Happy Mother’s Day ! – “I Remember Mama”

Given the blog post on Friday was about remembering the 70th Anniversary of VE Day it was serendipitous to discover this poster from Mother’s Day, May 10, 1942 encouraging buy war bonds.  Photo attribution (Upper left) By Unknown or not provided (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

This month my blog theme is on Service.   The countless hours that no one sees is what comes to mind for me for Mom’s with their commitment and pride in their family.

When thinking of Mothers Day one of my favorite movies is “I Remember Mama” (1948) with Irene Dunne.

One of the reasons I write my blog is to share with my nieces and nephews stories worth remembering and this includes favorite movies, they are email subscribers to this blog!   They know that the expression “There’s Been Talk” is from the movie “The Quiet Man” and was the title of my first blog post here!     One year at the family beach trip we spent each evening making our way through all six of “The Thin Man” movie series.  We will even recollect us watching one weekend when they were in elementary school Don Knotts in ‘The Incredible Mr. Limpet”.

George_Stevens_and_Barbara_Bel_Geddes_I_Remember_Mama
Photo attribution (upper left) File: George Stevens and Barbara Bel Geddes I Remember Mama.jpg Photo of George Stevens joking with Barbara Bel Geddes on the set of ‘I Remember Mama’.

The movie, “I Remember Mama” features Irene Dunne as Mama Hansen, Philip Dorn as Papa Hansen, Barbara Bel Geddes as Katrin Hansen (a young Miss Ellie from the Dallas TV series), and Oskar Homolka as Uncle Chris.  The movie takes place in San Francisco at the turn of the century,  with her family of Norwegian immigrants.

The movie is a delight.  Barbara is a young author who in the movie recalls stories about her Mother that she had taken the time to write down!

Turner Classic Movies has at their site a page on the movie with FIVE movie clips and the movie trailer along with the movie posters!

Naples_Players_1st_Cast_Photo_I_Remember_Mama_March_20,_1953
Photo Attribution: By Coachman76 (Naples Players Archive Photo) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons English: Photo taken of the first cast of the Naples Players inaugural production of “I Remember Mama”. March 20, 1953.
If you have not seen the movie yet then this paragraph has a spoiler alert!  The movie has wonderful scenes of Irene Dunne going to meet ‘the famous author’ to get her to read her daughter’s short stories to get advice,  her sneaking into the hospital so she can check on her child who had surgery, the children feeling secure because their parents have a ‘bank account’, the mother loving her uncle Chris and not wanting her daughter to be afraid of death; the cat, ‘Uncle Elizabeth’, they chloroform and the miraculous recovery;  the bossy Aunts, the one Aunt getting married later in life and the lovely scene with her and her husband sitting on a park bench, the boarder who reads to them each night,  the loud uncle who quietly donated money throughout his life to help children not be lame, who acted like he was notorious for not being married when he was in fact.  The ensemble is charming.  I encourage you to make the time to watch it and if you have to order it on DVD it is worth the wait!  Amazon has it available through their Instant Video for stream rental.

Mother’s Day is always a special weekend for me given my birthday falls on it every so many years and today is one of those occasions!    Wishing a Happy Mother’s Day to my Mom, and to all Mom’s – including girl friends who are cat-Moms, and fellow dog-Moms – to each of you sending you paw hugs and well wishes today!


Anchors Aweigh,  

Helen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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