Warner Archive has released three newly restored dramas from the 1940s on Blu-ray, of which one is a genuine classic while the other two are interesting footnotes on the era.

The classic is 1948’s I Remember Mama. Based on the 1943 novel, Mama’s Bank Account, which takes place between 1908 and 1910 is not, as you might think, a biographical novel by author Kathryn Forbes who was born in 1908. It is, in fact, based on the life of her maternal grandmother who emigrated from Norway to San Francisco in the late 19th century.

The book was made into a highly successful Broadway play, produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein, in 1944. The film’s producers hired George Cukor to direct in hopes of getting Greta Garbo to play the lead. When that fell through, they cast Irene Dunne who studied with a dialect coach for two years to perfect her Norwegian accent. Dunne brought in George Stevens, who had directed her in 1941’s Penny Serenade in place of Cukor.

The film plays very much like Little Women, albeit with an emphasis on the mother, not the daughters. The play was written by John Van Druten (Old Acquaintance), the screenplay by DeWitt Bodeen (Cat People).

The film was nominated for five Oscars – Best Picture, Actress (Dunne), Supporting Actor (Oscar Homolka), and Supporting Actress (both Barbara Bel Geddes and Ellen Corby).

Dunne’s nomination for one of her greatest performances was her fifth. She was previously nominated for 1931’s Cimarron, 1936’s Theodora Goes Wild, 1937’s The Awful Truth, and 1939’s Love Affair, but was curiously not nominated for 1941’s Penny Serenade, 1944’s The White Cliffs of Dover, or 1946’s Anna and the King of Siam. Sadly, her return to Oscar glory did not result in her being cast in further prestige films. Of her subsequent films, only 1950’s The Mudlark was a success. Her last film, It Grows on Trees was released in 1952. She was seen, however, from time to time on TV through 1962

Bel Geddes, 25 at the time of filming, plays the budding author who is supposed to be between 11 and 13 for much of the film but is also seen as a grown-up version of herself at several junctures in the narrative. Oddly, it works. Homolka, who plays Dunne’s uncle, is the only cast member who was in the original Broadway production. Thirteenth billed Corby beautifully plays Dunne’s shy sister, a role originally intended for Jessica Tandy who bowed out to star in A Woman’s Vengeance instead. Corby’s performance also won her a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.

Also worthy of note are Philip Dorn as Papa, Cedric Hardwicke as the gentleman boarder, Edgar Bergen as Corby’s undertaker beau, Rudy Vallee as a no-nonsense doctor, Barbara O’Neill as Homolka’s mistress/wife, Hope Landin and Edith Evanson as Dunne’s other sisters, Steve Brown, Peggy McIntire, and June Hedin as Dunne’s other children, and Tommy Ivo as Evanson’s son.

The film was so popular that it was immediately adapted for TV with Peggy Wood starring as Mama from 1949-1957. Both Bel Geddes and Corby later starred as quite different matriarchs on TV, Bel Geddes as Miss Ellie in Dallas (1978-1990), and Corby as Grandma Walton in The Waltons (1972-1980).

The Blu-ray looks fantastic but offers no extras other than the original theatrical trailer.

Filmed in 1943, but not released until 1945, Conflict is an underrated film noir directed by Curtis Bernhardt starring Humphrey Bogart in a role he refused to play until Warner Bros. suspended him. Bogart did not feel he was right for the part of a man who murders his wife because he is in love with her younger sister. It was only after the studio threatened to take away both Passage to Marseilles and To Have and Have Not from him that he agreed to make the film.

The plot may be obvious to modern audiences but was unique at the time. Rose Hobart as Bogie’s snippy wife and Alexis Smith as her naïve sister are both fine, but the film is at its best when Bogie is sparring with Sydney Greenstreet as a savvy psychologist.

Bogart had no compunction about playing a similar role in The Two Mrs. Carrolls two years later with Barbara Stanwyck as his second wife about to be murdered so he can marry anticipated third wife Alexis Smith. Like Conflict, The Two Mrs. Carrolls had a two-year delayed release which kept it out of theatres until 1947.

Extras include cartoons, shorts, and a 1945 radio broadcast with Bogart.

Promoted as an Orson Welles Mercury Production, 1943’s Journey into Fear from Eric Ambler’s suspense novel, had a screenplay by Jospeh Cotten and Orson Welles, though only Cotten is credited with it. Directed by Norman Foster (Charlie Chan at Treasure Island), Welles added an uncredited opening sequence and a narration by Cotten for the U.S. release which are missing from the British release.

The film which was never released on DVD in the U.S., stars Cotten as an American ballistics expert in Turkey who finds himself targeted by German agents. Welles plays a Turkish officer who arranges safe passage home for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are on board the ship. Who can he trust?

The story is extremely convoluted. The acting is uneven with only Cotten and Welles playing clearly defined roles. Dolores Del Rio, Welles’ girlfriend at the time, plays a mysterious passenger who has no real role in the plot. Ruth Warrick, Welles’ wife in Citizen Kane, also has a thankless role as Cotten’s wife, as does Agnes Moorehead as another passenger with no relationship to the main plot. More directly related to the plot are Jack Durant, Everett Sloane, Hans Conried and Richard Bennett in his final role as the ship’s captain.

The Blu-ray features three audio-only Mercury Theatre radio plays from 1938, Dracula, Treasure Island, and A Tale of Two Cities as extras.

Happy viewing.