I Remember Mama (1948)

The ups and downs of a Norwegian immigrant family, circa 1910.

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

DeWitt Bodeen (screen play), John Van Druten (based upon the play "I Remember Mama" adapted by)

Stars:

Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oskar Homolka

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Irene Dunne	...	Mama
Barbara Bel Geddes	...	Katrin
Oskar Homolka	...	Uncle Chris (as Oscar Homolka)
Philip Dorn	...	Papa
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Mr. Hyde (as Sir Cedric Hardwicke)
Edgar Bergen	...	Mr. Thorkelson
Rudy Vallee	...	Dr. Johnson
Barbara O'Neil	...	Jessie Brown
Florence Bates	...	Florence Dana Moorhead
Peggy McIntyre	...	Christine
June Hedin	...	Dagmar
Steve Brown	...	Nels
Ellen Corby	...	Aunt Trina
Hope Landin	...	Aunt Jenny
Edith Evanson	...	Aunt Sigrid

Storyline

The life of a Norwegian immigrant family in 1910 San Francisco centers around Mama and her detailed, pennywise household budget. We follow the Hansens' small joys, sorrows, and aspirations, with the boisterous antics of Uncle Chris as counterpoint.

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Plot Keywords:

car | gourmet | immigrant | love | 1910s | 

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Taglines:

You'll just love...MAMA!

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Norwegian Latin French

Release Date:

17 March 1948 (USA)

Also Known As:

George Stevens' Production of I Remember Mama

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,068,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

134 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Harriet Parsons initially brought in director George Cukor, hoping he could persuade Greta Garbo to come out of retirement. Marlene Dietrich sought the lead role, but was regarded as not maternal enough. Parsons then tried to cast recent Oscar-winner Katina Paxinou, even considering changing the family's origins to Greek. When RKO took over the project, Irene Dunne was cast, and she recommended George Stevens as director.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film, Katrin writes with her left hand. Later on, she is right-handed.

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Quotes

Martha 'Mama' Hanson: Being rich is like being ten feet tall. Good for some things, bad for others.

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Connections

Version of Mama (1949)

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Soundtracks

Listen to the Mockingbird
(1855) (uncredited)
Music by Richard Milburn
Whistled by Barbara Bel Geddes

User Reviews

So much warmth

I finally sat down and watched this movie completely this morning and was completely astounded by the greatness of it.

I knew it was a good movie, but it was one of those movies I always thought was too good to be true, too sweet, too goody-goody.

Boy, was I wrong. It was a little bit of history, it was every family rolled into one movie.

I could identify with almost every scene in the movie and not because of the era but because of the feelings it provoked. 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"