I Remember Mama
Tags: romantic, storytelling

Plot synopsis:
Upon completing the last lines of her autobiographical novel, youthful Katrin Hanson reminisces about her family life: In 1910, in a modest San Francisco house, Katrin's Norwegian-born mother, Marta Hanson, computes the weekly budget with help from her husband Lars, daughters Katrin, Christine and Dagmar and son Nels. When the adolescent Nels declares his desire to attend high school, Marta is pleased, but realizes their "little bank" lacks sufficient funds to pay for his education. After each family member offers to make a monetary sacrifice so that Nels may continue his schooling, Trina, Marta's spinster sister, drops by to speak privately with Marta. To Marta's surprise, Trina announces that she is marrying Peter Thorkelson, a homely undertaker, and begs Marta to break the news to their sisters, Sigrid and Jenny, who Trina fears will laugh at her. As predicted, the bossy Jenny and whiny Sigrid laugh upon hearing of the engagement, but when Marta threatens to reveal embarrassing anecdotes about them to Trina, the sisters agree to keep quiet. Later that evening, Jonathan Hyde, the Hansons' erudite, penniless lodger, reads to them from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities , and the entire family, especially fledgling writer Katrin, is deeply moved by the story. Soon after, the family is visited by Marta's overbearing but big-hearted uncle, Chris Halvorsen, who drives into the city with his common law wife, Jessie Brown. When the lame Chris, whose loud, gruff ways strike fear in the Hanson children, learns that Dagmar, the youngest daughter, is severely ill with mastoiditis, he insists on driving her to the hospital. Because they disapprove of Jessie, Sigrid and Jenny attempt to stop Chris, but he bullies his way past them with Dagmar and Marta in tow. Then the meek Trina and Peter reveal their engagement to Chris, the family's head, and are relieved to receive his blessing. Although Dagmar's operation is a success, Marta is forbidden to see her by the hospital staff. At home, Marta, who promised Dagmar she would visit immediately after the operation, becomes increasingly agitated about the separation and begins scrubbing the floor nervously. Marta's scrubbing inspires a plan: Impersonating a floor-scrubbing maid at the hospital, Marta sneaks into Dagmar's ward and sings a Norwegian lullaby to help her frightened daughter fall asleep. Sometime later, when a recovered Dagmar returns home, she learns that her cat, Uncle Elizabeth, is very ill. Despite Dagmar's belief in her mother's curative powers, Marta feels helpless to save the wounded cat and sends Nels to buy some chloroform with which to kill it. The other children, meanwhile, see Mr. Hyde leaving the house with his suitcases, and Marta discovers that he has left them a check for his overdue rent, as well as his book collection. The family's joy at receiving Mr. Hyde's check is soon undone when Sigrid and Jenny inform them that their lodger has no bank account. Although Sigrid and Jenny are indignant over Mr. Hyde's deception, wise Marta declares that his gift of literature is payment enough. Marta then applies the chloroform to Uncle Elizabeth, but is astounded when, the next morning, an unsuspecting Dagmar marches off with a sleepy but very alive cat. Later, as Katrin nears her school graduation date, she brags to Christine that Marta is going to buy her a much-coveted dresser set as a present. Although the younger, envious Christine tells her that Marta is planning to give her their grandmother's brooch, Katrin does receive the dresser set. As Katrin is about to leave to perform "Portia" in her school's production of The Merchant of Venice , however, Christine informs her that Marta sold her beloved brooch in order to buy the dresser set. Crushed by this revelation, Katrin performs badly in the play, and later presents her mother with her brooch, which she exchanged for the dresser set. Touched by Katrin's gesture, Marta gives her the brooch and scolds Christine for telling. Then, to mark her entrance into adulthood, Katrin's father serves her coffee for the first time. Sometime later, Marta is notified that Uncle Chris is near death, and she takes Katrin to say goodbye to him at his ranch. The alcoholic but still feisty Uncle Chris reveals to Marta that he has no money to leave her, and confesses that he and Jessie have been married for years but have been silent about it because of his nieces' snubbing. After enjoying a last drink with Jessie and Marta, Uncle Chris dies. Marta then tells her sisters the truth about Jessie and that Uncle Chris had long been donating money to help poor lame children. Having "seen" death, Katrin returns to San Francisco with Marta and is devastated when she receives her first literary rejection letter. Determined to bolster Katrin's confidence, Marta takes some of her stories to renowned author Florence Dana Moorhead, who loves to eat, and convinces her to read one by offering to share a family meatball recipe with her. Marta returns home to find Katrin destroying her writings and happily tells her that, while Moorhead agreed that her stories were lacking, she also felt that Katrin was a born author. Taking Moorhead's advice to write about "what she knows," Katrin submits a new story for publication and is overjoyed when she is paid $500 for her efforts. After announcing that some of the money is going to buy the winter coat that Marta has always longed for, Katrin confesses that her mother is the subject of her story and begins to read it aloud. The introduction of her story concludes with the line, "But first and foremost, I remember Mama."

Review: One Saturday afternoon in 1984 I saw the film was to be shown on T.V.I was going to go to my mothers house to tell her but couldn't be bothered as I had other things to do.Later that day I received a phone call to say she had a heart attack and a few hours afterwards died.I am now 61 years old and 8 weeks ago joined a writing course.Everyone was asked what inspired them to write.The others came up with lots of things but all I told them was this tale and most of all "I remember Mama" and I was in tears.
Seven reasons why this has always been one of my all-time favorite films:1) A movie filled with nice, ordinary people you can relate to.2) The sweetness of Barbara Bel Geddes and her character.
She narrates throughout and this story is as much hers as it is "Mama's."3) The great facial closeups and general cinematography, directed by one of the all-time best, George Stevens.4) Oscar Homolka's performance as the gruff-but-kindhearted "Uncle Chris"5) An amazing supporting cast which help make this film so memorable: Ellen Corby, Philip Dorn, Edgar Bergen, Cedric Hardwicke, Hope Landin, Peggy McIntyre, Florence Bates, Steve Brown, Rudy Valley, Tommy Ivo, etc.6) Some important life lessons in here for all viewers.7) Nice touches of sentimentality, with the hard-working devoted mother (played stoically-yet-warmly by Irene Dunne) getting her due in the end..
Irene Dunne (maybe her best performance ever) stars with Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, and Ellen Corby (heartbreaking yet funny as Trina)--all Oscar nominated.
There was so much warmth, so much hope and yet it wasn't the "perfect" family, it was just people living life on life's terms.I'm so glad I finally took the time to watch "I Remember Mama".
The timeless story of the sacrifices a mother makes to assure her family (especially her children) always have everything they need is a best selling novel, a charming Broadway Musical, and best-known as the star-studded 1948 movie classic.Irene Dunne plays "Mama", the matriarch of a Norwegian immigrant family in early 1900's San Francisco.
There really was no "bank".The narrator is a teenage girl (wonderfully played by Barbara Bel Geddes), giving the viewer an insight into her extended family, often sharing funny moments, but also showing very touching scenes.
A young Ellen Corby ("Grandma Walton") is wonderful as Aunt Trina, who is not taken seriously by her relatives, but gains respect when she is courted and wed by a man who loves and treats her well.The film introduces each family member individually, then describes the person, until the viewer seems "at home", knowing everyone well.
Without anything that seems forced or unnatural, the movie covers just about every aspect of family life, and always has something worthwhile to say.Irene Dunne heads up a fine cast, and she gives one of her many quality performances as "Mama".
For her fifth and final Oscar nomination for Best Actress, Irene Dunne aged herself a might, took the Scandinavian accent from Loretta Young who won an Oscar the year before in The Farmer's Daughter and did a wonderful job in the lead role of I Remember Mama.It'a hard to believe that this is the glamorous manager of Roberta's or Cary Grant's fashionable wife in The Awful Truth.
The film is narrated by Barbara Bel Geddes playing young Katarina and it's through her eyes we see the trials of a Norwegian immigrant family growing up in San Francisco, rebuilding after the earthquake.Papa as played by Phillip Dorn is a kindly man and a good provider, but it's Irene Dunne's Mama who is the center of the Hansen family.
Irene Dunne for Best Actress, losing to Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda, Oscar Homolka for Best Supporting Actor, losing to Walter Huston in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby both being nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but losing to Claire Trevor for Key Largo.
I Remember Mama was also nominated for Best Black and White Cinematography.Like that other long running Broadway play that Irene Dunne had filmed the year before, Life With Father, I Remember Mama found its audience in an America hearkening back to simpler times.
This play and film had to have a special poignancy among Scandinavians remembering that in one way or another, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and even Iceland were all occupied countries one way or another.George Stevens got such great performances from his whole cast.
I work as a substitute teacher and encourage the kids to see some of the wonderful movies like "Going My Way." Today when I go to the classroom-- I will tell them to see I Remember Mama.
Irene Dunne was magnificent in George Stevens brilliant film I Remember Mama.
Still another Irene Dunne memorable vehicle, this time, it's 1948's "I Remember Mama." Miss Dunne was nominated for best actress once more and once more she would lose, this time to Jane Wyman, as a deaf mute, in "Johnny Belinda."What makes this movie so good is that it is the story of wonderful relations existing in a Norwegian family that has migrated to San Francisco circa the turn of the 20th century.
We also have wonderful Oscar nominated supporting performances by Barbara Bel Geddes, as a loving daughter, and a memorable, but small part by Ellen Corby as spinster Aunt Trina.Oscar Homolka earned a best supporting Oscar nomination for his role of the loud uncle who really had a heart of gold.Wonderful family values are depicted.
Both of their performances here were nominated for Academy awards in 1945.To boot, this film had one of the most amazing directors ever George Stevens(the director of PENNY SERENADE-also in desperate need of a higher quality DVD release-, Talk of The Town, Shane & Giant just to name a few) The story of I REMEMBER MAMA is rich, dramatic, and yet manages to be highly comical at moments-has the same feel-good qualities that other 40's films like "It's A Wonderful Life" brought to the screen in only a manner that the 1940's has been capable of creating since then.
George Stevens directs this sentimental drama about a strong woman(Irene Dunne)guiding and holding together her Norwegian family in San Francisco in the early 1900s.
I Remember Mama was released 68 years ago and although Mrs. Shullivan and my own mother have been deceased for quite some time, we could not help but draw comparisons between our own mothers and the role of Irene Dunne who plays the family matriarch Mama Hansen.
Of course this was a simpler time in the early 1900's and one of the great Directors of all time George Stevens, stuck to the script and allowed his audience to enjoy a simpler time in American history and the daily living rituals of an immigrant Norwegian family that extended to three Aunts (Jenny, Sigrid and spinster Trina played by Ellen Corby) and one gruff Uncle Kris (played superbly by Oskar Homolka) who was both feared and respected.
Mrs. Shullivan and I truly loved this film and directors such as George Stevens who directed I remember Mama rank right up there with the very best directors such as Frank Capra, John Ford, and George Cukor.If you want to see a film that allows you to reminisce about your own childhood and relationship with your extended family then this film will be sure to bring back some of your old memories to the forefront with the narration by then 26 year old actress Barbara Bel Geddes who explains her upbringing and the loving relationship she shared with her siblings, her father, and most importantly her Mama played with such love and thoughtfulness as only actress Irene Dunne could have accomplished.
Saw this years ago and had forgotten what a charming little film it was.Irene Dunn is wonderful as the rock holding together a struggling family, well worth viewing.While not an overtly political flick it obliquely reminds us that the melting pot concept is what made America what it is and is the greatest source of our nations strength.I think it also effectively challenges Tolstoys over quoted line that all happy families are alike.I wonder if a film such as this could even be made today as none of the characters had internal flaws and were able to triumph over life's random and inevitable adversity on their own inner strength and love for each other.I often find it interesting that art such as this was produced by the generation that had survived the deppression won world war two and quietly built what was perhaps the most successful society the world has ever known..
Although long before the days of video, these two films seemed to be on TV often enough for me to become word perfect.I Remember Mama is about a Norwegian family who have come to live in San Francisco and tells of their day to day living.
the performances by Irene Dunne, Philip Dorn, Oskar Homolka, Edger Bergen,Rudy Vallee, EllenCorby, and Barbara Bel Geddes could not be improved upon.The story is very sentimental without being overly sappy.
The actors in this film become their characters, rather than just acting their roles.There is also great attention paid to details such as the positioning of Mama's and uncle Chris' hand in the death bed scene.I recommend this movie for all, especially any one desiring a break from violence..
I REMEMBER MAMA (RKO Radio, 1948), a Dore Schary presentation, produced and directed by George Stevens, stars Irene Dunne in what many consider to be her most memorable motion picture performance.
Based on the play by John Van Druten, and from the novel "Mama's Bank Account" by Kathryn Forbes, it's a heartwarming drama about a Norwegian family of 1910 San Francisco as narrated directly to the screen by Mama's adult daughter, Katrin, wonderfully played by Barbara Bel Geddes.
The movie boasts an amazing supporting cast, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Ellen Corby and Edgar Bergen.
With no make-up and sporting a convincing Norwegian accent, she provides the film's heart and emotional anchor as Mama.The framing device for the story is the recently completed manuscript by Katrin Hanson which she reads out loud while reminiscing about her Norwegian family in San Francisco circa 1910.
And when Katrin becomes discouraged enough to give up her writing aspirations, it is again Martha who finagles her way to meeting a famous author and convincing her to read one of Katrin's short stories.Beyond Dunne's exemplary work, there is a sturdy supporting cast to consider - Oscar Homolka bringing the requisite bluster to Uncle Chris, Ellen Corby in her only first-rate screen role as timid Aunt Trina, and at 25, Barbara Bel Geddes conveying convincing adolescent innocence as Katrin.
Kathryn Forbes's loving reminisces of a childhood in San Francisco and of her wonderful ex-Norwegian grandma are sprawled to broad visual scope and performed by an outstanding cast.For maverick filmmaker George Stevens has conveyed her seemingly inconsequential story in all its warm and pleasant character to the screen.
As well, Philip Dorn as Papa and Peggy McIntyre and June Hedin as Bel Geddes's siblings have the flavor of angels, for all their delightful manner.Oskar Homolka, who plays the overbearing Uncle Chris, one of the most laugh-out-loud characters I have ever seen in a movie, gives to it all the broad blunder and goofiness that Stevens has the undiluted sense of humor to augment with overwhelming close-ups and things of the sort.
It's now a couple of weeks after as well as after Memorial Day that I've just watched one of the most touching depictions of a mom and the way she sacrifices for her family done as well on film as this one as helmed by George Stevens and performed ably as well by Irene Dunne as the matriarch.
Special mention should also go to Ellen Corby, Edgar Bergen, Rudy Vallee, and especially, Oscar Homolka as Uncle Chris who provides some of the funniest scenes that this mostly dramatic movie encounters as well as the most touching fate of his character.
Martha Hanson, (Irene Dunne) plays the mother of the family who move to California and she has two daughters and one son and the oldest daughter is Katrin Hanson, (Barbara Bel Geddes) who is always interested in writing in her diary's and hopes to be a writer someday.
I mailed a copy of the movie to my sister -- with three daughters, a son being the oldest, and a cat -- and wondered if she'd feel a bit like Irene Dunne at the very end..
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.
Absolutely beautiful film with an absolutely beautiful performance by Irene Dunne, the best she ever gave.The movie is a series of vignettes told from the point of view of the eldest daughter, played by Barbara Bel Geddes, as she looks back on life with her family in turn-of-the-20th-century San Francisco.
Additional nominations went to Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby in the supporting actress category, and to Oscar Homolka as Best Supporting Actor for his performance as a cranky uncle, one he originated in the stage version upon which this film is based.
My only complaint is that 134 minutes is too long a time to tell such a simple tale of a Norwegian family's struggle to survive in the early 1900s as seen through the wistful eyes of daughter BARBARA BEL GEDDES.IRENE DUNNE is remarkably convincing as the kindly mother with braided blonde hair and Norwegian accent, dealing not only with several children but numerous relatives.
She's given able assistance from a wonderful supporting cast that includes ELLEN CORBY, memorable as the silly, spinsterish Aunt Trina, OSKAR HOMOLKA as a loud-mouthed uncle, and EDGAR BERGEN, PHILIP DORN, BARBARA O'NEIL, RUDY VALLEE and FLORENCE BATES in assorted character roles that are genuinely warm and funny.But, as stated above, it does move at a leisurely pace and adheres too closely to the stage play despite the opening up of a few outdoor scenes.
Three performances really stood out for me within 'I Remember Mama'; the young Barbara Bel Geddes - later the first 'Miss Ellie' in Dallas - as the teenage Katrin; the gloriously hammy Oskar Homolka as Uncle Chris, all bluster and bushy eyebrows; and Cedric Hardwicke as the mysterious lodger Mr Hyde, an avid reader who blends into the family like a long-lost relative.I did think that Irene Dunne's performance was too overdone, particularly her accent and the sequences that required her to veer into a kind of slapstick comedy.
Wholesome writer Barbara Bel Geddes (as Katrin) reminisces about her humble childhood in early twentieth century San Francisco, growing up in a Norwegian immigrant family led buy a most extraordinary mother - Irene Dunne (as Marta "Mama" Hanson).
Oscar Homolka (as Uncle Chris), Edgar Bergen, Ellen Corby (as Aunt Trina), and "Uncle Elizabeth" (as the Family Cat) are remarkable extended family.******* I Remember Mama (3/9/48) George Stevens ~ Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Ellen Corby.
and the scene on the porch of Uncle Chris's country home, shortly after his death----another example of understated dignity and beauty that, like the entire film, rings SO TRUE to life.If you truly value the art of filmmaking, you owe it to yourself (and your family) to own this movie.
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.
The performances, with the possible exceptions of Barbara Bel Geddes' archly smug ingénue and Oscar Homolka's rather too blustery Uncle Chris, are faultless-especially Irene Dunne's restrained and sensitive portrayal of the lead role, her accent seemingly so natural (not phoney and theatrically forced like John Qualen's) we accept it unquestioningly as her own.The film is slow to get under way, but one is deftly drawn into the action and all our preconceived prejudices against a woman's picture soon melt away under the mastery of George Stevens' ultra-sensitive direction.
In this recollection (first a novel, then a play), based on a real family, Bel Geddes plays a young lady whose life was shaped by the firm but loving hand of her Norwegian immigrant parents, particularly her mother Dunne.
Based on a true story about a family of immigrants from Norway who settled in San Francisco at the turn-of-the-20th century, this heartwarming comedy-drama features an unforgettable Academy Award nominated performance from (five-time Best Actress nominee) Irene Dunne as the titled Mama, the center of this extended family, and the film.It's narrated by the biography's author, Barbara Bel Geddes (who would become known to TV audiences as Miss Ellie on the series Dallas) as the eldest daughter Kathryn Forbes, whose character lovingly recalls growing up with her parents (Philip Dorn plays her father) and siblings.Oscar Homolka plays Mama's older brother Uncle Chris, an outwardly tough character with a soft underbelly, who visits occasionally; he was the first to travel to the "New World" of America, where he became successful enough to do what he pleases (like live "scandalously" with another woman who's not his wife!).
All the while, optimistic Mama and Papa impart some timeless values of unconditional love, hope and perseverance which contribute to making this movie an essential family classic, one that's very much worth the 134 minute time investment it takes to view it.In addition to Dunne, Homolka received a lead actor nomination (his only) and Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby, who plays Mama's sister Aunt Trina, received their only acting nominations, competing against each other in the Supporting Actress category and losing to Claire Trevor and her performance in Key Largo (1948).