edwagreen This is a totally outstanding film of a woman's devotion as a maid to 4 children, the youngest who adores her and the special relationship they endured, since she held him when his mother died in childbirth.Fast forward to years later when the 4 are now adults, the older 3 really miseries, stuck up to the core as their father (Jean Hersholt) has amassed a fortune.Hersholt marries Emma at the spur of the moment when she is leaving for a much deserved vacation to Niagara Falls. When he dies shortly afterward, the older 3 bring Emma (Marie Dressler at her finest) up on charges of murder. They were greedy and it's basically the same story of greed over-taking all. While Emma is vindicated, her beloved Ronnie dies in a plane crash on his way back to defend her.While the adult children to beg for her forgiveness, in a poignant scene, Emma tells them that she must leave them. Dressler is so convincing here is her comic-dramatic performance. Her scene in the make shift plane is outrageously funny and her final scenes evoke emotions beyond belief.This is certainly a film where one will need a box of tissues. For those who love these kind of films, I heartily recommend 1951's "The Blue Veil," with Jane Wyman and a phenomenal cast. See the film and you'll see somewhat of a connection.

mgmax I find Marie Dressler vehicles fascinating, not because I entirely enjoy watching her (she's kind of scary) but I find it so interesting that glossy MGM had a star who was aimed at that whole class of old-before-their-time, world-weary housewives and mothers who would put on their frumpy best, walk in ill-fitting shoes after a long day of doing things for everyone but themselves, and sit down for 75 minutes of intense identification with one of their own. Once labor-saving devices and family planning conquered America, women stopped being so tired and worn at such early ages, and so there's never been another star quite like her; the equivalent audience is seeing things like Mamma Mia! today, fantasies of late-middle-aged youth, not premature old age. In this one she's a housekeeper who is really the only mother a bunch of rich kids ever had; the dad finally marries her in old age, she inherits the estate, and three of the kids come after her to get the money. The setup doesn't entirely bear scrutiny (the spoiled grown kids hardly act like they've even met her before, let alone were raised by her) but it doesn't matter, it's all about her frumpy-old-lady common sense telling the world what's what, a Mr. Deeds for the support hose set, and you can see why her audience ate it up and she got an Oscar nomination.

Robert J. Maxwell I must have missed something here because the movie seems to have found so many receptive viewers, but it's necessary to call them as I see them. And this one is a ball, wide and outside.The tale puts Marie Dressler in the role of Mammy in "Gone With the Wind," except that Mammy, or Emma, in this case being Caucasian, she gets to marry the rich doctor after his wife dies in childbirth.Of the four children, only one, Ronnie, is gay and loving towards her. The girls are snobs. When the dead doc leaves everything to Emma, Emma of course wants to give it to the children, but the girls gang up on her and Emma is accused of murdering the doc, while Ronnie, flying to her rescue, dies in a crash. Emma is found not guilty but, realizing that she has no place in the home any longer, after 32 years, she bids the girls adieu and heads for the unemployment office or rather -- what is it called now? The Employment Assistance Ministry? Anyway, in 1931, it was the unemployment office, and it still is, though they transpose the name into Esperanto. Not to fear. Emma finds another loving family exactly like the dead doc's and everything ends happily.Marie Dressler is unimposing in every way except for her physical bulk. Her performance is of the period, as is the sob story. The comic element is limited to Emma's fake solo in a flight trainer. I can't find the slightest thing original about it, nothing that would separate it from dozens of other movies made during the early thirties.It isn't a BAD flick. And Marie Dressler may have been a fine and loving person. It's the movie and just about everything in it that never rises above the precisely routine.

lwsroute66 This was an outstanding movie and Marie Dressler was at her best, as usual!!!! This was slightly different from other Dressler roles because this was more of a dramatic role, rather than her usual brand of comedy, although she does have comedic scenes within the movie.She has so much depth to her role as Emma, the housekeeper (and nanny), and one can actually feel the joys and happiness when she's working with the family, as well as the pain, suffering, and sorrow she feels when her husband (played by Jean Hersholt) passes away. The scene that really got me the most, though, was right after inheriting her husband's money, his grown children turned on her. (These are the same children whom she looked after from their childhoods.) After demanding they leave the house, Emma begins to feel saddened by seeing visions of these young children she helped to raise from infancy. That scene really got to me. I felt her pain, wondering "How could these children grow up and turn on her like that?" And when her beloved step-son, Ronnie, died, that was really the clincher! I basically predicted THAT would happen but, nonetheless, I could still feel her pain.When watching this movie, grab your popcorn AND a box of Kleenex, because you will need them!!!!