Mildred Pierce is directed by Michael Curtiz and adapted from the James M. Cain novel by Ranald MacDougall, William Faulkner and Catherine Turney. It stars Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Bruce Bennett and Eve Arden. Music is by Max Steiner and the cinematographer is Ernest Haller. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards and won just the one for Crawford in the Best Actress category.

Plot finds Crawford as Mildred Pierce, a devoted Mother of two girls who struggles to not only make her marriage work, but to also keep her eldest daughter, Veda (Blyth),in the luxurious life she demands. Murder, treachery and heartache is about to dog the Pierce family.

This is of course the film that is often remembered for being the film that saved Joan Crawford's career. After being dumped by MGM, and tagged with being box office poison, Crawford, it seemed, was destined to be the latest visitor to the acting scrap heap. But Jerry Wald over at Warner Brothers had other ideas. The part of Mildred had been offered to some of the big hitting ladies on the Warner studio lot, Stanwyck, Davies and Sheridan are just three of the names known to have shied away from the role. The feeling was that playing a woman with a mid-teen daughter was a no go for the age proud ladies. But Crawford, just entering her forties, took the role on, and in spite of initial protestations from director Curtiz, gave a terrific performance that landed her the coveted golden statuette and prolonged her film career for another 25 years.

Blending the psychological aspects of the woman's picture with the physical edges of film noir, "Mildred Pierce" is something of a unique picture. Very popular on release (it was a box office smash),it was thought that Cain's source novel wouldn't transfer well to the screen. Credit then to the writers for managing to create such an intriguing and watchable piece. True, they have had to tone down aspects from the book, and even added incidents and changed characters, but the essence is right and the timing couldn't have been more perfect for such a story. As film noir was becoming a telling style of film making, the pic also coincided with the later stages of WWII - a time when the role of the Woman, either in the service or at home, was under scrutiny. One of the great things about the film, and the performance of Crawford, is that it cobbles together many character strands of the 40s woman - in life and in film noir. She's a Suzy homemaker type, asked to be mother and wife, yet driven to be a business woman because she feels she's lacking in the necessary family home department. Where the film gets its noir flecks from is that Mildred may also be a murderer, a femme fatale, a woman whose every decision spells trouble. It's as if the makers (not just here but many others at the time) are saying that a woman's place is in the home, doing homely family stuff. Intriguing for sure, not necessarily in good taste, but an added spice into the melodramatic cooking pot that already contains greed and obsession.

Told with a flashback structure, the film is smoothly directed by the versatile Curtiz. But both he and Crawford are aided considerably across the board, not least by a truly great "Bitch" performance from Blyth. Veda is at one detestable, spoilt and mean, the daughter from hell, a status-seeking brat whose love comes at enormous cost to those who dare to get close to her. Blyth revels in it and her play off with Crawford is one of the film's major strengths. The support cast of Scott, Carson, Arden and Bennett are excellent value, while Steiner's music is unobtrusive and able to shift freely with the narrative twists. Finally it's left to Hallers photography to capture the feel and mood of the unfolding story. Shifting from sunny suburbia one moment to shadowy expressionistic bleakness the next, the photographer of such notable film's like "Gone With the Wind" and "Rebel Without a Cause", is integral to the moody excellence of "Mildred Pierce".

A murder mystery flanked by asides of class distinction, bad parenting, dubious sexual leanings and pure greed. Yep, "Mildred Pierce" is no ordinary movie - and hooray for that. 8.5/10

Joan plays a married lady who does everything to make her two daughters successful--even if the oldest isn't the least bit appreciative. To make this wonderful life possible, Joan decides to work and make a successful business so she can afford to spoil her kids. The problem is that along the way she totally alienates her husband (who eventually leaves) and the youngest dies and so all of Joan's boundless energy is placed on the oldest (Veda). Then, once rich and successful, Veda behaves much like Louise Beavers' daughter did in IMITATION OF LIFE--she had no respect or appreciation of her mom's hard work.

This film garnered Joan Crawford an Oscar for Best Actress and while she did do a good job in the film, I couldn't help but think that this was not a great but more of a very competent performance. The reason is that in many ways, the Warner Brothers writers made her character way too one-dimensional and hard to believe. Throughout the film, Joan is so self-sacrificing that she will do ANYTHING to Veda happy--even if it means divorcing her husband, working her fingers to the bone and seeing Veda grow up to be a selfish monster. The self-sacrifice aspect of the film was believable to a point, but when she realized what a horrible person Veda had become, again and again, Joan played a giant doormat. Even when she threw Veda out, soon she came running back to her. So on one hand we are to believe that Joan is bright, driven and successful but on the other also a total idiot! I don't think so. I really think if Joan had been a little more realistic AND Vida had not been OBVIOUSLY 100% evil, then the movie might have been better. Still, considering that the film made a ton of money, revitalized Crawford's waning career (or should that be "reVeda-lized"?) and gave her an Oscar, who am I to complain? It's still a very enjoyable and highly entertaining melodrama, though I agree with Bette Davis that this film was overrated.

Known as the film that rescued Joan Crawford's waning career and the performance that won her her only Oscar, 'Mildred Pierce' is regarded as a classic for good reason and is so much more than those two things. While the book is more cynical and grittier, the sharp edge still remains.

Crawford herself has never been better, she completely embodies her role and has rarely been more chilling, dignified or moving. The rest of the cast are more than up to her level, especially a conniving Ann Blyth, a suitably caddish Zachary Scott, a snappy Eve Arden and a typically excellent Jack Carson. Bruce Bennett's character is not quite as meaty as the rest but he still makes much of it. The characters mostly aren't likable, nor were they meant to be, and this is more than compensated by how well written and interesting they are, hardly caricatures.

Michael Curtiz's direction is super cool, making 'Mildred Pierce' one of his best films along with 'Casablanca' and 'The Adventures of Robin Hood'. The cinematography is some of the most beautiful and atmospheric of any film that decade to me, and the film is lavishly mounted in production values. Max Steiner's music score may be similar to his score for 'Now Voyager', but that's not a bad thing because it's still a stirring and beautifully orchestrated score and typical Steiner.

The script is sophisticated, sharp and unsentimental, and the story is riveting in its tension and poignancy with a good mix of film noir and melodrama.

Overall, a classic. 10/10 Bethany Cox