A Vida de um Sonho

Astounding. Enrichment of the heart. 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. Outstanding cast and well acted. The other players include:Barbara Bel Geddes, Oskar Homolka, Philip Dorn and Ellen Corby. You may also recognize Rudy Vallee and Edgar Bergen. A black and white classic that hits home.

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. The story follows Mama and Papa Hansens' immigration from Norway to San Francisco and where they struggle week by week, pay day to pay day, to raise their four children who range in age from 8 to 18.

Every Saturday morning Mama's ritual would be to corral her family around the kitchen table and distribute Papa's weekly pay amongst the most critical bills that they had to pay such as their rent to their landlord, groceries, the children's clothing needs and education for books and writing material. Every week Mama would comment "Good we have enough money this week so there is no need to have to touch our bank account". Mama and Papa also retained what they called their "little bank" which held a few coins in a metal tin which periodically they would need to resort to in an effort to make ends meet each week.

Anyone who lived through the baby boomer years of the 1940's – through the 1960's would understand that "getting by through compromise and doing without" was a way of life whereas children of today call it "get it, buy it, and pay for it later". Mrs. Shullivan and I thoroughly enjoyed this films story which was narrated by the Hansen's eldest daughter Katrin, played by Barbara Bel Geddes. 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.

The four children loved their parents immensely and although they suffered financially through hard times their strength was in the extended family unit comprised of the Hansen's three Aunts, one young cousin, and one gruff Uncle Kris who owned his own car and who had a female companion who was a mystery woman which was reflected by the family always wondering if she was Uncle Kris's housemaid or his wife? Of course the Hansen's needed to take on a boarder (my own family had two boarders in the 1950's) who always committed to paying his board the following week. In lieu of payment the boarder Mr. Hyde (played by Cedric Hardwicke) would read classic novels out loud to the family each night with so much passion and emotion that it inspired the eldest daughter Katrin (played by Barbara Bel Geddes) to want to become an author herself.

Throughout the film we see the families reliance on Mama Hansen to provide strength, a positive attitude and most especially hope to the Hansen clan. Near the end we come to realize that Mama was telling a white lie to her children, and if you have not shed a tear or two by this point in the film then I can only assume you were born after year 2000 when hardship is an unknown term to many. 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. Be prepared to shed a few tears. I rated it a strong 8 out of 10 for director George Steven's unique ability to take the simplest of story lines, that being an early 1900's immigrant families daily struggles that are conquered through the family bond.

This film is absolutely one of the most heart-warming and wholesome classics of all time. Irene Dunne ("Mama") is STUNNING as is her comically gruff character opposite ("Uncle Chris")portrayed brilliantly by Oscar Homolka. 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. I can not understand why this has not yet been released on DVD along with two other equally amazing/classic pictures from the mid-1940s, Kazan's "A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN" (1945) & The PITCURE OF DORIAN GRAY from the same year. PLEASE RELEASE, I REMEMBER MAMA, A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN, THE PITCURE OF DORIAN GRAY and a higher quality DVD restoration of PENNY SERENADE!!! Thank you.

Often amusing, often contemplative, and always enjoyable, "I Remember Mama" is about as good as any movie ever made about family life. The writing, the cast, and the characters make relatively commonplace events seem significant and interesting, the episodic style works very well, and the story-telling is well done. 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". The supporting cast are all good as well, and they complement each other nicely. Oskar Homolka is especially worthy of note as Uncle Chris, the kind of character who seems to be found in so many families. The portrayals of the characters and the selection of situations in their lives are both so good that you feel very much a part of things, almost from the beginning.

Everything is nicely conceived and carefully crafted, and it is also a good example of the ideal way to adapt written material for the screen. Without adhering strictly to the original, it captures the feel and the themes of the original stories, showing with talking pictures what Kathryn Forbes had said so well with words.

Both the material itself and the style of the adaptation are delightful, and this is the kind of movie that takes much more skill to produce than may seem to be the case. While this kind of thoughtful, deliberately-paced film has unfortunately gone out of style at the present time, "I Remember Mama" is enduring, enjoyable, and worthwhile.

This is a classic. The title alone always caused me to not look it up - afraid that it was full of overdone accents and bathos. So, it was laziness, rather than anticipation that caused me not to turn to a different channel when it just came on television.

This is a profound movie - and not because every character is so good or lovable (as I expected). They aren't. However, it has so many truthful moments about families, so much warmth - and so much is going on at any given time that your interest is held very strongly. I was amazed to find tears coming down my face - that just doesn't happen when I watch movies. You're bound to be thinking of your own family growing up.

I can see why the book was celebrated, the play ran forever and this movie was nominated for so many awards. There's no question the play would run forever today - it contains too many moments of truth about family relations for people not to be telling their friends "It's really good - really".

Do see it - it's WAY better than you think - you'll be very moved.