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Mildred Pierce

Rating

Director

Michael Curtiz

Screenplay

Ranald MacDougall (Novel: James M. Cain)

Length

1h 51m

Starring

Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett, Lee Patrick, Moroni Olsen, Veda Ann Borg, Jo Ann Marlowe

MPAA Rating

Approved

Basic Plot

A man is dead. Who did it and why? Perhaps it was his gorgeous young amore?

Review

In the tradition of “Chinatown” and “The Maltese Falcon,” “Mildred Pierce” is a twisting and turning Film Noir that leaves you guessing right up to the end.

“Mildred Pierce” is the story of a young mother, Mildred (Joan Crawford), whose only daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth), is so spoiled that she often forgoes her own happiness in order to make sure that her daughter gets all she wants.

The film opens as a wealthy young man, Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), is shot in cold blood. Mildred Pierce flees the beach house and runs to the waterfront. She’s about to throw herself off the pier when a cop walks by and forces her to vacate.

She leaves reluctantly and bypasses a restaurant that an old friend, Wally Fay (Jack Carson), frequents. He rushes out to make sure that she is all right and invites her in for a drink. They talk briefly in the bar when Mildred invites him back to the beach house for a nightcap. He prepares for what he believes is his opportunity to finally go to bed with Mildred while she “freshens up.”

Instead, she leaves through a back exit and runs to the street to catch a cab home. Wally wonders why she hasn’t come back yet and in searching for her discovers Monte’s dead body. He goes after her, but is apprehended by the police.

When Mildred arrives home, the police are waiting and she’s taken down to the station where she must tell all she knows about the situation. Instead of getting directly to the point, she begins at the beginning where she and her husband, Bert (Bruce Bennett) were trying to raise their two daughters, Veda and Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe). After a few spats, they decide to divorce and neither daughter takes the news very well.

Mildred takes what job she can find as a waitress at a local restaurant working for a woman who would one day become her business partner and friend, Ida (Eve Arden). Mildred tries to keep what she does a secret from Veda, but when she finds the cleaning lady wearing her waitress outfit and that Veda had given it to her, Veda goes into hysterics. Veda cannot stand what her mother does for a living and literally goes off on her.

Not long after, Mildred decides she wants to start a restaurant business of her own so that she can prove to her daughter that she’s not the common street trash that Veda thinks she is. In her quest to get into the restaurant business, she meets wealthy young Monte, who agrees to front the money for the business. With her friend Wally’s help, Monte’s money and Ida’s expertise, Mildred begins her restaurant and succeeds.

“Mildred Pierce” is one of those long, involved films that becomes so hard to describe without giving away the end that even the most succinct recap becomes enormous. It just strengthens my belief that the complexity of “Mildred Pierce” makes it one of the finest films ever made.

Director Michael Curtiz takes us on a voyeuristic journey through Mildred’s life. It may be lengthy, but it is well worth the trouble.

Crawford turns in one of film’s finest female performances and makes today’s screen persona’s look like servers at Burger King. If only some of today’s younger generation would take acting lessons from the legends of the silver screen, perhaps we’d have more gifted talents working than just the few Streeps and Bates we have now.

Also terrific is the supporting cast. Not a misstep is evident from any of the secondary players. Even young Marlowe is a revelation. Curtiz has made a well-acted, well-written, well-directed and well-photographed film and made it into a classic in every sense of the word.

“Mildred Pierce” is not only one of the best suspense films ever made, it’s one of the best in all genres.

Review Written

March 31, 1999