Identification of films

[pillowbaker]

I have long been impressed with everyone's abilities in these film-identification threads. I don't know if I could even guess a single one of these, but I do have a request to add.

Short version synopsis:
An American or British coming of age movie about a young, teenage girl, who has a strong-willed Norwegian mother, and who wants to become a writer.


Long version:
Quite some years ago, I while flipping through channels on TV, I caught a movie about a young, teenage girl. The focus of the movie rather centered on her growing up, wanting to become a writer, and her relationship with her Norwegian mother. The movie was entirely in English, from what I remember, and I THINK it was an American or UK production, and took place in the US or UK. It was an excellent movie, and did a great job on showing some of what the young girl goes through. From what I recall, one of the themes was the difficulty of having a strong-willed mother who grew up in a different country. It is difficult to pin down when I saw it. It could have been in the late 90s, or as late as 2006. And the production seemed as if it could be from the 90s or even 80s.

I remember clearly two touching scenes near the end. Minor but certain spoilers ahead.

The girl wanted to become a writer, and wished for a prominent writer or magazine editorial board to read the stories she had written. Despite the running difficulties between mother and daughter at this time, her mother takes the stories and somehow manages to confront one of the major writers in their area. The writer, an older, plump woman, is busy and and denies her request on principle. The mother insists, but the writer firmly declines and tries to walk away. The mother finally relents and says something to effect of:

"Miss writer, I have heard that you are a gourmet."

The writer confirms, and the mother responds by offering her some super secret Norwegian baking recipes in return for the writer to read and critique her daughter's stories. I think I remember something about an almond flavor or filling being mentioned, but I could be getting long term memory mixed up with something short term. The writer agrees to read them.

Later, the mother tells the daughter what she did, the daughter is surprised but asks how the writer responded to her stories. After a pause, her mother says exactly, "Not good." She then explains the writer's advice, which is to write about "something you know", that is, something you know or learned through life experience.

Around this time, there is a scene, where her mother allows her to try coffee, of all things, for the first time, as her mother throughout the movie has stated it is only for adults, and her daughter has become old enough. With this knowledge and surprise at being given this opportunity, the daughter sips the coffee, and immediately sets it down and runs off and cries. (this might have been my first experience too)

Well, at the end of the movie, the daughter narrates the beginning of her next story, which is to be about her Norwegian mother.

[Night457]

...

I Remember Mama (1948)

[pillowbaker]

Thanks Night. Looks like the one! It's weird, I don't remember it being an older movie. So much for memory.

Uloz for anyone interested:
https://ulozto.net/file/jitoAlYgYjdO/i- ... a-1948-mp4

rutracker:
https://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5501462

[Triela]

Thanks Night. Looks like the one! It's weird, I don't remember it being an older movie. So much for memory.

Memory is notoriously UNreliable when it comes to court cases. And there are a number of plausible psychological reasons for that, for one thing: the convenience or prejudices of the witness: Will a girl remember her attacker as "someone who jumped out from the bushes", rather than her own father? That wouldn't be unlikely.

Uloz for anyone interested:
https://ulozto.net/file/jitoAlYgYjdO/i- ... a-1948-mp4

It's a 2 hour 15 mins movie, in black and white, most likely without any OT scenes.... I think I will pass and work on the mountain of (N)OT 80s and 90s movies gathering dust on my 8 TB RAID .....

[pillowbaker]

Completely understandable. Also, the girl is indeed older than I remember her to be. No OT scenes, you're also right about that. Links only offered to be thorough.

But I've lightly wondered about this movie ever since I first saw it. It was engaging enough that it made me forget I was watching an older film. Thanks again, Night!


Edit:

HAHAH!

So I was way off with the actual recipe. It was not almond pastry, it was "koettbullar", that's meatballs in cream sauce. Started watching the movie, and with the first few scenes, I remember how good of a film this was, and could see why Irene Dunn was such a respected actress! At one point, I couldn't help but skip to the scene, where Mama speaks to the author, Ms. Moorhead. The scene was just a great as I remember!!

Some great lines:

- But I see your picture in the paper.
- That frightful picture.
- Well, is a picture of woman
who like to eat good.
- laughs It certainly is.
Now tell me about the koettbullar.

[Night457]

So much for memory.

Right away from your short version synopsis I recognized the movie, although I had to do some thinking to retrieve the title from memory while I read the long version synopsis. Then I had it by the end. Of course finally realizing the title turned out to be ironic: "I remember" ... what exactly, now? Your memory of the movie details exceeded my own, although there were a few very important points that I remembered a little better. (Spoilers, not telling.) When there is just a photo to go on, I may recognize a person in it, but it is really hard for me to connect that person to a specific movie unless I have seen it several times. But when you tell basically the whole story --- that makes it much easier for me! Also the fact that it is classic Hollywood and not something more recent also means it is clearer in my memory. And I agree, it does not qualify as an FLM film. Yet I have to confess that long before knowing the 1948 film I was aware of the unrelated but parodically titled and infamous I Dismember Mama (1972), a classic of a different sort. Since it has 11-12 year old Geri Reischl in a major role, maybe I should bring it here, hmmm?

[pillowbaker]

Right away from your short version synopsis I recognized the movie, although I had to do some thinking to retrieve the title from memory while I read the long version synopsis. Then I had it by the end. Of course finally realizing the title turned out to be ironic: "I remember" ... what exactly, now? Your memory of the movie details exceeded my own, although there were a few very important points that I remembered a little better. (Spoilers, not telling.) When there is just a photo to go on, I may recognize a person in it, but it is really hard for me to connect that person to a specific movie unless I have seen it several times. But when you tell basically the whole story --- that makes it much easier for me! Also the fact that it is classic Hollywood and not something more recent also means it is clearer in my memory. And I agree, it does not qualify as an FLM film.

Those two parts and the basic synopsis were most of what I remembered. I didn't even remember that she was a part of a large family! I do recall the secret marriage and dowry subplot, though. Glad you recalled the film based on what I could remember. Those scenes with the coffee and Ms. Moorhead were actually touching to me, so that it probably why I remembered that much about them

A few other notes about the film. It is pretty noticeable in certain areas and with a bit of dialogue, that this was originally a play. Also, Katrin looks well over 18 (she was around 25 at the time)!

I was aware of the unrelated but parodically titled and infamous I Dismember Mama (1972), a classic of a different sort. Since it has 11-12 year old Geri Reischl in a major role, maybe I should bring it here, hmmm?

I found a VHSrip that is still seeded, that is, if you're serious about wanting the movie. It is perhaps possibly, by a whisker, a little better quality than the 1.5gb that is on uloz.

VHSrip screens:

Spoiler: [Image] [Image] [Image]

Love the correlation you discovered!

[Night457]

So sad that a VHSrip looks better than most of the other versions I saw. There is an actual DVD release, but my memory played me false because I thought this was one of those terrible 70s grindhouse releases that had received a recent 4k restoration. I was wrong. I was not actually serious about it, the thought seemed more like a punishment for FLM. The best thing that can be said about it is that it has a great title. Promoters on the 60s and 70s exploitation circuit were pretty creative. The original title was "Poor Albert and Little Annie".

[Manzarasever]

https://ponudim.com/uploads/posts/2023- ... 9394_1.jpg
I'm looking for the titles this 6 different movies... Please help me... Thanks...

[Zorijer]

Top middle is Diabolo menthe AKA Peppermint Soda (1977). https://www.first-loves.com/forums/view ... =13&t=1952

Bottom left is Paskutine atostogu diena AKA Devochka i ekho AKA The Girl and the Echo (1964). https://www.first-loves.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=297