“I Remember Mama” is the story of the everyday life and economic struggles of a Norwegian immigrant family in San Francisco in the early 20th Century from the point of view of the daughter, who later became a writer. Irene Dunne played the charming lead character of Marta Hanson, with Barbara Bel Geddes as the daughter who is completing her autobiography and narrates the film.
Co-stars include Oscar Homolka, Philip Dorn, Cedric Hardwicke, Ellen Corby, Edgar Bergen, Edith Evanson, Florence Bates, and Rudy Vallee as Dr. Johnson. Director George Stevens (“Woman of the Year” 1942) kept a tight rein on production values, including a good script by DeWitt Bodeen. It was adapted from the 1944 play of the same name by John Van Druten, and the 1943 novel “Mama’s Bank Account” by Kathryn Forbes.
The watchable sentimental motion picture “I Remember Mama” failed to make a profit at the box office, due to the high budget, much to the chagrin of producer George Stevens and RKO Radio Pictures. It received five Oscar nods, with zero wins, for Best Actress (Irene Dunne), Best Supporting Actor (Oscar Homolka), Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby), and Best Cinematography/Black-and-White (Nicholas Musuraca).
Years later, Barbara Bel Geddes would go on to international fame on the CBS television nighttime drama “Dallas” as Miss Elly Ewing, matriarch of the oil rich Ewing family during most of the show’s run (1978-1990). She won a Primetime Emmy Award for the role. Ellen Corby played Grandma Walton on CBS’s “The Waltons” (1972-1980), for which she won three Emmys.
I Remember Mama (1948)
cinema
My Review
“I Remember Mama” is the story of the everyday life and economic struggles of a Norwegian immigrant family in San Francisco in the early 20th Century from the point of view of the daughter, who later became a writer. Irene Dunne played the charming lead character of Marta Hanson, with Barbara Bel Geddes as the daughter who is completing her autobiography and narrates the film.
Co-stars include Oscar Homolka, Philip Dorn, Cedric Hardwicke, Ellen Corby, Edgar Bergen, Edith Evanson, Florence Bates, and Rudy Vallee as Dr. Johnson. Director George Stevens (“Woman of the Year” 1942) kept a tight rein on production values, including a good script by DeWitt Bodeen. It was adapted from the 1944 play of the same name by John Van Druten, and the 1943 novel “Mama’s Bank Account” by Kathryn Forbes.
The watchable sentimental motion picture “I Remember Mama” failed to make a profit at the box office, due to the high budget, much to the chagrin of producer George Stevens and RKO Radio Pictures. It received five Oscar nods, with zero wins, for Best Actress (Irene Dunne), Best Supporting Actor (Oscar Homolka), Best Supporting Actress (Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby), and Best Cinematography/Black-and-White (Nicholas Musuraca).
Years later, Barbara Bel Geddes would go on to international fame on the CBS television nighttime drama “Dallas” as Miss Elly Ewing, matriarch of the oil rich Ewing family during most of the show’s run (1978-1990). She won a Primetime Emmy Award for the role. Ellen Corby played Grandma Walton on CBS’s “The Waltons” (1972-1980), for which she won three Emmys.