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Mildred Pierce (film)
Encyclopedia
Mildred Pierce is a 1945 American drama film
starring Joan Crawford
, Ann Blyth
, Jack Carson
, Zachary Scott
, and Eve Arden
in a film noir
about a long-suffering mother and her ungrateful daughter. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall
, William Faulkner
, and Catherine Turney was based upon the 1941
novel Mildred Pierce
by James M. Cain
. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz
and produced by Jerry Wald
with Jack L. Warner as executive producer
.
Mildred Pierce was Crawford's first starring film for Warner Bros.
after leaving MGM, and won her the Academy Award for Best Actress
.
narration (the voice of Mildred). The story is framed by the questioning of Mildred by police after they discover the body of her second husband, Monte Beragon. The film, in noir
fashion, opens with 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's (Joan Crawford
) first husband, Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett
), who under interrogation confesses to the crime. She then relates her life story in flashback.
We see housewife Mildred married to a newly unemployed Pierce. Bert at the time was a real estate partner of Wally Fay (Jack Carson
) who propositioned Mildred after learning that she and Bert were about to divorce
. In the divorce, Mildred obtained custody of her two daughters: 16-year-old Veda (Ann Blyth
), a snobbish social climber and aspiring pianist, and 10-year-old Kay (Jo Anne Marlowe), a tomboy
. Mildred's principal goal is to provide for eldest daughter Veda, who 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 their maid, Lottie (Butterfly McQueen
), Mildred's waitress uniform, thinking nothing of it, until Mildred admits her employment as a waitress, infuriating Veda, who thinks it lowly. Kay contracts pneumonia
and dies; to bury her grief
, Mildred throws herself into opening a new restaurant on the coast (next to what appears to be the Santa Monica
beach). With the help of her new friend and former supervisor, Ida (Arden), Mildred's new restaurant is a success. Wally Fay helps Mildred's buy the property, and then it expands into a chain of "Mildred's" throughout Southern California
.
Mildred continues to smother Veda in affection and worldly goods, but Veda is nonetheless appalled by Mildred's common background and choice of profession while becoming more proccupied with materialistic possessions. Mildred goes as far as entering into a loveless marriage with the formerly wealthy Monte Beragon in order to improve her social standing to gain her daughter's approval. Beragon lives the life of a playboy
supported financially by Mildred, much to Mildred's dismay and potential ruin. Mildred ends up losing the business thanks to Monte's manipulation and Veda's greed. When Veda 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 marry her, is the one who shoots him. Mildred can cover for her daughter no more, and Veda is led off to jail. As Mildred leaves the police station, Bert is waiting for her.
was mostly a psychological work and relatively nonviolent. The adaptation was designed as a thriller and a murder was introduced into the plot. The novel 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 ages 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. The evil Veda, who is prodigiously talented and brilliantly devious in the novel, is a somewhat less formidable figure in the film. All references to the Depression
and the Prohibition
era, which were important in the novel, were absent from the screenplay.
The plot is simplified and the number of characters reduced. For example, Veda's training and success as a singer (including her performance at the Hollywood Bowl
) were dropped in the film and her music teachers merely mentioned in passing. Lucy Gessler, a key character in the novel and Mildred's good friend, is not present in the film, although the character of Ida, Mildred's boss at the restaurant where she works as a waitress, is given much of the wise-cracking personality of Mrs. Gessler in the script.
Monte does not die in the novel, and Veda never goes to jail. That portion of the story was invented by the filmmakers because the censorship code of the time required that evildoers be punished for their misdeeds.
in a single disc edition which includes an 86-minute documentary into the career and personal life of Joan Crawford
with contributions from fellow actors and directors, including Diane Baker
, Betsy Palmer
, Anna Lee
, Anita Page
, Cliff Robertson
, Virginia Grey
, Dickie Moore, Norma Shearer
, Ben Cooper
, Margaret O'Brien
, Judy Geeson
, and Vincent Sherman
. Mildred Pierce is also included in a Region 2 release a signature collection of Crawford's films together with the films Possessed
, Grand Hotel
, The Damned Don't Cry!
, and Humoresque
.
The Region 1 edition is flipper single disc with "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star" documentary and a series of trailer galleries on the reverse of the film.
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."
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."
Historian June Sochen (1978) argues the film lies at the intersection of two major film genres of the 1930s and 1940s: the "weepie" and the "Independent Woman" film. It accentuates the common ground of the two: women must be submissive, must live through others, and must remain in the home.
Nominations
American Film Institute
Lists
National Film Registry
.
as Mildred, Guy Pearce
as Beragon, Evan Rachel Wood
as Veda, and Mare Winningham
as Ida. Separate actresses portray Veda at different ages, as opposed to Ann Blyth
alone in the 1945 film. The character of Wally Fay in the original film has been changed back to the name used in the novel, Wally Burgan, played in the new adaption by James LeGros
. The cast also includes Melissa Leo
as Mildred's neighbor and friend, Lucy Gessler, a character omitted from the Crawford version.
The film is told in chronological order with no flashbacks or voice-over narration.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
starring Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
, Ann Blyth
Ann Blyth
Ann Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
, Jack Carson
Jack Carson
John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
, Zachary Scott
Zachary Scott
Zachary Scott was an American actor, most notable for his roles as villains and "mystery men".-Life and career:...
, and Eve Arden
Eve Arden
Eve Arden was an American actress. Her almost 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in...
in a film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
about a long-suffering mother and her ungrateful daughter. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall
Ranald MacDougall
Ranald MacDougall was an American screenwriter who scripted such films as Mildred Pierce , The Unsuspected , June Bride , and The Naked Jungle ....
, William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, and Catherine Turney was based upon the 1941
1941 in literature
The year 1941 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Frank Herbert marries Flora Parkinson.*F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished work, The Last Tycoon, is edited and published by Edmund Wilson.-New books:...
novel Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce is a 1941 hardboiled novel by James M. Cain. It was made into an Oscar-winning 1945 film starring Joan Crawford and a 2011 Emmy-winning miniseries starring Kate Winslet.-Plot :...
by James M. Cain
James M. Cain
James Mallahan Cain was an American author and journalist. Although Cain himself vehemently opposed labeling, he is usually associated with the hardboiled school of American crime fiction and seen as one of the creators of the roman noir...
. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz was an Academy award winning Hungarian-American film director. He had early creditsas Mihály Kertész and Michael Kertész...
and produced by Jerry Wald
Jerry Wald
Jerry Wald was an American producer and screenwriter for motion pictures and radio shows.Born Jerome Irving Wald in Brooklyn, New York, he had a brother and sons who were active in show business. Jerry began writing a radio column for the New York Evening Graphic while a student at New York...
with Jack L. Warner as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
.
Mildred Pierce was Crawford's first starring film for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
after leaving MGM, and won her the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
Plot
While the novel is told by a third-person narrator in strict chronological order, the film uses voice-overVoice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
narration (the voice of Mildred). The story is framed by the questioning of Mildred by police after they discover the body of her second husband, Monte Beragon. The film, in noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
fashion, opens with Beragon (Zachary Scott
Zachary Scott
Zachary Scott was an American actor, most notable for his roles as villains and "mystery men".-Life and career:...
) 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's (Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
) first husband, Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett
Bruce Bennett was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. During the 1930s, he went by his real name, Herman Brix .-Early life and Olympics:...
), who under interrogation confesses to the crime. She then relates her life story in flashback.
We see housewife Mildred married to a newly unemployed Pierce. Bert at the time was a real estate partner of Wally Fay (Jack Carson
Jack Carson
John Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
) who propositioned Mildred after learning that she and Bert were about to divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
. In the divorce, Mildred obtained custody of her two daughters: 16-year-old Veda (Ann Blyth
Ann Blyth
Ann Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
), a snobbish social climber and aspiring pianist, and 10-year-old Kay (Jo Anne Marlowe), a tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
. Mildred's principal goal is to provide for eldest daughter Veda, who 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 their maid, Lottie (Butterfly McQueen
Butterfly McQueen
Thelma "Butterfly" McQueen was an American actress. Originally a dancer, the 28-year-old McQueen first appeared as Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, then continued as an actress in film in the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s .-Early life:Born...
), Mildred's waitress uniform, thinking nothing of it, until Mildred admits her employment as a waitress, infuriating Veda, who thinks it lowly. Kay contracts pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
and dies; to bury her grief
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
, Mildred throws herself into opening a new restaurant on the coast (next to what appears to be the Santa Monica
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
beach). With the help of her new friend and former supervisor, Ida (Arden), Mildred's new restaurant is a success. Wally Fay helps Mildred's buy the property, and then it expands into a chain of "Mildred's" throughout Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
.
Mildred continues to smother Veda in affection and worldly goods, but Veda is nonetheless appalled by Mildred's common background and choice of profession while becoming more proccupied with materialistic possessions. Mildred goes as far as entering into a loveless marriage with the formerly wealthy Monte Beragon in order to improve her social standing to gain her daughter's approval. Beragon lives the life of a playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
supported financially by Mildred, much to Mildred's dismay and potential ruin. Mildred ends up losing the business thanks to Monte's manipulation and Veda's greed. When Veda 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 marry her, is the one who shoots him. Mildred can cover for her daughter no more, and Veda is led off to jail. As Mildred leaves the police station, Bert is waiting for her.
Cast
- Joan CrawfordJoan CrawfordJoan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
as Mildred Pierce Beragon - Jack CarsonJack CarsonJohn Elmer "Jack" Carson was a Canadian-born U.S.-based film actor.Jack Carson was one of the most popular character actors during the 'golden age of Hollywood', with a film career spanning the 1930s, '40s and '50s...
as Wally Fay - Zachary ScottZachary ScottZachary Scott was an American actor, most notable for his roles as villains and "mystery men".-Life and career:...
as Monte Beragon - Eve ArdenEve ArdenEve Arden was an American actress. Her almost 60-year career crossed most media frontiers with supporting and leading roles, but she may be best-remembered for playing the sardonic but engaging title character, a high school teacher, on Our Miss Brooks, and as the Rydell High School principal in...
as Ida Corwin - Ann BlythAnn BlythAnn Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
as Veda Pierce Forrester - Butterfly McQueenButterfly McQueenThelma "Butterfly" McQueen was an American actress. Originally a dancer, the 28-year-old McQueen first appeared as Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's maid in the 1939 film Gone with the Wind, then continued as an actress in film in the 1940s, then moving to television acting in the 1950s .-Early life:Born...
as Lottie - Bruce BennettBruce BennettBruce Bennett was an American actor and Olympic silver medalist shot putter. During the 1930s, he went by his real name, Herman Brix .-Early life and Olympics:...
as Albert "Bert" Pierce - Lee PatrickLee Patrick (actress)Lee Patrick was an American theater and film actress.-Early life and education:Born in New York City, Patrick began acting on Broadway in 1924. For more than a decade, she was constantly employed and established herself as a popular actress. She appeared in the original 1929 production of June...
as Mrs. Maggie Biederhof - Moroni OlsenMoroni OlsenMoroni Olsen was an American actor.-Biography:Olsen was born in Ogden, Utah to Mormon parents Edward Arenholt Olsen and Marsha Hoverholst who named him after the Moroni found in the Book of Mormon. Some sources have claimed that Olsen's birth name was John Willard Clawson, or even John Willard...
as Inspector Peterson - Miriam Ellis as Veda Ann Borg
- Jo Ann Marlowe as Kay Pierce
Comparison to novel
Though James M. Cain was often labeled a "hard-boiled crime writer," his novel Mildred PierceMildred Pierce
Mildred Pierce is a 1941 hardboiled novel by James M. Cain. It was made into an Oscar-winning 1945 film starring Joan Crawford and a 2011 Emmy-winning miniseries starring Kate Winslet.-Plot :...
was mostly a psychological work and relatively nonviolent. The adaptation was designed as a thriller and a murder was introduced into the plot. The novel 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 ages 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. The evil Veda, who is prodigiously talented and brilliantly devious in the novel, is a somewhat less formidable figure in the film. All references to the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
era, which were important in the novel, were absent from the screenplay.
The plot is simplified and the number of characters reduced. For example, Veda's training and success as a singer (including her performance at the Hollywood Bowl
Hollywood Bowl
The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances...
) were dropped in the film and her music teachers merely mentioned in passing. Lucy Gessler, a key character in the novel and Mildred's good friend, is not present in the film, although the character of Ida, Mildred's boss at the restaurant where she works as a waitress, is given much of the wise-cracking personality of Mrs. Gessler in the script.
Monte does not die in the novel, and Veda never goes to jail. That portion of the story was invented by the filmmakers because the censorship code of the time required that evildoers be punished for their misdeeds.
DVD release
Mildred Pierce is available on Region 2 DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in a single disc edition which includes an 86-minute documentary into the career and personal life of Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
with contributions from fellow actors and directors, including Diane Baker
Diane Baker
Diane Carol Baker is an American actress who has appeared in motion pictures and on television since 1959.-Early life:...
, Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer
Betsy Palmer is an American actress, best known as a regular panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Pamela Voorhees in the notorious slasher film Friday the 13th.-Life and career:...
, Anna Lee
Anna Lee
Anna Lee, MBE was an English actress.-Career:Lee studied at the Royal Albert Hall, then debuted with a bit part in the film His Lordship...
, Anita Page
Anita Page
Anita Evelyn Pomares , better known as Anita Page, was a Salvadoran-American film actress who reached stardom in the last years of the silent film era. She became a highly popular young star, reportedly at one point receiving the most fan mail of anyone on the MGM lot...
, Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
, Virginia Grey
Virginia Grey
Virginia Grey was an American actress.She was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of director Ray Grey. One of her early babysitters was movie star Gloria Swanson. Grey debuted at the age of ten in the silent film Uncle Tom's Cabin as Little Eva...
, Dickie Moore, Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer
Edith Norma Shearer was a Canadian-American actress. Shearer was one of the most popular actresses in North America from the mid-1920s through the 1930s...
, Ben Cooper
Ben Cooper
Ben Cooper is a retired American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot award in 2005 for his work in westerns.-Early films:...
, Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien
Margaret O'Brien is an American film and stage actress. Although her film career as a leading character was brief, she was one of the most popular child actors in cinema history...
, Judy Geeson
Judy Geeson
Judith Amanda "Judy" Geeson is an English actor.-Early life:Geeson was born in Arundel, Sussex, England on 10 September 1948. She came from a middle class family; her father edited the National Coal Board magazine. Her sister, Sally Geeson, is also an actress and is known for her roles in British...
, and Vincent Sherman
Vincent Sherman
Vincent Sherman was an American director, and actor, who worked in Hollywood. His movies include Mr. Skeffington , Nora Prentiss , and The Young Philadelphians ....
. Mildred Pierce is also included in a Region 2 release a signature collection of Crawford's films together with the films Possessed
Possessed (1947 film)
Possessed is a 1947 Warner Bros. film starring Joan Crawford, Van Heflin, and Raymond Massey in a tale about an unstable woman's obsession with her ex-lover. The screenplay by Ranald MacDougall and Silvia Richards was based upon a story by Rita Weiman. The film was directed by Curtis Bernhardt and...
, Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (film)
Grand Hotel is a 1932 American drama film directed by Edmund Goulding. The screenplay by William A. Drake and Béla Balázs is based on the 1930 play of the same title by Drake, who had adapted it from the 1929 novel Menschen im Hotel by Vicki Baum...
, The Damned Don't Cry!
The Damned Don't Cry!
The Damned Don't Cry! is a 1950 Warner Bros. drama film starring Joan Crawford, David Brian, and Steve Cochran tells of a woman's involvement with an organized crime boss and his subordinates. The screenplay by Harold Medford and Jerome Weidman was based on a story by Gertrude Walker. The plot...
, and Humoresque
Humoresque
Humoresque is a genre of romantic music characterized by pieces with fanciful humor in the sense of mood rather than wit. The name refers to the German term Humoreske, which was given from the 1800s onward to humorous tales....
.
The Region 1 edition is flipper single disc with "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star" documentary and a series of trailer galleries on the reverse of the film.
Critical response
The staff at VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
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
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
heel, a talented performance."
Critic Jeremiah Kipp gave the film a mixed review: "Mildred Pierce is melodramatic trash, constructed like a reliable Aristotelian
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
warhorse where characters have planted the seeds of their own doom in the first act, only to have grief-stricken revelations at the climax
Climax (narrative)
The Climax is the point in the story where the main character's point of view changes, or the most exciting/action filled part of the story. It also known has the main turning point in the story...
. Directed by studio favorite Michael Curtiz in German Expressionistic
German Expressionism
German Expressionism refers to a number of related creative movements beginning in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin, during the 1920s...
mode, which doesn't quite go with the California beaches and sunlight but sets the bleak tone of domestic film noir, and scored
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
by Max Steiner
Max Steiner
Max Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
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."
Historian June Sochen (1978) argues the film lies at the intersection of two major film genres of the 1930s and 1940s: the "weepie" and the "Independent Woman" film. It accentuates the common ground of the two: women must be submissive, must live through others, and must remain in the home.
Awards
Wins- National Board of Review: Best Actress, Joan Crawford; 1945.
- Academy Award: Best Actress in a Leading RoleAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
, Joan Crawford; 1946.
Nominations
- Academy Awards: 1946
- Best Actress in a Supporting RoleAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, Eve Arden - Best Actress in a Supporting RoleAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, Ann Blyth - Best Black-and-White CinematographyAcademy Award for Best CinematographyThe Academy Award for Best Cinematography is an Academy Award awarded each year to a cinematographer for work in one particular motion picture.-History:...
, Ernest Haller - Best PictureAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, Jerry Wald - Best Screenplay WritingAcademy Award for Writing Adapted ScreenplayThe Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
, Ranald MacDougall
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role
American Film Institute
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act...
Lists
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
- Veda Pierce - Nominated Villain
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
- "Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young." - Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) - Nominated
Honors
In 1996, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of CongressLibrary of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
.
Other adaptions
A five-part television miniseries of Mildred Pierce premiered on HBO in March 2011, starring Kate WinsletKate Winslet
Kate Elizabeth Winslet is an English actress and occasional singer. She has received multiple awards and nominations. She was the youngest person to accrue six Academy Award nominations, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Reader...
as Mildred, Guy Pearce
Guy Pearce
Guy Edward Pearce is an English-born Australian actor and musician, known for his roles as Leonard Shelby in Christopher Nolan's Memento, Lieutenant Ed Exley in L.A...
as Beragon, Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood
Evan Rachel Wood is an American actress and singer. She began her acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in several television series, including American Gothic and Once and Again...
as Veda, and Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham
Mare Winningham , born Mary Megan Winningham, is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Drama Desk, 7 times for Emmy Awards , and has also won an Independent Spirit Award and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.She is...
as Ida. Separate actresses portray Veda at different ages, as opposed to Ann Blyth
Ann Blyth
Ann Marie Blyth is an American actress and singer, often cast in Hollywood musicals, but also successful in dramatic roles. Her performance as Veda Pierce in the 1945 film Mildred Pierce was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Life and career:Blyth was born in Mount Kisco,...
alone in the 1945 film. The character of Wally Fay in the original film has been changed back to the name used in the novel, Wally Burgan, played in the new adaption by James LeGros
James LeGros
James LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:...
. The cast also includes Melissa Leo
Melissa Leo
Melissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
as Mildred's neighbor and friend, Lucy Gessler, a character omitted from the Crawford version.
The film is told in chronological order with no flashbacks or voice-over narration.
External links
- Mildred Pierce at the Joan Crawford Encyclopedia
- Mildred Pierce film trailer at You Tube
- Literature on Mildred Pierce