opinion: It starts in a rainy Californian night with the sound of 6 gun shots, emptying the barrel. A man drops dead on the floor. Mildred… was the last words he said. It’s also the first line in the movie, before camera shows a car starting and driving away from the crime site. After a few minutes into the movie you already have: a murder; a name and a suspect on the run. Sequentially an elegant dressed and beautiful woman is decided to commit suicide jumping from a bridge, but is stopped by a friendly and old night cop.
What else do you need for a good entertaining noir evening?
You know that the sun will not shine in California for the next two hours!
It’s a simple plot that could end up as a soap opera, but the outcome presented by Curtiz is a brilliant delivery of Crawford (her life time performance), Scott, Carson and Blyth. The flashback narrative, the shadows, the camera angles and the final cuts, does the rest of the perfect job.
The question here is how far an honest mother will go, to save the neck of a spoiled bitch, golden-digger, liar, manipulative angel faced girl, which happens to be her dotter? The evil here goes by the name of Veda (Blyth) and Mildred (Crawford) the hard worker restaurateur happens to be her mother. Without setting any boundaries, she completely spoiled her ruthless dotter, after the unfaithful husband Bert (Bennett) left the house to join his new lover Biederhof (Patrick) and her youngest dotter Kay (Marlowe) died on pneumonia. The tragedy is there after one hour movie. Partly!
Trying to get some order and happiness in life, she gets involved and later marriages the elegant, lazy, ruined, gambler and unscrupulous playboy Beragon (Scott). But things are not what they look on surface and her business associate, the friendly and money-digger Wally (Carson) does not like the way she financially supports the lazy and expensive lover-husband…
As the final “icing on the cake”, the snake lazy husband Beragon causes Mildred to go bankrupt and Veda confesses to be his lover since she was a teenager, after Mildred found Beragon kissing her evil dotter. Not a surprise, since the body that drops on the floor belongs to Beragon, the unfaithful and dishonest husband. What a lovely and happy family!
To get the final confession of the real killer, follow and enjoy the inquiring work of the old fox, Inspector Peterson (Olsen). “… You know, Mrs. Beragon, there are times when I regret being a policeman …” says Inspector Peterson after arresting the one who did it;
It’s top-class entertainment!
rating: 4,5 of 5;
when latest: September 12th 2016;
where: S. Paulo, Brazil;
quotes: “… Personally, Veda’s convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young …”;
director: Michael Curtiz;
starring: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Ann Blyth;
awards: Won 1946 Best Actress in a Leading Role, Joan Crawford
country: USA;
release date: October 20th 1945;
run time: 191 min;
genre: Crime, Drama, Film/Noir;
storyline: Mildred Pierce dotes on her daughters while husband Bert looks to Maggie Immediately for affection. They separate leaving Mildred to raise the girls on her own. Elder daughter Veda goads her mother about their lack of money and in response Mildred proposes opening a small restaurant. Realtor Wally Fay advises her while making numerous rebuffed passes and introduces her to Monte Immediately whose property becomes the first of a chain of restaurants. Mildred has an affair with Monte. Meanwhile, money-hungry Veda pretends to be pregnant by wealthy Ted Forrester in order to bilk his family of $10,000. Mildred tears up the check, is slapped by Veda, and orders her daughter to leave. After time away, Mildred returns to find Veda singing in a cheap club. Veda will return only if Mildred promises her desired (Monte’s) lifestyle, so Mildred agrees to marry Monte in exchange for a third of her businesses. It soon becomes clear that something is going on between Veda and Monte. Mildred learns of this …;
The Movies I have seen! 