme of " loyalty' ... is what always stuck with me .... and the people we've met in our life ...who we never forget...

thank you IMDb!!

Claudette Colbert is a schoolteacher thinking about her past life in "Remember the Day," a 1941 film also starring John Payne, Shepperd Strudwick, Ann E. Todd, Jane Seymour and Anne Revere. As she waits to catch a glimpse of a former student, Dewey Peters, now running for President, Nora Trinell (Colbert) thinks back to 1916, when Dewey was a child in her class, and she had just met another teacher in the school, Mr. Hopkins (Payne). Dewey has a terrible crush on Nora, who sees his true worth right away; Hopkins is in love with her. Kay, a student in Dewey's class, is crazy about him, but Dewey is at an age where he doesn't want any girls around. Besides, he's in love with Nora.

Nora and Hopkins eventually marry secretly, and he signs up for World War I. Dewey is heartbroken when he sees them together. Before going away to prep school, Nora encourages him in his goals and tells him that he is like a son to her. At his request, she goes to see him off at the train, the same train her husband is on en route to battle. The last time we see her in the flashback, she is waving goodbye.

This is a very touching movie with some nice performances, particularly by Colbert, Payne, and Douglas Croft, who plays the young Dewey. The fashions don't look particularly of the period, and as usual, everyone is aged much more than the 25 years that are supposed to have passed. It is true that people look younger today at 50, partly because we fight aging and also because of a youthful attitude, as one of the reviewers states. I still think everyone looked too old, and that includes young Dewey's parents during the flashback, who looked like his grandparents. It's unusual for Twentieth Century Fox to have permitted any aging at all - Zanuck would barely let Tyrone Power have gray at the temples in films with long time spans.

Colbert was actually 9 years older than John Payne, but I was aware of it only because I knew it. She was cast opposite younger men more than once. She is very lovely in this, looking much younger than her 38 years. She really carries the film. Payne, a very well-built hunk, gives a wonderful performance.

The acting really uplifts this film as does the solid directing of Henry King. You may shed a tear or two - if you don't mind that, "Remember the Day" is well worth seeing.