Don't Believe the Hype

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Irene Dunne, Maureen O'Hara, and Barbara Stanwyck were all, to my mind, among the ten finest actresses that Hollywood ever saw, yet not one of them won an Academy Award. In I Remember Mama, Irene Dunne is at her best, and that is saying a great deal. She can convey, with a hurried glance, a stiffening of her pose, or a momentary melting of her features, or a slight tremor in the voice, whole great fields of feeling, thought, determination, and womanly strength; and by that last phrase I do not mean "strength, that happens to reside in someone of the female sex." The stronger she is, the more womanly she is, and the more womanly, the stronger. But in those days people did not generally fall into the fatal error of assuming that a woman had to be like the embarrassing Xena Warrior Princess in order to show forth strength.I Remember Mama is an episodic film, really six or seven short films in succession, each of them centering on some event in the life of the immigrant Norwegian family, whose head is played in a genial and understated masculine way by Philip Dorn, but whose beating heart is Mama. Mama takes in a boarder (Cedric Hardwicke) who reads to the family from the classics, and who stiffs them for the whole of his rent, while leaving to them his books; and she deals with the disappointment with charity and patience and human insight. She must take charge over the last moments of her dying Uncle Kris (Oskar Homolka, who won a well-deserved Oscar for his performance), and is at once vulnerable in her sadness and firm in her resolve to accept into their family his wife, whom the family had long thought to be merely a mistress. She and her variously irritating sisters -- portrayed splendidly and humanly, so that we may not like them, but we do not hate them or despise them -- had expected money from his will, but there is no money; and her emotionally heightened but not scornful reading to the sisters of Uncle Kris's notes, about where the money has gone, is one of the great moral triumphs in film. There are, in fact, moral triumphs everywhere, and high comedy, and understated sweetness that never galumphs into sentimentality. Barbara Bel Geddes, as the eldest daughter whose memoirs make up the movie, is splendid, as are all the supporting cast; Ellen Corby as the mousy aunt, Edgar Bergen as her nebbish of a fiance, and Florence Bates as the big-bosomed novelist lady with a weakness for really rich food.I think sometimes that Hollywood can no longer make movies such as this, because our actors and actresses are all far removed from the exigencies of real poverty, and from hard and daily physical labor. Dunne, Dorn, Homolka, and the rest were not so removed. This is a movie without any flaws.

Mama's got her hands full-Three older sisters who are a definite handful, a controlling uncle who nips a bit, and four children of varying personalities who suffer from various growing pains, resentments to other siblings, as well as a serious illness which brings the family together. Mama's oldest sister is a bossy shrew whom mama's children can't stand; Another is a whiner and the youngest (and only likable one) is a painfully shy spinster who longs to marry a painfully shy bachelor. Uncle Kris intimidates the children until mama confronts him, and in a heartwarming scene, he reveals to his great nephew and nieces as to why he is the way he is, opening up his heart to them and to us. Mama realizes that her middle daughter is resentful of the oldest one, while the youngest daughter's sudden need for an operation threatens the family's finances.In almost 2 1/2 hours, this family saga encompasses desire, ambition, greed, desperation, fear, judgmental attitudes about moral issues, and a determination to survive against the odds. The older members of the family are Norwegian immigrants, and some of them are not adopting well to their new land, even after decades in the country. The story is told through the eyes (and pen) of the oldest daughter (Barbara Bel Geddes) who praises mama (Irene Dunne in her final Oscar Nominated performance) for looking out for everybody in the family while sometimes neglecting her own needs. Dunne's performance encompasses the actress's talent for comedy and drama topping a career that also included musicals, epics and fantasy. Lacking the "yumpin' yimminy!" of usual movie Scandanavian accents (see anything with El Brendel to confirm what I mean), Dunne's accent only briefly disappears yet never annoys. Oscar Homolka is excellent as the overly boisterous Uncle Kris, and the scene where he reveals his soul to the children was worthy of his Oscar Nomination. Ellen Corby (also nominated, along with Bel Geddes) is both funny and touching as the idealistic spinster Trina, while Philip Dorn is quietly wise as Papa, seemingly knowing that all he has to do is earn the family's bread and butter and mama will take care of the rest. Bel Geddes (later the matriarch of TV's "Dallas") shines as she ages from mid-teens to young adulthood. In her brief role as a famous author, Florence Bates is amusing, with her reaction to her picture in the newspaper a comic gem of self-deprivation. Some may complain about the film's length, but when you consider the number of movie versions of plays that have been ruined because of how the script was edited, that makes this OK.I could not complete this review without a mention of some of at least one of film's most touching moments, and that would have to be Dunne in the hospital ward with her youngest daughter, comforting the other children in the room as she sings a song to the ailing child, then comically trying to get out without being heard or seen by the nurses who had earlier prevented her from going in after visiting hours had ended.

90/100. A very heart warming film, wonderfully written and believably done. There is a fine attention to detail and the film has a loving feel of the time. Superb cinematography, good art direction but it is the marvelous cast that makes this film work, as well as George Stevens sensitive direction. Irene Dunne is so perfect in the title role and gives one of her best performances. The movie boasts an amazing supporting cast, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Ellen Corby and Edgar Bergen. The scene with the cat is a classic! Bel Geddes, Homolka, Dunne and Corby were all nominated for Oscars, as was the fine black and white cinematography.

That's the best way to describe this movie. In words Mama herself used. There are so many things to like about his movie. It holds a mirror up to family life, depicting all the joys, triumphs, struggles, tragedies, and ultimately sacrifice. The script is superb storytelling at its very best. What makes it so good is that it's something all of us can relate to - FAMILY.Even though this is a very sentimental movie, it doesn't gloss over the fact that most of us have imperfect families with some very eccentric members. I think Uncle Chris captured this perfectly. It also reminds us that, ultimately, America is a country of immigrants - a fact that I think many of us lose sight of today. I loved the Norwegian accents and constant references to the "Old Country".All the casting was superb. Barbara Bel Geddes truly shines as the narrator/storyteller of the film. She doesn't strike one insincere note in her entire performance.This film is so rich with details, mood, setting, cinematography, atmosphere - I could go on and on. Each time I watch it, I pick up something new in the set or the dialogue, or in facial expressions, that I haven't noticed before. You will want to watch this again and again, so you too can "Remember Mama".