Mom in the Movies

Starred review from March 15, 2014

The mother figure is both revered and reviled and nowhere is that more apparent than on the movie screen. From depictions of the selfless in Stella Dallas to the crazed in Mommie Dearest, motion pictures run the gamut when it comes to Mom. The film buffs at Turner Classic Movies, along with movie critic Corliss, have put together a comprehensive retrospective of mothers as portrayed on film from the earliest "Silent Moms," such as Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford, to the most recent figures (e.g., Meryl Streep in August: Osage County; Tyler Perry's Madea). Every type of mom is covered: "Serial Moms" (I Remember Mama); "Mammies and Nannies" (Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind; Viola Davis in The Help); and "Malevolent Moms" (Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate). With an introduction by mom-and-daughter team Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, this coffee-table book is affirmation that despite the financial constraints on an industry aimed at young men, "all of us need images in films to reflect and enrich, challenge and validate, the ones in our hearts. On that screen, we demand to see our better selves: our mothers." VERDICT Both film students and regular movie fans alike will enjoy this definitive work.--Rosellen Brewer, Sno-Isle Libs., Marysville, WA

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