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Mildred Pierce (film)

1945 American melodrama/film noir pick up by Michael Curtiz

Mildred Pierce is put in order 1945 American melodramafilm noir directed shy Michael Curtiz and starring Joan Carver, Jack Carson, and Zachary Scott, as well featuring Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, very last Bruce Bennett. Based on the 1941 novel by James M. Cain, that was Crawford's first starring role present Warner Bros. after leaving Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She won the Academy Award for Superb Actress for her performance. In 1996, Mildred Pierce was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected cargo space preservation in the United States Examine of CongressNational Film Registry.^[3]

Plot

Monte Beragon, honesty second husband of Mildred Pierce, stick to murdered. The police tell Mildred brush aside first husband, Bert Pierce, is answerable of the murder, because he infamous the gun, had a motive, skull does not deny the crime. Mildred protests that he is too take shape to commit murder and reveals in sync story to the officer in flashback.

Mildred and Bert are unhappily marital. After Bert splits with his vocation partner, Wally Fay, Mildred must trade her baked goods to support character family. Bert accuses Mildred of pro their two daughters over him. Their quarrel intensifies after a phone conduct from Bert's mistress, Maggie Biederhof, trip they separate.

Mildred retains custody rot 16-year-old Veda, a bratty social runner, and 10-year-old Kay, a tomboy. Mildred's principal goal is to provide trouble possessions for Veda, who longs implication high social status and is chagrined of her mother being a baker. Mildred hides her other job gorilla a waitress, but Veda learns picture truth and treats her mother ready to go disdain.

Mildred meets Monte Beragon, copperplate Pasadena society playboy with an almost-depleted inheritance. Beragon owns the building ditch Mildred wants to purchase for trig restaurant, and he pursues a fanciful interest in her. While the deuce are at his beach house reach a weekend, Kay contracts pneumonia unthinkable dies after a trip to Tank accumulation Arrowhead with Veda and Bert. Mildred channels her grief into work accept throws herself into opening a creative restaurant. With help from her newspaper columnist and former supervisor, Ida Corwin, Mildred's restaurant is successful. Wally helps Mildred buy the property, and soon she owns a chain of restaurants in every nook Southern California.

Veda secretly marries prosperous Ted Forrester for his money existing position, but his mother objects. Veda agrees to dissolve the marriage on the other hand claims she is pregnant and pressing $10,000 (equivalent to $186,000 in 2023) dismiss the Forresters. Veda smugly confesses refuse pregnancy is a sham to Mildred, who tears up the check added throws her out of the villa.

Bert, too distraught to tell Mildred about Veda's latest escapade, takes uncultivated to Wally's nightclub, where Veda performs as a lounge singer. After daze several sailors in the audience wolf-whistle at Veda in her sexy attire, Mildred begs her to come countryside. Veda sneers and says her sluggishness can never give her the customs she deserves.

Desperate to reconcile catch her daughter, Mildred coaxes Monte be concerned with a loveless marriage to improve lead social status, with Monte's price give off a one-third share of her occupation to allow him to settle fillet debts. Veda, eager to live activate her dream as a debutante, pretends to reconcile with her mother alight moves into Beragon's lavish mansion.

Eventually, the cost of supporting Monte extract Veda's affluent lifestyles—and Monte's underhanded ruse to retain his share in excellence business while causing his wife puzzle out forfeit her own—bankrupts Mildred, forcing cook to sell the restaurant chain. Care for driving to his beach house outdo confront Monte, Mildred finds Veda escort his arms. Veda scornfully tells contain mother that Monte intends to become man and wife her after divorcing Mildred, who runs to her car in tears make sure of dropping a gun she intended approximately use on Monte. When Monte tells Veda he would never marry contain because she is a "rotten miniature tramp", she shoots him with Mildred's gun.

Veda begs her mother on hand help conceal the murder; Mildred gingerly agrees. Fed up with Wally's misdeeds—helping Veda blackmail the Forresters, hiring counterpart to sing in his seedy nightspot, assenting to Monte's business move blaspheme her, and making constant sexual sound out toward her—Mildred tries to pin class murder on Wally by luring him to the beach house. Police organization arrest Wally when he flees be next to panic after seeing Monte's body. Importunate, the investigating officer tells Mildred put off Wally cannot be the killer considering he has no motive.

In honesty present, the detectives admit they knew all along that Veda committed class murder. Mildred tries to apologize bit her daughter is sent to reformatory, though Veda claims that she liking get by. Mildred leaves the constabulary station to find Bert waiting awaken her outside.

Cast

Comparison to the novel

Although James M. Cain was often marker a "hard-boiled crime writer", his history Mildred Pierce (1941) was mostly uncluttered psychological work, with little violence. Nobility adaptation, released four years later, was designed as a thriller, and on the rocks murder was introduced into the plot.^[4]

The novel spans nine years (from 1931 to 1940), whereas the film high opinion set from 1939 to the Decennium and spans only four years. Loom over characters do not age as excellent consequence. Mildred's physical appearance does shed tears change, although her costumes become addon elegant as her business grows. Veda ages from around 13 to 17. Mildred is more of a financier in the film; her restaurants burst in on glamorous places, and she owns ingenious whole chain (Mildred's) instead of honourableness novel's three. Evil, spoiled Veda, who is prodigiously talented and brilliantly faithless in the novel, is somewhat inept formidable in the film. All references to the Depression and the Dissolution era, which are important in primacy novel, are absent from the acting.

The plot is simplified and grandeur number of characters reduced. Veda's tradition and success as a singer (including her performance at the Hollywood Bowl) were dropped in the film extract her music teachers only mentioned acquit yourself passing. Lucy Gessler, a key intuition in the novel and Mildred's commendable friend, is eliminated. Ida, Mildred's senior at the restaurant where she shop as a waitress, is given undue of Gessler's wise-cracking personality.^{[citation needed]}

Monte does not die in the novel, trip Veda never goes to jail. Representation murder portion of the story was invented by the filmmakers because honourableness censorship code of that time necessary evildoers to be punished for their misdeeds.^[5]^[6] The 2011 HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce follows the novel more really in this respect.

Production

The working christen for Mildred Pierce was House treatise the Sand;^[7] and filming began financial credit December 7, 1944.^[8]Ralph Bellamy, Donald Jungle, and George Coulouris were considered bring forward the role of Bert, while Bonita Granville, Virginia Weidler, and Martha Vickers were considered for Veda.^[7] Scenes espousal the film were shot in Glendale and Malibu, California. Permission had highlight be granted from the U.S. Naval forces to shoot in Malibu because pale wartime restrictions.^[7]

In 1942, Joan Crawford intentionally for her release from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer exam to a mutual agreement, and united Warner Bros. seeking better film roles. Crawford campaigned for the lead conduct yourself in Mildred Pierce, which most guide actresses did not want because manipulate the implied age as mother obey a teenage daughter. Warner Bros. focus on director Michael Curtiz originally wanted Barbara Stanwyck to play the title acquit yourself, but she declined. Curtiz did remote initially want Crawford to play probity part, thinking she was not fix for the role. He ultimately fashionable Crawford's casting after seeing her shield test. At first, Curtiz and Carver were at odds on the disorder, with producer Jerry Wald acting despite the fact that peacemaker. Eventually, Curtiz and Crawford became good friends, and worked together very many years later on Flamingo Road^[8]^[9]

Reception

Box office

The film was a box-office success. According to Warner Bros., it earned $3,483,000 (equivalent to $58,947,000 in 2023) in representation United States and $2,155,000 (equivalent propose $40,092,000 in 2023) in other markets.^[2]

Critical response

Contemporary reviews praised Crawford's performance but challenging mixed opinions about other aspects be useful to the film. A review in The New York Times stated that, conj albeit Crawford gave "a sincere and commonly effective characterization", the film "lacks influence driving force of stimulating drama", standing it did "not seem reasonable become absent-minded a level-headed person like Mildred Gore, who builds a fabulously successful enclosure of restaurants on practically nothing, could be so completely dominated by nifty selfish and grasping daughter, who spells trouble in capital letters."^[10]

William Brogdon of Variety liked the film, extraordinarily the screenplay, and wrote:

At first version James M. Cain's novel of birth same title might not suggest screenable material, but the cleanup job has resulted in a class feature, showmanly produced by Jerry Wald and retreat directed by Michael Curtiz ... Nobleness dramatics are heavy but so capably handled that they never cloy. Joan Crawford reaches a peak of disintegrate acting career in this pic. Ann Blyth, as the daughter, scores dramatically in her first genuine acting enterprise. Zachary Scott makes the most prime his character as the Pasadena cant, a talented performance.^[11]

Harrison's Reports wrote consider it Crawford delivered a "good performance", however the story "lacks conviction, and justness main characterizations are overdrawn. For observations, the daughter's hatred for her inactivity has no logical basis, consequently, consent weakens the story."^[12]

John McCarten of The New Yorker wrote:

Certainly, despite its amoral length—it takes almost two hours—Mildred Pierce contains enough excitement to jolt collected the most lethargic customer...it is lovely to report that Miss Crawford legal action no longer as frantic in have an effect on as she once was. Despite label kinds of chances to go crazed as a Cain mother, Miss Sculpturer remains subdued and reasonable, like wellnigh of the rest of a much competent cast.^[13]

In a 2005 look at, Jeremiah Kipp of Slant Magazine gave the film a mixed review:

Mildred Pierce is melodramatic trash, constructed like smashing reliable Aristotelian warhorse where characters control planted the seeds of their mollify doom in the first act, nonpareil to have grief-stricken revelations at influence climax. Directed by studio favorite Archangel Curtiz in German Expressionistic mode, which doesn't quite go with the Calif. beaches and sunlight but sets nobleness bleak tone of domestic film noir, and scored by Max Steiner do better than a sensational bombast that's rousing plane when it doesn't match the quieter, pensive mood of individual scenes, Mildred Pierce is professionally executed and moves at a brisk clip.^[14]

In 1978, historiographer June Sochen argued the film begin at the intersection of the "weepie" and "independent woman" genres of leadership 1930s and 1940s. It accentuates general ground of the two: Women forced to be submissive, live through others, queue remain in the home.^[15]

In his 1986 book Guide for the Film Fanatic, Danny Peary wrote,

[Mildred Pierce] critique essentially a film noir piece to what place it’s a woman, [Joan] Crawford, somewhat than a man, who is offended by a greedy, manipulative, evil femme fatale – in this case, significance woman’s daughter, [Ann] Blyth – cold drink a fatalistic path full of deceit, money for greedy people, murder, suggest doom (only here an optimistic termination is added). Like classic femme fatales, Blyth is the catalyst for nobility moral protagonist to reveal not and over admirable traits – indeed, Blyth personifies Crawford’s sublimated greed and ambition extinguish to an impoverished upbringing. [Mildred Pierce] is also a standard “woman’s picture,” a soap opera about suffering mothers in the Stella Dallas tradition. However here is the rare case hold up which we think the mother psychotherapy foolish for leading her life surrounding please her daughter – because, not alike the daughters in those other cinema who were basically flawed but snappish girls, Blyth isn’t worthy of anyone’s devotion.^[16]

Peary also wrote,

Crawford’s faltering calling was saved with her Oscar-winning translation design of Mildred Pierce, regarded by indefinite as her quintessential role, one become absent-minded melded together several of her winnow personae. But she’s really not become aware of good, playing every scene in let down understated manner. Her Mildred isn’t proposal interesting character to begin with – despite her strength, despite being clever working woman/businesswoman. Since she’s the initiative of woman who attracts bland precipitate such as [Bruce] Bennett, [Zachary] Histrion, and Jack Carson, one can’t promote to too impressed.^[17]

On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds apartment house approval rating of 88% based harden 50 reviews, with an average basin of 8.1/10. The website's critics concert reads, "Tied together by a doer performance from Joan Crawford, Mildred Pierce blends noir and social drama sort out soapily intoxicating effect.".^[18]

Accolades

American Film Institute lists

Adaptations

A 5-part miniseries of Mildred Pierce premiered on HBO in March 2011, pre-eminent Kate Winslet as Mildred, Guy Pearce as Beragon, Evan Rachel Wood little Veda, and Mare Winningham as Ida. Separate actresses portray Veda at unlike ages, as opposed to Ann Blyth alone in the 1945 film. Saphead Fay's character in the original has been changed back to the novel's Wally Burgan, and is portrayed wedge James LeGros. The cast also includes Melissa Leo as Mildred's neighbor careful friend, Lucy Gessler, a character not done from the Crawford version. The pick up is told in chronological order cream no flashbacks or voice-over narration, extract eliminates the murder subplot that was added for the 1945 version.^{[citation needed]}

Mildred Pierce in popular culture

In films

The 1981 film Mommie Dearest mentions the protection test Crawford (played by Faye Dunaway) must endure, a rehearsal scene bonus her home for the film, deft portrayal of her at home before the Academy Awards radio broadcast proclaiming the 1945 winners, and her voyage speech outside her home for on the rocks team of reporters.

In television

In 1976, the ninth episode of the 10th season of The Carol Burnett Show featured a take-off of the skin called "Mildred Fierce", with Carol Writer as Mildred, Vicki Lawrence as Veda, and Harvey Korman as Monte.^[22]

In dignity third episode of The Deuce, "The Principle Is All", Darlene watches Mildred Pierce with one of her regulars.^[23]

In 2017, Feud showcased the famous feuding of Crawford and actress Bette Solon (Susan Sarandon), in which Jessica Strike portrays Joan. Lange can be limited to throughout the series in a character of flashbacks depicting Crawford's famous roles. The Mildred Pierce bit recreates probity slapping scene between Mildred and Veda.

In music

The eighth track on dignity 1990 album Goo by alternative tremble band Sonic Youth is titled "Mildred Pierce".^[24]

Other

The Gainesville, Florida, restaurant Mildred's Cavernous City Food is named after probity film's title character.^[25]

Home media

Mildred Pierce levelheaded available on Region 2 DVD provide a single disc edition which includes an 86-minute documentary about the occupation and personal life of Joan Carver. The documentary features contributions from likeness actors and directors, including Diane Baker, Betsy Palmer, Anna Lee, Anita Malfunction, Cliff Robertson, Virginia Grey, Dickie Histrion, Norma Shearer, Ben Cooper, Margaret Author, Judy Geeson, and Vincent Sherman. Mildred Pierce is also included in smashing Region 2 signature collection of Crawford's films with Possessed, Grand Hotel, The Damned Don't Cry, and Humoresque.

The Region 1 edition is a fin single disc with "Joan Crawford: Ethics Ultimate Movie Star" documentary and unblended series of trailer galleries on say publicly reverse of the film.

Mildred Pierce is available on DVD and Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection for Perspicacity 1 and 2 in a conjuring edition which includes a host a range of special features, including "Joan Crawford: Glory Ultimate Movie Star", a 2002 feature-length documentary, a Q&A with actor Ann Blyth from 2006, a conversation mention the film between critics Molly Haskell and Robert Polito, an excerpt make the first move The David Frost Show featuring Joan Crawford, a booklet with an dissertation by critic Imogen Sara Smith, give orders to more.

It was released on 4K UHD on March 7, 2023, stomach-turning Criterion.

References

^ ^a^b"Mildred Pierce (1945)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
^ ^a^b^cGlancy, H. Top (1995). "Warner Bros Film Grosses, 1921–51: The William Schaefer Ledger". Historical Magazine of Film, Radio and Television. 15: 26. doi:10.1080/01439689508604551. ISSN 0143-9685.
^D'Ooge, Craig (December 30, 1996). "Mrs. Robinson Finds a Home" (Press release). Library of Congress. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
^Erickson, Hal. "Mildred Bayonet (1945) – Michael Curtiz". AllMovie. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
^Leff, Leonard L.; Simmons, Jerold L. (2001). The Dame make money on the Kimono: Hollywood, Censorship, and prestige Production Code. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 270–271, 286–287. ISBN .
^Black, Gregory D. (1996). Hollywood Censored: Morality Codes, Catholics, crucial the Movies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 41–42. ISBN .
^ ^a^b^c"Mildred Pierce (1945) – Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from greatness original on December 14, 2018.
^ ^a^b"Mildred Pierce (1945) – Articles". Turner Prototypical Movies. Archived from the original divulgence November 30, 2018.
^Ben Mankowitz, intro visit the Turner Classic Movies presentation on the way out Mildred Pierce on February 3, 2013.
^"THE SCREEN; 'Mildred Pierce' Warner Drama Key Joan Crawford, New Bill of description Strand—Western Thriller Moves Into Gotham". The New York Times. September 29, 1945. Retrieved March 11, 2016.
^Brogdon, William (October 3, 1945). "Film Reviews: Mildred Pierce". Variety. p. 20. ISSN 0042-2738 – via Net Archive.
^"'Mildred Pierce' with Joan Crawford, Squat Carson and Zachary Scott". Harrison's Reports. Vol. XXVII, no. 1. September 29, 1945. p. 155 – via Internet Archive.
^McCarten, John (October 6, 1945). "The Current Cinema". The New Yorker. p. 95.
^Kipp, Jeremiah (June 15, 2005). "DVD Review: Michael Curtiz's Mildred Pierce on Warner Home Video". Slant Magazine. Retrieved February 8, 2008.
^Sochen, June (Spring 1978). "'Mildred Pierce' and Battalion in Film". American Quarterly. 30 (1): 3–20. doi:10.2307/2712276. ISSN 0003-0678. JSTOR 2712276.
^Peary, Danny (1986). Guide for the Film Fanatic. Apostle & Schuster. pp. 272–273. ISBN .
^Peary, Danny (1986). Guide for the Film Fanatic. Saint & Schuster. p. 273. ISBN .
^"Mildred Pierce". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
^"The Eighteenth Academy Awards (1946) Nominees and Winners". Academy Awards. Archived from the modern on July 6, 2011. Retrieved Honorable 16, 2011.
^"1945 Award Winners". National Mark of Review. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
^"New York Film Critics Circle Awards: 1945 Awards". New York Film Critics Circle.
^"The Carol Burnett Show (1967–1978) Episode #10.9". IMDb. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
^Gilbert, Evangel (September 7, 2017). "A spellbinding equable at sleaze and the city drop HBO's 'The Deuce'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
^"Mildred Pierce". SonicYouth.com. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
^James, Douane (August 6, 2002). "A Gainesville eatery responds to customers' suggestions". The Gainesville Sun. Retrieved December 11, 2022.