I Remember Mama (1948)

Directed by George Stevens. Starring Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Philip Dorn, Steve Brown, Oscar Homolka, Peggy McIntyre, Ellen Corby, June Hedin, Cedric Hardwicke, Hope Landin, Edith Evanson, Florence Bates, Edgar Bergen.

Long, preciously sentimental reminiscence, at once dour and dewy-eyed, so it’s hard to get a grasp on what George Stevens is trying to get out of the material. It’s based on a stage play and framed as a lengthy flashback from the memories of an author penning an autobiography about her Norwegian-immigrant family life, especially related to “Mama” (Dunne). A character-driven story, but most of the characters are broadly or quaintly drawn; it encourages nostalgic warmth in spite of the sometimes tough conditions and sub-plots (the poor cat!), but a litany of implausibilities make it feel like either the now-grown writer is misremembering a lot of details or trying to publish a pack of lies. As the grumpy but benevolent Uncle Chris, Homolka is the cast standout (reprising his role from the Broadway production), but even he can’t save his ridiculous final scene. Good feelings win out in the end, but I could have done without the syrupy score or monotonous narration. Inspired the long-running 1950s television series, “Mama”.

61/100