{"id":5008,"date":"2007-12-22T09:56:09","date_gmt":"2007-12-22T16:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5008"},"modified":"2020-12-12T22:40:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-13T05:40:39","slug":"mildred-pierce-1945","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5008","title":{"rendered":"Mildred Pierce (1945)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;d do anything for those kids, do you understand? Anything!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Mildred-Pierce-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Mildred-Pierce-Poster-193x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"193\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-22496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Mildred-Pierce-Poster-193x300.jpg 193w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Mildred-Pierce-Poster-82x128.jpg 82w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Mildred-Pierce-Poster.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 193px) 100vw, 193px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nDivorced housewife Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) works as a waitress to keep her two daughters &#8212; spoiled Ann Blyth and tomboyish Jo Ann Marlowe &#8212; living in style. With the help of an adoring male admirer (Jack Carson), she opens up a successful chain of restaurants, and soon marries a wealthy playboy (Zachary Scott) &#8212; but none of Mildred&#8217;s efforts are good enough for her social-climbing daughter Veda (Blyth), whose desire for money and status soon lead to fatal consequences.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ann Blyth Films<\/li>\n<li>Eve Arden Films<\/li>\n<li>Evil Kids<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Films<\/li>\n<li>Jack Carson Films<\/li>\n<li>Joan Crawford Films<\/li>\n<li>Michael Curtiz Films<\/li>\n<li>Murder Mystery<\/li>\n<li>Single Mothers<\/li>\n<li>Social Climbers<\/li>\n<li>Strong Females<\/li>\n<li>Suffering Mothers<\/li>\n<li>Zachary Scott Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nJoan Crawford finally won an Oscar for her performance in what is now regarded as her most iconic film: a combination &#8220;women&#8217;s picture&#8221; \/ <em>noir<\/em> in which the <em>femme fatale<\/em> (Blyth) wreaks havoc on her hapless mother rather than a male lover. As Peary notes, we can&#8217;t help feeling that Mildred &#8220;is foolish for leading her life to please her daughter&#8221;, given that Blyth &#8220;isn&#8217;t worthy of anyone&#8217;s devotion&#8221; &#8212; yet part of the undeniable power of <em>noir<\/em> lies in recognizing the hero[ine]&#8217;s fatal flaw (in this case, undue motherly devotion), and feeling for him\/her as he\/she travels down a path towards Hell. While Peary remains less-than-impressed by Crawford&#8217;s performance &#8212; claiming that she plays &#8220;<em>every<\/em> scene in an understated manner&#8221; &#8212; I disagree; Crawford perfectly expresses the gritty determination underlying every choice Mildred makes, from kicking out her first unemployed husband, to hiding her &#8220;menial&#8221; job as a waitress, to working all hours of the day and night to make her business a thriving success. <\/p>\n<p>While Crawford&#8217;s performance is clearly the dominant one, she&#8217;s surrounded by a host of excellent supporting actors. Jack Carson gives what may be the best performance of his career as an &#8220;innocent&#8221; bystander throughout Mildred&#8217;s rise and fall; equally enjoyable &#8212; though given far too little screen time &#8212; is Eve Arden as Mildred&#8217;s wisecracking (what else?) boss-cum-employee (she gets some of the best lines in the film). Ann Blyth is likely best remembered &#8212; for better or for worse! &#8212; for her performance here as evil Veda, a girlish woman who possesses not a sympathetic bone in her body; her angelic face is a perfect foil for her psychopathic actions, revealed most horrifically when she fakes a pregnancy in order to bilk $10,000 out of her clueless and adoring new husband. Blyth is an essential aspect of the film&#8217;s success, and remains inextricably linked in our minds with Mildred. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Joan Crawford as Mildred<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Crawford.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Crawford.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Crawford.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Crawford-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Crawford-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Crawford-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ann Blyth as evil Veda<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Blyth.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Blyth.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Blyth.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Blyth-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Blyth-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Blyth-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Jack Carson as Wally Fay, Mildred&#8217;s would-be lover<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Carson.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Carson.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Carson.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Carson-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Carson-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Carson-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Eve Arden as Ida, who has some of the best lines in the film: [to an ogling man] &#8220;Leave something on me &#8212; I might catch cold.&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Arden.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Arden.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57482\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Arden.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Arden-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Arden-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Arden-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ranald MacDougall&#8217;s Oscar-nominated screenplay<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Screenplay.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Screenplay.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Screenplay.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Screenplay-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Screenplay-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Screenplay-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Effective use of Los Angeles locales<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Locales.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Locales.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57479\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Locales.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Locales-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Locales-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Locales-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Ernest Haller&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57485\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Cinematography.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Cinematography-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Cinematography-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Cinematography-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Anton Grot&#8217;s set designs<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Sets.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Sets.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-57481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Sets.png 640w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Sets-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Sets-128x96.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/MP-Sets-360x270.png 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Max Steiner&#8217;s score<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a genuine classic of American cinema. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Genuine Classic<\/li>\n<li>Oscar Winner or Nominee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0037913\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s706pierce.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.filmsite.org\/mild.html\">FilmSite.org Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/321\/mildred-pierce#articles-reviews\">TCM Articles<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.tvguide.com\/movies\/mildred-pierce\/review\/106258\">TV Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.classicfilmguide.com\/index.php?s=essential&#038;item=338\">Classic Film Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/9ZHaAuM_Uwk\">Tired Old Queen at the Movies Video Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;d do anything for those kids, do you understand? Anything!&#8221; Synopsis: Divorced housewife Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) works as a waitress to keep her two daughters &#8212; spoiled Ann Blyth and tomboyish Jo Ann Marlowe &#8212; living in style. With the help of an adoring male admirer (Jack Carson), she opens up a successful chain of restaurants, and soon marries a wealthy playboy (Zachary Scott) &#8212; but none of Mildred&#8217;s efforts are good enough for her social-climbing daughter Veda (Blyth),&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5008\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5008"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57488,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5008\/revisions\/57488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}