![]() It's Katrin's way - and I think by extension Stevens' way - of finding a moral compass in an uncertain postwar world. In many ways, Katrin seems more comfortable living in the past with her treasured memories of Mama. Katrin looks, acts, and dresses very much like Mama, which certainly seems out of place for the late 1940s. Katrin narrates the story as an older woman, and her remembrances of Mama certainly have an affect on her adult behavior. I Remember Mama is also about the power of memory and how it shapes our lives. Philip Dorn (left), Barbara Bel Geddes, Steve Brown, and Irene Dunne count the family savings in I Remember Mama (1948). Jessie is such a pariah in the family that she has to sit outside during family gatherings. Mama is the only member of the family who treats Uncle Chris' common-law wife, Jessie (Barbara O'Neil), with kindness. Mama lives by a rigid moral code, but she doesn't let her beliefs shape her behavior towards others. Instead of meticulously documenting the horrors of war, he is turning his attention to the goodness and kindness of ordinary people. I can't help but think that I Remember Mama was Stevens' way of dealing with what he experienced in Germany. And yet Lorimar extended her contract for three more years.A Spanish language poster for I Remember Mama (1948). Katzman, Paulsen and Lewis saw the problem right away and started cutting back on Mis-Ellie's scenes pretty quickly. I wonder which executive at Lorimar made the decision to bring in Reed. The recasting of Miss Ellie cast a pall over an otherwise competent season, and it marked the beginning of the loooong end for DALLAS. The producers quietly called her and asked her to return. A gaffe made more obvious by the fact that DALLAS went into syndicated reruns in the fall of 1984 (the first show ever to do so while still #1 in prime time) simultaneous to Donna Reed's joining the show.Įveryone on Earth knew it couldn't work, except the executive who signed off on it, and poor hapless Miss Reed was just an actress taking a role.Īpparently, BBG didn't watch the show that season, reports of her "jealousy" notwithstanding. ![]() I also thought Victoria did a good job of acting with Donna Reed as if there was no change.Įven at the time, when it was announced in the press that Miss Ellie was being re-cast, we could not believe it. I know i'll struggle to get through the rest of this season, but at least get some comfort knowing the real Miss Ellie will return the following year. A shame Larry Hagman couldn't have stepped in earlier and forced the producers to compromise with Barbara's request. This misstep was as bad as the dream season and Pam's mummy. Seriously though, this was terribly damaging to the show, and I can imagine our wonderful Barbara feeling absolutely mortified watching this debacle from home, seeing the character she had made her own being woefully imitated by another actor - though nothing personal towards Miss Reed. He dropped his new wife off at the hair salon before they went to the airport, and now she seems to have had a radical face lift at the same time. ![]() Susan Howard and Larry Hagman do their best not to notice as they welcome her home from the honeymoon, but poor Howard Keel looks very confused all episode. How on earth they couldn't have worked out a way of reducing her screen time but paying her enough to stay on the show I don't know. I can't believe this was ever allowed to happen, given what we now know was going on beind the scenes and that Barbara Bel Geddes did want to stay on. ![]() Miss Ellie's head has just changed from Barbara to Donna Reed. I am just watching the 'Homecoming' episode form season 8. Starring Irene Dunne, Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka, Ellen Corby, Philip Dorn. Produced by Harriet Parsons, George Stevens. I REMEMBER MAMA TV SHOW SERIESI have been rewatching the entire series and got to season 8 a couple of days ago. Based on I Remember Mama 1944 play by John Van Druten, Mama's Bank Account, 1943 novel by Kathryn Forbes. ![]()
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