Sentimental, nostalgic account of the immigrant experience in early century San Francisco from the perspective of an extended family of Norwegian settlers. It particularly focuses on their heroic matriarch played irresistibly by Irene Dunne.
The film doesn't touch on the negative experiences of many expatriates. There is no indication of prejudice or sectarianism and little of ghettoisation. The family is working class, and frugal. The main ritual of their week is their sharing out of the father's wage. Not much is left after the rent. But they are not poor.
There are no major dramatic events but the film is tremendously moving, thanks to Mama's pragmatism and selflessness and her determination to survive in the new country. We really believe in their struggle and their unbreakable domestic bonds. They are relentlessly thrifty. There's a hilarious scene where the uncle (Oscar Homolka) finishes off a bottle of whisky on his death bed because no one else drinks alcohol and it would be wasted!
The film is beautifully photographed by Nicholas Musuraca and scored by Roy Webb. It is so artfully directed by George Stevens that it counteracts the manifest sweetness of the narrative. Sure, it's idealised, but so often memories are, and the film is framed as the daughter (Barbara Bel Geddes) remembering the early life that led to her career as a writer. It has similarities with Little Women, but I think is better realised than any screen version of that story.