Joan Crawford engineers one of the greatest comebacks in Hollywood history with this one. Mildred Pierce is a gritty, well-mounted noir soap opera, with Crawford at the helm. Her decision to hold out for a worthy vehicle to make her debut at Warner Brothers, was a gamble that paid off with the ultimate prize. Crawford snagged the Academy's golden statuette as 1945's Best Actress.





The role of Mildred Pierce was turned down by several actresses, before producer Jerry Wald gambled on MGM-bounced Crawford. The film swept the box offices, returning $5 million to Warners and put Crawford back on top as the hottest star in town. Though not considered her best performance, it is certainly the one most associated with her name. The original James M. Cain novel concerned a tawdry waitress who slept her way to financial security so as to provide a rosy future for her beloved daughter, only to have her true love stolen away by her daughter's selfish machinations.

Ranald McDougall's screenplay replaces the novel's sexual content with a sordid murder, to make it palletable for the post-war movie audiences. The film opens with the slimy Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott) being pumped full of bullets. He calls out the name "Mildred", as he collapses and dies. Both the police and the audience are led to believe that the murderer is chain-restaurant entrepreneur Mildred Pierce (Crawford), who confesses to the crime. During her interrogation, she provides a flashback of her life story. We see Mildred unhappily married to philandering Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett).

Mildred's marriage to Bert (Bennett) has gone sour, when Bert finds pleasant company with Mrs. Biederhof (Patrick). She divorces him, keeping custody of her two beloved daughters, Veda (Ann Blyth) and Kay (Jo Anne Marlowe). To keep oldest daughter Veda in comparative luxury, Mildred takes a job as a waitress. With the help of her wisecracking coworker Ida (Eve Arden), Mildred convinces real estate agent Wally Fay (Jack Carson) to become business partner in order to afford her own establishment, which grows into a chain of "Mildred's" throughout Southern California.





When youngest daughter Kay dies, Mildred over-compensates by smothering Veda in creature comforts. She goes so far as to enter into a loveless marriage with the seemingly wealthy Monty Beragon in order to improve her social standing. But the far from grateful Veda openly despises her mother's line of work and lower-class upbringing, but seems to have no problem reaping the financial benefits of her mother's endeavor.





After witnessing one of Veda's haughty putdowns, family friend Ida delivers the film's best line:

"Personally, Veda's convinced me that crocodiles have the right idea. They eat their young."


The combination of her money hungry daughter, and "loans" made to the caddish Beragon, finally bankrupts Mildred. The whole tawdry mess culminates with Midred's discovery that Beragon is carrying on an affair with stepdaughter Veda. This, of course, is the perfect motive for Midred to commit the murder in question. But, as we all know, things may not always be as they seem.





Essentially a soap opera melodrama, Mildred Pierce is given deluxe treatment by the Warners production staff. Everything about Midred Pierce is first-rate, from stellar production values to Curtiz's marvelously paced direction, which refuses to allow sentiment to rule the story. Cutiz was reportedly not one of Crawford's greatest fans, and was able, with his no-nonsense approach, to extract solid performance from her. The cast is equally strong, with an uncredited Butterfly McQueen providing much-needed comedy relief.





Crawford is given a run for her money by Blyth, who gives the performance of her career. Veda is the type of character who's behavior towards any other parent of that era, would get her a one-way ticket to reform school. Carson is perfect as the chauvinistic business partner and sniffing-dog, Wally Fay. Scott is an exceptionally attractive snake and Arden turned in a definitive job as Crawford's wisecracking pal. Not to be missed, is the "Daughter Dearest" scene where Veda smacks Mildred.





Mildred Pierce is the sort of gaudy, spell-it-all-out film that has no business being as good or as entertaining as it is. The MacDougall script, adapted from Cain's terse novel, is adult and literate, with plenty of sharp dialogue. Haller's moody "Noir-style" photography fits the story perfectly, and along with Steiner's haunting score enhances Crawford's Oscar winning performance. It is "Mildred", who is responsible for Crawford's renaissance, a tour de force role that defied the industry who wrote her off as washed up.