Themes: Mothers and Daughters, Success is the Best Revenge, Murder Investigations
Main Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth
Release Year: 1945
Country: US
Run Time: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Plot
Joan Crawford won an Academy Award for her bravura portrayal of the titular heroine in Mildred Pierce. The original James M. Cain novel concerned a tawdry waitress who slept her way to financial security so as to provide a rosy future for her beloved daughter, only to be rewarded by having her true love stolen away by that same daughter. Ranald McDougall's screenplay tones down the novel's sexual content, enhancing its film noir value by adding a sordid murder. The film opens with oily lounge lizard Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) being pumped full of bullets. Croaking out the name "Mildred", he collapses and dies. Both the police and the audience are led to believe that the murderer is chain-restaurant entrepreneur Mildred Pierce (Crawford), who takes the time to relate some of her sordid history. As the flashback begins, we see Mildred unhappily married to philandering Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett). She divorces him, keeping custody of her two beloved daughters, Veda (Ann Blyth) and Kay (Jo Anne Marlowe). To keep oldest daughter Veda in comparative luxury, Mildred ends up taking a waitressing position at a local restaurant. With the help of slimy real estate agent Wally Fay (Jack Carson), she eventually buys her own establishment, which grows into a chain of restaurants throughout Southern California. Meanwhile, Mildred smothers Veda in affection and creature comforts. She goes so far as to enter into a loveless marriage with the wealthy Monty Beragon in order to improve her social standing; Beragon repays the favor by living the life of a layabout playboy, much to Mildred's dismay -- and possible financial ruin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Adapted from James M. Cain's novel, and allegedly noir-ed up after Double Indemnity's 1944 box office success, Mildred Pierce (1945) became a striking hybrid of film noir and maternal melodrama, rejuvenating Joan Crawford's then-faltering stardom. Under the direction of top Warner Bros. helmer Michael Curtiz, Crawford's glamorously fur-clad Mildred initially appears to be a femme fatale as she walks down a dark, rain-slicked pier after a murdered man dies uttering her name. Evenly lit flashbacks, however, reveal Mildred as an upwardly mobile working mother, bonding with wisecracking co-worker Ida and trying to make a good life for her daughters after her weak husband Bert cheats on her. Ace Warner cinematographer Ernest Haller's noir shadows and skewed angles begin to encroach on Mildred's story as her relationship with hellacious daughter Veda and effete second husband Monte approaches its fateful climax. Crawford's first film for Warners after the end of her MGM contract became her first hit in several years, as she garnered accolades, and eventually a Best Actress Oscar, for her forceful performance. The film was also nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, and Best Supporting Actress for Eve Arden's scene-stealing Ida and Ann Blyth's sublimely witchy Veda. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
Bruce Bennett - Bert Pierce; Lee Patrick - Maggie Binderhof; Moroni Olsen - Inspector Peterson; Veda Ann Borg - Miriam Ellis; Jo Ann Marlowe - Kay Pierce; Barbara Brown - Mrs. Forrester; Charles Trowbridge - Mr. Williams; Butterfly McQueen - Lottie; Chester Clute - Mr. Jones; John Compton - Ted Forrester; Betty Alexander - Party Guest; Ramsay Ames - Party Guest; George Anderson - Peterson's Assistant; Lynne Baggett - Waitress; Wheaton Chambers - Personnel Man; Wallis Clark - Wally's Lawyer; Joyce Compton - Waitress; Clancy Cooper - Policeman; David Cota - Pancho; Thomas P. Dillon; Bob Evans - Sailor; James Flavin - Detective; Angela Greene; Charles Jordan - Policeman; Marjorie "Babe" Kane; Marion Lessing - Waitress; James Lono - Houseboy; George Meader - Man; Harold Miller - Man; Garry Owen - Policeman; Paul Panzer - Waiter; William H. Ruhl - Personnel Man; Mary Servoss - Nurse; John Sheridan - Clerk; George Tobias - Mr. Chris; Joan Winfield - Piano Teacher; John Christian - Singing Teacher; Leah Baird - Police Matron; Richard Kipling; Larry Rio - Reporter; Robert Arthur - High School Boy; Elyse Brown - Waitress; Doria Caron - Waitress; Don Grant - Bartender; Helen Pender - Party Guest; Tom Dillon - Policeman; Manart Kipper - Dr. Gale; Johnny Walsh - Delivery Man; Bob Locke Lorraine - Man; John O'Connor - Detective
Credit
Anton Grot - Art Director, Milo Anderson - Costume Designer, Michael Curtiz - Director, David Weisbart - Editor, Jack L. Warner - Executive Producer, Max Steiner - Composer (Music Score), Leo F. Forbstein - Musical Direction/Supervision, Perc Westmore - Makeup, Ernest Haller - Cinematographer, Jerry Wald - Producer, George James Hopkins - Set Designer, Richard Van Enger - Special Effects, Willard Van Enger - Special Effects, Oliver S. Garretson - Sound/Sound Designer, Ranald MacDougall - Screenwriter, James M. Cain - Book Author
