I Remember Mama (A- or 3.5/4 stars)
George Stevens' beautiful film, 'I Remember Mama', based on Kathryn Forbes' collection of memoirs, stars luminous Irene Dunne as Mama in one of her finest & most flattering of performances. The movie is narrated by Mama's eldest-of-3-daughters, Katrin (a sweet Barbara Bel Geddes), recalling from her diary the many ups, downs, triumphs, trials & tribulations of her Norwegian immigrant family trying to 'make it' in 1910, San Francisco. Mama tries - with warmth and a stiff upper lip - to keep her household in order, but those trials/tribulations keep a 'comin: a daughter's adored cat who is injured; a boarder who skips out on the rent; her shy spinster sister, Trina (an affecting Ellen Colby), who wants to marry her timid gentleman friend.
She even pretends to be a washerwoman at the hospital when she's told that her youngest daughter cannot have visitors. Mama must also juggle an eccentric assortment of other relatives & friends. They include: quiet-but-strong Papa (Philip Dorn), nagging older sisters (Hope Landin, Edith Evanson), wild Uncle Chris (a humorous Oscar Homolka), Dr. Johnson (Rudy Vallee), Mr. Thorkelson (Edgar Bergen) & the genteel Mr. Hyde (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Mama has a strong sense of values, an essential honesty, and all of her actions are devoted to her friends & family.
I just loved this movie. It's delicate, charming, a bit precious, at times ... but wonderful, nevertheless. Everything about this film is exquisite. George Stevens directs with gentility, yet also with meticulousness. Every frame of his motion picture is perfect. Every camera angle & shot selection has purpose & meaning. The writing is astute. The editing is smooth/invisible. The black-&-white cinematography is lovely. The period production design (turn-of-the-century San Francisco, lovely interiors) is exacting. The costumes, hair & make-up look authentic. Roy Webb's musical score is pleasant & un-intrusive. And the performances from the secondary cast are pitch-perfect.
But best of all is Irene Dunne as the tireless, loving Mama. Mama looks over her family with concern, wisdom & even some good humor. Every facial tick, every "yah, is good" (and other broken-English utterances), every caring emotion ... Dunne nails it all. You know, Jane Wyman is excellent in 1948's Johnny Belinda, & Olivia De Havilland is superb in The Snake Pit, but perhaps Dunne deserved to win the Oscar for her sensitive performance, here. 'I Remember Mama' held my interest because it contains truthful moments about families & displays them with such warmth. Perhaps my favorite moment is when eldest daughter Katrin tells her family that her 1st published writing is all about their selfless Mama, who did all she did for them. It's a special moment in a sea of special moments.
She even pretends to be a washerwoman at the hospital when she's told that her youngest daughter cannot have visitors. Mama must also juggle an eccentric assortment of other relatives & friends. They include: quiet-but-strong Papa (Philip Dorn), nagging older sisters (Hope Landin, Edith Evanson), wild Uncle Chris (a humorous Oscar Homolka), Dr. Johnson (Rudy Vallee), Mr. Thorkelson (Edgar Bergen) & the genteel Mr. Hyde (Sir Cedric Hardwicke). Mama has a strong sense of values, an essential honesty, and all of her actions are devoted to her friends & family.
I just loved this movie. It's delicate, charming, a bit precious, at times ... but wonderful, nevertheless. Everything about this film is exquisite. George Stevens directs with gentility, yet also with meticulousness. Every frame of his motion picture is perfect. Every camera angle & shot selection has purpose & meaning. The writing is astute. The editing is smooth/invisible. The black-&-white cinematography is lovely. The period production design (turn-of-the-century San Francisco, lovely interiors) is exacting. The costumes, hair & make-up look authentic. Roy Webb's musical score is pleasant & un-intrusive. And the performances from the secondary cast are pitch-perfect.
But best of all is Irene Dunne as the tireless, loving Mama. Mama looks over her family with concern, wisdom & even some good humor. Every facial tick, every "yah, is good" (and other broken-English utterances), every caring emotion ... Dunne nails it all. You know, Jane Wyman is excellent in 1948's Johnny Belinda, & Olivia De Havilland is superb in The Snake Pit, but perhaps Dunne deserved to win the Oscar for her sensitive performance, here. 'I Remember Mama' held my interest because it contains truthful moments about families & displays them with such warmth. Perhaps my favorite moment is when eldest daughter Katrin tells her family that her 1st published writing is all about their selfless Mama, who did all she did for them. It's a special moment in a sea of special moments.