Tendresse

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.

When I was a child I was taken to see this film and throughout my life my mother would often say "its good we do not have to go to the bank"and we always laughed about it. 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. It is the most beautiful film I have ever seen.It was funny, sad and the acting was absolutely brilliant.I wish they made films like that today.

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 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.

It's so wonderful to read all the positive tributes to this film here, with only one dissenting voice. Sadly, IMDB chose that comment as the lead to open the comment page. I'm 53, a tough guy from Brooklyn, N.Y., but I can tell you, everytime I see *I Remember Mama* it brings honest, genuine tears to my eyes. The story is universal, not just about a Norwegian family in turn of the 20th Century San Francisco. Anyone who has had a loving mother has got to be moved by this story, a film directed for the ages by George Stevens. And what a magnificent cast, headed by the incomparable Irene Dunne! If I hadn't had the best Mom in the world already, I would have wanted Irene Dunne. Just see and cherish this work of art.