With a title like I Remember Mama, should potential viewers expect anything other than nostalgic melodrama? Nope, as the film delivers precisely that.

Set in San Francisco circa 1910, the Hanson family consists of Norwegian immigrants Martha (Irene Dunne) and Lars (Philip Dorn) as well as US-born kids Nels (Steve Brown), Katrin (Barbara Bel Geddes), Christine (Peggy McIntyre) and Dagmar (June Hedin). They struggle to get by financially, a trend that intensifies when Nels wants to attend high school, a choice that comes with additional costs.

Martha desires a better life for her kids, though, so she works around the tight family budget. Martha and the Hansons encounter other challenges related to family and friends as well.

In other words, Mama offers essentially a plot-free affair. Even with the elements related to Nels’ desire for additional education, the movie sticks more with character interactions than a clear narrative line.

We hear these events through the filter of an adult Katrin. She uses her childhood as for work as a writer.

This means Mama uses the Little Women framework, though it veers from that one due to character focus. Whereas Women’s Jo largely writes about her own specific experiences in the Louisa May Alcott tale, Katrin’s narrative concentrates on her mother.

Which seems obvious given the movie’s title. Mama does show events related to others, of course, but Martha acts as the primary character.

Mama offers a decidedly uncomplicated view of Katrin’s childhood. Martha exists as a completely uncomplicated saint.

Because we see the story through Katrin’s eyes, this choice to give Martha virtually zero complexity might seem logical. However, it also makes Martha a tedious character, as her inherent lack of personality beyond “perfect mother” assures that she doesn’t become especially interesting.

To balance this, Mama interjects more than a few scenes with broad comedy, most of which revolve around loud and obnoxious Uncle Chris (Oscar Homolka) and Katrin’s nagging aunts. We also find cheap melodrama like segments with a desperately ill Dagmar.

Mama blends the drama and slapstick abruptly. It will shoot for goofy laughs at virtually the same time it panders for tears.

Indeed, many of the characters feel like they exist in different movies. The more subdued performance from Dunne seems utterly detached from the wild theatrics of Homolka, for instance.

25 during the shoot, Bel Geddes was a good decade too old for the role, but she passes for a teen acceptably well. It looks like she added a few pounds to get a “baby face” appearance.

Bel Geddes accomplishes her role’s minor demands, however, as do the other actors. As awkwardly as Mama shifts tones, the actors do what the script asks of them.

This results in a moderately watchable but inconsistent and fairly pandering experience. I Remember Mama delivers minor entertainment but it leans toward lowest common denominator too much of the time.

I Remember Mama appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Despite a few odd photographic choices, the image looked pretty solid.

The only issues came from the “present day” scenes in which “adult Katrin” narrated the tale. These offered blurry visuals, apparently in an effort to hide the fact that Barbara Bel Geddes was too young for that aspect of her role.

Which exists as the opposite of what we’d expect, since usually movies attempt to hide the fact actors are too old for their characters. In any case, those shots looked persistently fuzzy.

However, these elements popped up infrequently, and the rest of Mama looked very good. A little softness crept up at times, but the majority appeared concise and well-defined.

The movie came with no issues connected to jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent. The movie exhibited light grain and it lacked print flaws.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, while shadows felt appropriate and smooth. Outside of those unfocused “framing” shots with adult Katrin, this turned into a satisfying presentation.

As for the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, it seemed perfectly given the project’s age. This meant speech that felt a bit thin but nonetheless remained easily intelligible and came without edginess.

Music delivered reasonable reproduction of the score, and effects followed suit with elements that seemed acceptably accurate, if without real range. No issues with background noise emerged. The audio suited the story and the film’s vintage.

The disc includes a re-release trailer for Mama but no other extras.

A gooey mix of slapstick and sentiment, I Remember Mama never really connects. Perhaps some will enjoy its nostalgic melodrama, but it seems thin and forgettable. The Blu-ray boasts very good visuals and acceptable audio but it lacks supplements. The movie becomes a painless but mediocre mix of comedy and family drama.