Mildred Pierce (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mildred Pierce
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Michael Curtiz
Produced by	Executive Producer: Jack L. Warner Producer: Jerry Wald
Written by	Story: James M. Cain Screenplay: Ranald MacDougall William Faulkner Catherine Turney
Narrated by	Joan Crawford
Starring	Joan Crawford Ann Blyth Jack Carson Zachary Scott Eve Arden
Music by	Max Steiner
Cinematography	Ernest Haller
Editing by	David Weisbart
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	September 24, 1945 (U.S.A.)
Running time	111 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Mildred Pierce (1945) is an American drama with elements of film noir directed by Michael Curtiz. The picture is based on the 1941 novel Mildred Pierce, written by James M. Cain. The film features Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott and Eve Arden.^[1]

The drama was Crawford's first starring role for Warner Brothers after leaving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and won her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

While the novel is told by a third-person narrator in strict chronological order, the film uses voice-over narration (the voice of Mildred). The story is framed by the questioning of Mildred Pierce at the local police station after the police discover the body of her second husband, Monte Beragon.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Critical reception 4 Comparison to novel 5 Awards 6 References 6.1 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Plot

The film in noir fashion opens with Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) being shot. He murmurs the name "Mildred" as he collapses and dies. The police are led to believe that the murderer is restaurant owner Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford), who under interrogation confesses to the crime. She then relates her life story in flashback.

We see housewife Mildred unhappily married to an unemployed Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett). He was originally a real estate partner of Wally Fay (Jack Carson), who propositions Mildred after learning that she and Bert are about to divorce. Mildred keeps custody of her two daughters: Veda (Ann Blyth) and Kay (Jo Anne Marlowe).

Mildred's principal goal is to provide for eldest daughter Veda, who has promise as a singer though eventually longs for possessions the family cannot afford. Mildred needs a job and the best she can find is as a waitress -- a fact she hides from Veda. One day, Veda gives away Mildred's waitress uniform, thinking nothing of it, until Mildred admits that she is a waitress, infuriating Veda, who thinks it a lowly employ. With the help of her new friend and supervisor, Ida (Eve Arden), Mildred opens a restaurant of her own and turns it into a genuine money-maker. Real estate agent Wally helps her buy the property, and it grows into a chain of "Mildred's" throughout southern California. But Mildred's business success is overwhelmed for Mildred by a tragedy -- her younger daughter Kay contracts pneumonia and dies.

Mildred continues to smother Veda in affection and worldly goods. Veda is appalled by Mildred's common background and profession, however. Mildred goes as far as entering into a loveless marriage with the formerly wealthy Monte Beragon in order to improve her social standing. Beragon lives the life of a playboy but needs to sponge off her, much to Mildred's dismay and potential ruin. The behind-the-scenes manipulations of Monte and Wally and the greed of Veda end up costing Mildred her share of the business.

When her own daughter takes up with the scheming Monte, a showdown ensues at the beach house where the film began. We discover what really happened: that Veda, furious over Monte's unwillingness to take her seriously, is the one who shoots him. Mildred can cover for her daughter no more. Veda is led off to jail.

[edit] Cast

• Joan Crawford as Mildred Pierce Beragon
• Jack Carson as Wally Fay
• Zachary Scott as Monte Beragon
• Eve Arden as Ida Corwin
• Ann Blyth as Veda Pierce Forrester
• Bruce Bennett as Albert "Bert" Pierce
• Lee Patrick as Mrs. Maggie Biederhof
• Moroni Olsen as Inspector Peterson
• Veda Ann Borg as Miriam Ellis
• Jo Ann Marlowe as Kay Pierce

[edit] Critical reception

The staff at Variety magazine liked the film, especially the screenplay, and wrote, "At first reading James M. Cain's novel of the same title might not suggest screenable material, but the cleanup job has resulted in a class feature, showmanly produced by Jerry Wald and tellingly directed by Michael Curtiz...The dramatics are heavy but so skillfully handled that they never cloy. Joan Crawford reaches a peak of her acting career in this pic. Ann Blyth, as the daughter, scores dramatically in her first genuine acting assignment. Zachary Scott makes the most of his character as the Pasadena heel, a talented performance."^[2]

Critic Jeremiah Kipp gave the film a mixed review: "Mildred Pierce is melodramatic trash, constructed like a reliable Aristotelian warhorse where characters have planted the seeds of their own doom in the first act, only to have grief-stricken revelations at the climax. Directed by studio favorite Michael Curtiz in German Expressionistic mode, which doesn't quite go with the California beaches and sunlight but sets the bleak tone of domestic film noir, and scored by Max Steiner with a sensational bombast that's rousing even when it doesn't match the quieter, pensive mood of individual scenes, Mildred Pierce is professionally executed and moves at a brisk clip."^[3]

[edit] Comparison to novel

The adaptation was designed as a thriller and a murder was introduced into the plot.^[4] The novel Mildred Pierce spans a period of nine years (from 1931 to 1940), whereas the action of the film is set in the 1940s and spans only four years. Accordingly, in the film, the characters do not really grow older: Mildred does not change her appearance, she does not put on weight and become matronly; Veda does grow older, but only four years, from around 13 to around 17. Generally speaking, Mildred is more of a tycoon in the film. Her restaurants are glamorous places, and she owns a whole chain ("Mildred's") rather than just three.

All references to the Depression and the Prohibition era were removed.

The plot is simplified and the number of characters reduced:

For example, the part of the action which revolves around Veda's training and success as a singer (including her performance at the Hollywood Bowl) was dropped altogether. In the movie version, Veda's music teachers are merely mentioned in passing.

Lucy Gessler, a key character in the novel, being a good friend of Mildred's and later working in the restaurants, is not present in the film version.

Mildred's numerous domestic servants are primarily represented by single young housemaid Butterfly McQueen (stereotyped as sweetly dumb and comical).

[edit] Awards

Wins

• National Board of Review: NBR Award; Best Actress, Joan Crawford; 1945.
• Academy Awards: Oscar; Best Actress in a Leading Role, Joan Crawford; 1946.

Nominations

• Academy Awards: 1946
  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Eve Arden
  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Ann Blyth
  • Best Black-and-White Cinematography, Ernest Haller
  • Best Picture, Jerry Wald
  • Best Screenplay Writing, Ranald MacDougall

Other honors

• In 1996 the drama was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Mildred Pierce at the Internet Movie Database
• Mildred Pierce at Allmovie
• Mildred Pierce at the TCM Movie Database
• Mildred Pierce at Filmsite.org
• Mildred Pierce at DVD Beaver (includes images)

v • d • e The films of Michael Curtiz 1910s The Last Bohemian • Today and Tomorrow • Captive Souls • My Husband's Getting Married • The Exile • The Borrowed Babies The Princess in a Nightrobe • Prisoner of the Night • Bánk Bán • Golddigger • One Who Is Loved By Two • Seven of Spades • The Strength of the Fatherland • The Karthauzer The Black Rainbow • The Wolf • The Medic • Mr. Doctor • Master Zoard • The Red Samson • The Last Dawn • Spring in Winter • Tartar Invasion Secret of St. Job Forest • Nobody's Son • The Charlatan • A Penny's History • The Fishing Bell • Earth's Man • The Colonel • Peace's Road Jean the Tenant • The Merry Widow • Magic Waltz • A Skorpió I. • The Devil • Lulu • Lu, the Coquette • Júdás • The Ugly Boy • Alraune (with Edmund Fritz) • 99 • The Sunflower Woman • Liliom • The Lady with the Black Gloves 1920s Boccaccio • The Star of Damascus • The Scourge of God • Miss Tutti Frutti • Good and Evil • Mrs. Dane's Confession • Labyrinth of Horror Sodom and Gomorrah • Young Medardus • Avalanche • Nameless • A Deadly Game • General Babka Harun al Raschid • Moon of Israel • Red Heels • Cab No. 13 • The Golden Butterfly • The Third Degree • A Million Bid • The Desired Woman Good Time Charley • Tenderloin • Noah's Ark • Glad Rag Doll • Madonna of Avenue A • The Gamblers • Hearts in Exile 1930s Mammy • Under a Texas Moon • The Matrimonial Bed • Bright Lights • A Soldier's Plaything • River's End • Demon of the Sea God's Gift to Women • The Mad Genius • The Woman from Monte Carlo • The Strange Love of Molly Louvain • Doctor X • The Cabin in the Cotton • 20,000 Years in Sing Sing • Mystery of the Wax Museum • The Keyhole • Private Detective 62 • Goodbye Again • The Kennel Murder Case • Female • Mandalay • Jimmy the Gent • The Key • British Agent • The Case of the Curious Bride • Black Fury • Front Page Woman • Little Big Shot • Captain Blood • The Walking Dead • The Charge of the Light Brigade • Stolen Holiday • Mountain Justice • Kid Galahad • The Perfect Specimen • Gold Is Where You Find It • The Adventures of Robin Hood (with William Keighley) • Four's a Crowd • Four Daughters • Angels with Dirty Faces • Dodge City • Daughters Courageous • The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex • Four Wives 1940s Virginia City • The Sea Hawk • Santa Fe Trail • The Sea Wolf • Dive Bomber • Captains of the Clouds • Yankee Doodle Dandy • Casablanca • Mission to Moscow • This Is the Army • Passage to Marseille • Janie • Roughly Speaking • Mildred Pierce • Night and Day • Life with Father The Unsuspected • Romance on the High Seas • My Dream Is Yours (with Friz Freleng) • Flamingo Road • The Lady Takes a Sailor 1950s Young Man with a Horn • Bright Leaf • The Breaking Point • Force of Arms • Jim Thorpe -- All-American • I'll See You in My Dreams The Story of Will Rogers • The Jazz Singer Trouble Along the Way • The Boy from Oklahoma • The Egyptian • White Christmas • We're No Angels The Scarlet Hour • The Vagabond King • The Best Things in Life Are Free • The Helen Morgan Story • The Proud Rebel • King Creole • The Hangman • The Man in the Net 1960s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn • A Breath of Scandal • Francis of Assisi • The Comancheros Short films Jön az öcsém (1919) • Sons of Liberty (1939) Productions Bright Lights (1935)

v • d • e American films of the 1940s 1940 •1941 •1942 •1943 •1944 •1945 •1946 •1947 •1948 •1949