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HOME ENTERTAINMENT : Spending Time With All Types of Moms

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

With Sunday being Mother’s Day, it’s the perfect time to check out some famous and infamous celluloid moms on video.

Macabre though she may be, Morticia (Anjelica Huston) is the perfect loving ma to her three offspring in the wickedly funny 1993 comedy “Addams Family Values” (Paramount, $20).

The 1939 comedy “Bachelor Mother” (Media Home Entertainment, $20) is a breezy, witty farce starring the vivacious Ginger Rogers as a salesgirl who becomes an instant mom when she finds an abandoned baby. David Niven is also in great form as her boss.

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Get out your wire hangers for “Mommie Dearest” (Paramount), the 1981 hoot based on Christina Crawford’s memoirs of her less-than-pleasant childhood as the adopted daughter of Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway).

And speaking of Crawford, she won an Oscar for 1945’s “Mildred Pierce” (MGM, $20), a juicy adaptation of James M. Cain’s novel about a hard-working divorcee who discovers that both she and her ungrateful, spoiled daughter (Ann Blyth) love the same man (Zachary Scott).

Shelley Long is in fine form as the quintessential perky TV sitcom mom in “The Brady Bunch Movie” (Paramount, $20), the uneven but frequently hilarious 1995 feature version of the cult TV series.

Have a box of tissues handy while watching 1948’s “I Remember Mama” (Turner, $20), the poignant adaptation of John Van Druten’s Broadway play chronicling the life of a Norwegian immigrant family living in San Francisco in the early 1900s. Irene Dunne received an Oscar nomination for her glowing performance as the inspiring, solid-as-a-rock mom.

Barbara Stanwyck received her first best actress Oscar nomination for her pull-out-all-the-stops performance in “Stella Dallas” (Sultan Entertainment, $15), the popular 1937 sudser about an uneducated woman who gives up everything for her daughter (Anne Shirley). The wedding scene conclusion is a real heart-tugger.

The slight 1968 family comedy “Yours, Mine & Ours” (MGM, $15) benefits greatly for the sparkling performances of Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda. Ball plays a widow with eight kids who marries a widower (Fonda) with 10.

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Doris Day is at her bouncy best as a harried mom married to a New York drama critic (David Niven) who moves her brood to the country in the pleasant 1960 comedy “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” (MGM, $15). Based on Jean Kerr’s best-selling book.

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Oldies but Goodies: This Tuesday, MCA/Universal releases three new titles in its Universal Western Collection ($15 each). The best of the lot is “The Virginian,” a 1946 adaptation of Owen Wister’s novel starring Joel McCrea. Rounding out the collection is the standard 1953 melodrama “Law and Order,” starring Ronald Reagan, and 1966’s snoozy “The Appaloosa,” with Marlon Brando.

Also new Tuesday from MCA ($15 each) is “The Story of Dr. Wassell,” a slow-moving 1944 Cecil B. DeMille epic worth watching because of Gary Cooper’s nice turn. “Battle Hymn,” a poignant 1957 war drama, features one of Rock Hudson’s sturdiest performances. The exciting 1952 World War II adventure “Red Ball Express” stars he-man Jeff Chandler and Sidney Poitier. The Douglas Sirk-directed 1957 melodrama “Tarnished Angels” stars Rock Hudson, Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack.

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TV: With the new feature splashing into theaters May 17, Hallmark is releasing 25 episodes Tuesday of the baby boomer fave TV series “Flipper” ($15 each). Brian Kelly, Luke Halpin, Tommy Norden and, of course, Flipper star in the 1964-65 NBC series about a lovable dolphin.

Killer B: Heather Graham and Lisa Zane star in “Terrified” (A-Pix), a loopy thriller about a young woman with a past who thinks she’s being stalked by a mysterious man.

Basketball: NBA Video’s “Michael Jordan: Above and Beyond” ($15) explores the Bulls star’s brief retirement and return to the NBA. NBA’s “Grant Hill: NBA Sensation” ($15) looks at the Detroit Pistons’ young superstar.

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Coming Next Week: Michael Douglas and Annette Bening star in Rob Reiner’s romantic comedy “The American President” (Columbia TriStar).

Robin Williams stars in the hit fantasy-comedy “Jumanji” (Columbia TriStar, $16).

Jessica Lange won a Golden Globe for the 1995 CBS adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” (CBS Video). Alec Baldwin, Diane Lane and John Goodman also star.

Vanessa Redgrave and Uma Thurman star in the romantic comedy “A Month by the Lake” (Miramax). . . . Also new: “Feast of July” (Touchstone); ‘Powder” (Hollywood); “Reckless” (Evergreen); “Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain” (MCA/Universal); “Peter, Paul & Mary: Lifelines” (Warner Reprise); “The Kingdom” (Evergreen); “Aeon Flux” (Sony).

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