I Remember Mama (1948)
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Norwegian immigrant Marta Hanson (Irene Dunne) keeps a firm but loving hand on her household of four children, a devoted husband and a highly - educated lodger who reads Charles Dickens to the family every evening. Through financial crises, illnesses and the small triumphs of everyday life, Marta maintains her optimism and sense of humour, traits she passes on to her aspiring - author daughter, Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes).
- Actors:
- Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oskar Homolka, Philip Dorn, Cedric Hardwicke, Edgar Bergen, Rudy Vallee, Barbara O'Neil, Florence Bates, Peggy McIntyre, June Hedin, Steve Brown, Ellen Corby, Hope Landin, Edith Evanson, Tommy Ivo, Stanley Andrews, George Atkinson, Lela Bliss, Louise Colombet
- Directors:
- George Stevens
- Producers:
- Harriet Parsons
- Writers:
- DeWitt Bodeen, John Van Druten, Kathryn Forbes
- Others:
- Oscar Homolka, Nicholas Musuraca
- Genres:
- Children & Family, Classics, Drama
- Collections:
- Cinema's Most Memorable Comedy Double Acts, Films & TV by topic
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Reviews (1) of I Remember Mama
Memory Film. - I Remember Mama review by Steve
Sentimental and nostalgic account of the immigrant experience in early 20th century San Francisco from the perspective of an extended family of Norwegian settlers. It mostly focuses on their heroic matriarch, irresistibly played by Irene Dunne.
It doesn't dwell on the negative experiences of many expatriates. There is no indication of prejudice or sectarianism and little of ghettoisation. The family is working class, and frugal. The main ritual of their week is their sharing out of the father's wage. Not much is left after the rent. But they are not poor.
There are no major dramatic events. It's so moving because of Mama's pragmatism and selflessness and determination to survive. Their struggle and unbreakable domestic bonds are compelling. They are obsessively thrifty. There's a hilarious scene where the uncle (Oscar Homolka) finishes a bottle of whisky on his death bed so it isn't wasted!
It is beautifully photographed and scored. George Stevens' artful direction counteracts the sentimentality. Sure, it's idealised, but memories often are. The narrative is framed as the daughter (Barbara Bel Geddes) remembering the early life that led to her career as a writer. It's quite like Little Women, but this is better than any screen version of that story.