I Remember Mama (DVD)

I Remember Mama was one of the very best of Hollywood's Golden Age nostalgic films about family life. Yes, it's sweet, and innocent too, but it's not saccharine or idealized and deals with serious issues like childhood illness and death in the family. The family is the Hanson's, headed by Mama (Irene Dunne) and Papa (Philip Dorn) and their four children, Katrin, Nels,Christine and Dagmar. They are part of an extended family who all moved to San Francisco from Norway to keep themselves close to each other. Mama's rented house is at the top of Larkin Street with a view of the bay. They are headed by gruff Uncle Chris (Oskar Homolka), the three nieces, Jenny (who is bossy), Sigrid (who whines and complains) and Trina (a spinster suddenly about to be married) and little cousin Arne, Sigrid's boy. The story is intricate and episodic but really draws you in after a while because it seems so real with genuine family issues and characters who are not all perfect and have their flaws. The ensemble cast is simply marvelous from the children to old Uncle Chris. Oskar Homolka recreated his stage role as the family patriarch in one of the best movie roles of his career. Edgar Bergen is absolutely unrecognizable as shy Mr. Thorkelson, and Florence Bates makes a memorable appearance as a noted author who loves good food. Then, of course there's Irene Dunne in one of the best roles in her career and one of the five for which she achieved an academy award nomination (she was known as "the best actress who never won an Academy Award). Originally a dramatic actress known for films like Back Street and Love Affair, she switched gears to become one of the best comic actresses with Theodora Goes Wild, The Awful Truth and my Favorite Wife. with her usual dedication she studied several months with a Norwegian teacher to get the accent right. The result is a note-perfect performance from beginning to end. The title may sound a bit cloying and even the DVD cover looks a little too sentimental, but this is a truly fine movie that those who like classic films and really, anyone else should enjoy. Give it a chance. EXTRA NOTE ON MARLON BRANDO: A lot of fuss is made about the fact that Marlon Brando played the son, Nels, in the original stage production, one of his first roles. Many people have said he should have gotten the movie role as well. But I disagree with that idea. If Brando was in it his presence might have become the main thing the film would be known for. His presence would overshadow everything else and we would never see Nels, we'd see Brando. I think the unknown Steve Brown made a perfect Nels and blended in with the ensemble cast without creating undue attention to himself. And really, he looks a lot more Norwegian than Marlon Brando.

This is a marvelous movie!

Great movie.

One of my favorite movies.. It is nice to have my own DVD.. recommended.

"For long as I could remember, the house on the Larkin Street Hill had been home. Papa and Mama had both been born in Norway but they came to San Francisco because Mama's sisters were here, all of us were born here. Nels, the oldest and the only boy, my sister Christine and the littlest sister Dagmar; but first and foremost, I remember Mama". So begins the heartwarming family drama of I REMEMBER MAMA (1948), based on John Van Druten's successful Broadway play, and the semi-autobiographical novel "Mama's Bank Account" by Kathryn Forbes. Director George Stevens chose this as his first film project after returning from his duties in the Army Signal Corps in WW2, and it struck a nostalgic chord for the emotionally-matured director. Part of his assignment was to film the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp and the landings at Normandy. Those experiences stayed with the filmmaker and gave his later titles (chiefly "Shane", "A Place in the Sun" and "The Diary of Anne Frank") a darker edge that hadn't really been apparent in his earlier, pre-war movies. I REMEMBER MAMA clearly struck a few chords for Stevens, and it's turn-of-the-century San Francisco setting and homespun values also resonated with audiences, who recognized those as things we were fighting for during the war. I REMEMBER MAMA is really a collection of memories as opposed to a complete through-storyline, related to us by the eldest daughter Katrin (played by a young, fresh-faced Barbara Bel Geddes). Mama (Irene Dunne) is the hard-working, loving yet stoic glue who holds the Hanson family together. When Aunt Trina (Ellen Corby) wants to get married, first she appeals to Mama in gently breaking the news to their busybody sisters Jenny and Sigrid. Then there's the time where Mama had to masquerade as a washer-woman in order to see little Dagmar (June Hedin) in the hospital; and all the trouble with Dagmar's cat Uncle Elizabeth on the day she was to return home. Katrin herself wants to be a writer, but every time she puts pen to paper and invents her own fairytale characters it always turns into a disaster. It's only after Mama "arranges" a meeting with famous author Florence Dana Moorhead (Florence Bates) that she finally discovers the key: to write about things and people you already know. "Write about Papa", Mama instructs Katrin. Little does Mama know how much she herself will figure in Katrin's stories...and in our hearts. All the performances are sublime. I REMEMBER MAMA boasted no less than four Academy Award-nominated performances (Irene Dunne as Mama, Barbara Bel Geddes as Katrin, Oscar Homolka as Uncle Chris, and Ellen Corby as Aunt Trina). It's a movie filled with humour, hope and yes, heartbreak as well. I guarantee you'll want to revisit Mama and the house on Larkin Street again and again! The only downside to the current DVD from Warners is the badly-damaged print it contains. Full of scratches, nicks and reel-cues, it clearly wasn't digitally prepared before being mastered for DVD. That's a real shame but it doesn't entirely lessen the thrill of having this landmark title in my classic movie collection. Extras are confined to the trailer, plus a brief introduction from George Stevens Jr. Recommended.

Wonderful film about a Norwegian immigrant family who settle in the United States in 1910 to be with the rest of their family. It follows their trials and tribulations over the years. Beautiful movie that will touch your heart and leave you thinking about the importance of close family ties. 5 stars.

This film is a memoir of the eldest daughter of Norweigan immigrants, set in San Francisco at the turn of the century. It relates the story of several memorable incidents, where the family's mother is loving and resourceful and keeps that family happy and secure regardless of how close they are to poverty. Fiercely independent, and not willing to be a charity case, they are able to cope with hospitalizing their youngest child for a serious ear problem, educating all the children, and even helping their eldest realize her dream of becoming a "real writer." Mama can make everything better. She also helps her sisters and is the only one in the family that can cope with their loud, and somewhat overbearing "Uncle Kris." Very heartwarming and sentimental. Based the book "Mama's Bank Account" by Kathryn Forbes.

Well this is an absolute classic of course, made in 1948 and almost up there with It's A Wonderful Life and Little Women. Immigrant Norwegian family finds the going tough in San Francisco in the early 1900s. Irene Dunne is Mama, who holds the family together (nice but wimpish husband, son and daughters) in spite of severe financial straits and adventures, and manages to keep the wolf from the door and avoid going to the mythical bank to withdraw money. Barbara Belle Geddes (later the Dallas Godmother) is the eldest daughter and would-be writer who eventually succeeds in writing a blockbuster about her heroine mama. Although strictly a story for the ladies, men with warm hearts will enjoy this too. Our family had this masterpiece on VHS in the 1980s and my wife, myself and two daughters (both in their 40s now) hugely enjoyed the film, and have both upgraded with DVD. Guess what? their respective teenage daughters love the story too!!

Irene Dunne at her best. One of her many many performances that got overlooked at oscar time. This movie is flawless from beginning to end. A true testament to a mother's love.

Excellent movie! The whole family enjoyed it. All are very good actors (of course) indeed. And more important for me - it was close captioned. So both my hearing and deaf family got to enjoyed it too. Keep up these kind of movies and the close captioned - please!.