Mildred Pierce (1945)
Directed by Michael Curtiz

Film Review

After a fairly fallow period in the early 1940s, Joan Crawford made a remarkable comeback in Mildred Pierce, in the role for which she is perhaps best remembered and which won her her one and only Academy Award.  The film is something of a genre-hopping oddity, a bizarre collision of film noir murder mystery and traditional weepy.  It is also a contradition, seemingly championing women's independence (the heroine is a self-made business woman who refuses to be dominated by any man) whilst tacitly adhering to all the well-worn conventions of the oft-derided women's picture.   Adapted from a popular novel by James M. Cain - the originator of The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity - the film also serves as a scathing social critique, one of the most bitter and most eloquent indictments of the hollowness of the American dream that cinema has given us.

Michael Curtiz directs the film with his customary flair, beginning it with a memorable noir-style opener that masterfully sets up the ensuing drama whilst cheekily sending us all off in the wrong direction.  Wisely, the screenwriters dispensed with the linear narrative of the original novel and instead opted for a far more interesting flashback structure, of the kind that is more appropriate for a film noir crime-thriller.  Not only does this make the story more compelling than it might have been, as it blurs the boundaries between what is real and what is not, it also allows for one of the greatest twist endings of any film.  What could so easily have been a lacklustre and all too predictable melodrama ends up as one of the most enjoyable and stylish American films of this era, a genuine classic.

Joan Crawford has never appeared more powerful, nor more harrowingly vulnerable, as the single-mindedly devoted mother who is prepared to do anything for her hideously selfish social-climbing daughter.  The stark emptiness of Mildred's existence, so brilliantly conveyed by Crawford throughout the film, shows the utter pointlessness of living purely for material gain and social advantage.  Mildred has to learn the hard way that she cannot buy love with money, and when she discovers the truth she is a desperately broken woman.  It is extraordinary to think that Curtiz was initially opposed to Crawford's casting in the role, a role that had originally been ear-marked for the actress's long-term rival Bette Davis.

Only Joan Crawford, at the height of her powers, could be convincing both as the go-getting businesswoman and the totally deluded mother who is willing to sacrifice everything for her spoiled brat of a daughter, even to the extent of coolly implicating an innocent man in her husband's murder.   There is no shortage of acting talent in this film - Jack Carson, Zachary Scott and Eve Arden are each worthy of an Oscar nomination - but it is Joan Crawford, so hopelessly brittle beneath her diamond-coated carapace, who most grabs our attention, ripping at our heartstrings as she takes us on an unforgettable journey into desolation and despair.  The film's moral is one that every parent should heed - there is no surer way to earn a child's contempt than by spoiling it.

Film Synopsis

When her husband is shot dead, Mildred Pierce Beragon breaks down under police questioning and confesses that she is the murderer.  She had hoped to frame her business partner, Wally Fay, but when her first husband Bert Pierce is identified as the most likely suspect she has no choice but to own up and relate the series of events that led to this tragic outcome.  Her story begins four years ago, at the time when Bert left her and moved in with another woman.  To support her two daughters, Veda and Kay, Mildred has no choice but to go out to work.  Having toiled for a few months as a lowly waitress she decides to open her own restaurant, and persuades Monte Beragon, an upper-crust playboy fallen on hard times, to surrender his coastal house in exchange for a share of her first year profits.  The restaurant proves to be a success and Mildred can give everything that the increasingly selfish Veda asks for, although Kay dies from pneumonia before the year is out.  Even when Mildred has acquired a chain of restaurants, Veda is not satisfied.  She resents her mother's humble origins and her degrading profession.  There is only one thing left for Mildred to do so that Veda can fulfil her social aspirations.  She must marry Monte.  Unfortunately, Monte demands a far higher price than Mildred had anticipated paying...