Mildred Pierce (1945)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Honors:
This is perhaps the motion picture that typifies the
legendary career of one of Hollywood’s most notable female personalities from
the 1930s and 40s. Finally winning herself an Academy Award for Best Actress by
way of Mildred Pierce, Joan
Crawford’s work on the feature encapsulates much of what she did so well, while
less than flattering reputation from her time during production encapsulated
the demonstrative actress of Hollywood’s so called “Golden Age.” In a gripping
thriller that utilizes well the device of misdirection, this film would be one
of 1945’s finest, lifting its already legendary star back to the heights of her
earlier work, and remains a wonderful picture for years to come.
Mildred Pierce is
a drama/thriller about a successful business woman and working mother who
recounts her sacrifices for her children and the events that lead to the murder
of her second husband. The story begins with gunshots and the death of Monte
Beragon (Zachary Scott) as Mildred Piece (Joan Crawford) quickly departing the deadly
scene, leaving the audience wondering what had made her do such a thing. Mildred
recounts the time that led to this fatal day, beginning with her leaving her
first husband to best provide for her two daughters. However, her eldest
daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth), is one more concerned about social status and
material things than the things her mother can afford for her. Despite working
her way up from humble waitress to successful restaurateur, Mildred’s
relationship with her daughter remains unstable due to Veda’s drive for more
luxurious things.
Hoping to gain social status for Veda, Mildred weds into a
loveless marriage with the perceived wealthy Monte, but the union manifests
unseen debts costing Mildred her business. Veda’s blind judgement for supposed
wealth results in her affair with Monte, which Mildred discovers. WHen Monte
proclaims he never intended to marry Veda, as the teenager desperately wished,
Veda is so furious that she shoots him. Here we, the audience, circle to the
beginning of the feature revealing the truth of the murderer, and the sad
result of Mildred’s sacrifice for Veda ends fruitless for this lost, young
soul.
The picture is wonderfully packaged in a way that delivers
twists with emotional weight as the plot was reworked from its original novel
form into the motion picture product we see. Joan Crawford’s performance is subtle
compared to her earlier work, albeit for a character suffering to make it in a
world she does appear to be a bit too glamourous. The story is sad with moments
of joy followed by frustration and heartbreak. The cinematography is darker than
usual major Hollywood studio picture, giving many a sense of film noir, but
this was perhaps due to a possible new standard at Warner Bros. at the time
attempting to use less lighting equipment and electricity, but that could be
just a tall tale.
As mentioned before, the film has its roots in the 1941
novel by author James M. Cain when Jack Warner, head of Warner Bros., picked up
the film rights with plans to have the story adapted for the screen by director
Michael Curtiz. The 1930s depression era story was moved up to modern 1940s and
the length of the tale shortened from around a decade to a few short years to
make the film easier and more economical to make while Warner Bros. looked for
a star for their picture.
Many leading ladies were considered for the title role of
Mildred including Bette Davies, Olivia de Havilland, and Barbara Stanwyck, but
middle-aged Hollywood actresses were very reluctant to be cast in a role that
aged them as this did with Mildred being a mother of a teenage daughter. Joan
Crawford, let go by MGM in 1942, was looking to bring he career back up to star
status and lobbied herself for the title role. Michael Curtiz, known for being
a wonderful director with women, held back on listening to Crawford, knowing
her reputation of being a very difficult and demanding actress to work with. To
prove herself Crawford yielded to something any established star would refuse
to do, a screen test. Impressed by her diligence, confidence, and her screen test
Curtiz cast Joan Crawford as his Mildred Piece.
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| Crawford and Blyth |
This would be just the beginning of a dumpy production as
director and star feuded numerous times on and off set about the filming.
Disputes between Curtiz and Crawford ranged from the film’s direction in
production, the styles utilizes in acting and costuming, as well as countless
other aspects of the movie. Curtiz accused Crawford of glamourizing Mildred too
much for a woman that was essentially and single working mother. Crawford
claimed the dresses she wore for Mildred were off the shelf dresses from
department stores, but the secret was she was having them altered by her
personal tailor, forming them more to her figure and adding Crawford’s
signature shoulder padding to them. In any case the two were said to not get
along, but somehow by production’s end their stories would change and respect
between the two was found. In the end, Crawford would earn an Academy Award.
Portraying the troubling daughter Veda was a Hollywood
newcomer, then sixteen-year-old Ann Blyth. Her performance, albeit a bit forced,
was dramatic enough to earn herself a Best Supporting Actress nomination, an
honor also shared by fellow cast mate Eve Arden. Arden’s short time on screen
as Mildred’s wise cracking friend, Ida, who helped her manage her first
restaurant, provided enough positive relief for the plot to garner herself
positive critical attention.
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| Crawford and Scott |
As for the men of the picture, the cast was filled with
wonderful character actors. Zachary Scott is the perfect actor for any
scoundrel, portraying Monte, the man that proves to be the straw that breaks
the back of Mildred and her daughter’s relationship. Jack Carson plays the
character the audiences relates to the most, in Wally. A friend of Mildred who
loves her very much, Wally will do anything for her, making numerous playfully innocent
passes along the way, that are all politely turned down by Mildred. It is he who
discovers the dead body of Monte and gives the suspicion of how things look at
their worst for Mildred, but is always by her side during her difficult times.
A champion of smaller roles, this too may have been Carson’s greatest and most
noteworthy performance in his career.
The picture would be both a commercial and critical success,
including six Academy Award nominations, including for Best Picture, while
gaining a lone win for Joan Crawford. The plot set up with plight from the very
beginning, allowing many audiences to fall right to the edge of the seats and
it has continued to do so decades after its release. The film, of more
correctly the novel, would be adapted once again in 2011 with an HBO
miniseries, manifesting just how well this story has been able to hold through
the changes in time and culture.
The career of Joan Crawford, who by this time had been deem
box office poison, was revitalized with her Oscar win. The award was surprise
for Crawford, to the point where she did not even attend the ceremony in the
anticipation of not walking away with the golden Oscar statue. She would
however claim she was too ill to attend, despite being well enough to talk to
the press immediately after discovering the good news. She would see a short period
of critical success before falling off in mainstream pictures with a short
comeback in 1962, as Mildred Pierce
would remain to be her prominent moment in the Hollywood light, as she won the
accolades of her peers. Aside from Crawford’s self-made drama the film remains
one of the finer films of the mid-1940s, continuing to be enjoyed.
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