Mildred Pierce is another landmark movie of the film noir genre, based on a book of the same name by James M. Cain. Well, sort of. The original plot of the book is not even close to film noir. It is a family drama. The period of this story is set during the great depression. The plot focuses on Mildred Pierce, an iron-willed woman who fights for her place in the social structure, in a totally male-dominated society.

However, Ranald MacDougall took this story and added a crime to the plot, and voila, a film noir with a unique story was created. The whole movie is carried by a tour-de-force performance from Joan Crawford, a performance that would win her an Academy award. The film would be nominated in a total of 6 categories. It has also been chosen for preservation by the US Library of Congress National Film Registry.

In the universes of noir, it is not common to see a woman stand up on her own, build a career and not need a man to financially or emotionally support her. Then Mildred Pierce came along and made her impact in this universe.

The plot begins on a rainy night in a beautiful house, in a seaside town. A man is seen stumbling, from bullets shot by an unseen attacker. Moments later, a distraught, well-attired woman is seen walking near the pier. She begins to walk across a bridge and suddenly stops, surveying the waters below, as if she is deciding whether or not to jump to her doom.

A policeman nearby, calls out to her and she walks away, in what seems like an effort not to attract too much attention. A man from inside a large restaurant calls to her, and she turns and recognizes him. The two seem to have known each other long, though not in a romantic way.

The woman is revealed to be Mildred Pierce and the man is Wally, a former partner of her first husband. Wally attempts to make his moves on her, but Mildred makes it clear that she is not in the mood. She does invite him home, however, for a drink. The two of them go back to the house which was the scene of the crime.

When they are indoors, Mildred tells Wally that she will change and be out in a bit. However, she uses the opportunity to lock Wally inside and flee the mansion, probably because she wants to implicate Wally or because she is certain that Wally can talk his way out of any situation.

Wally realizes that he is locked inside and soon discovers the corpse. In a frantic hurry, Wally breaks out of the house, only to be caught by two policemen. Wally tells the men that there is a body inside.

In the next scene, Mildred is seen in a police station. The officer in charge tells her that he knows who the killer is, and that this is an open and shut case. To Mildred’s horror, her first husband has been charged with the crime. Mildred strongly argues, that her first husband could not have committed the crime, as it is not in him, to kill anyone.

When the officer asks Mildred, why she divorced her first husband, the plot moves into a flashback. When Mildred was married to her first husband Bert, Bert quits a business in which he partnered with Wally. To make ends meet, Mildred sells baked goods. The financial toll impacts their relationship and Bert is jealous that Mildred is too attached to her daughters and not giving him enough attention. Mildred and Bert have two daughters, Kay who is a tomboy, and Veda who is a snobby spoilt child who looks down on Mildred’s line of work.

Bert separates from Mildred and Mildred finds work in a restaurant. Wally visits Mildred at her house, in an attempt to win her over, but does not have much luck. Mildred learns the keys to running a good restaurant business with her keen eye.

She finds a place to open her own restaurant and asks Wally to help her buy the building. Wally introduces her to the wealthy owner of the restaurant, Monte Beragon. Monte, a charmer, manages to charm Mildred. One weekend, the two of them are at his beach house while Bert has taken Kay and Veda for a mini vacation. Kay catches pneumonia and does not survive.

Mildred uses the loss of her daughter to motivate herself and establishes a successful restaurant chain. During this period, Veda has done some growing up. Mildred, who has taken on and prevailed over all the challenges, that have come her way, is on the verge of meeting her worst nemesis now. Veda tells Mildred that she has secretly married a wealthy young man. The mother of this young man is not too happy with the alliance.

Mildred agrees to annul the marriage. During the settlement, Veda drops a bombshell that she is expecting the young man’s child. She pressures the young man’s mother to give her $10000. When they reach home, Veda tells Mildred, that she lied about the pregnancy. In a fit of anger, Mildred tears the check into pieces and throws Veda out of the house.

One day, Bert takes Mildred to Wally’s restaurant. To Mildred’s shock, Veda performs at the restaurant, as a group of young rowdy sailors whistle and ogle at her. All of this is too much for Mildred, but she cannot convince Veda to come home with her. Veda is still ashamed of her mother being in the restaurant marriage.

Mildred, now desperate to win Veda’s affection asks Monte, the playboy, to marry her. In return, Monte who is no longer financially well off, asks for a third of Mildred’s share of the restaurant business. Mildred relents. Both Monte and Mildred know that this is a marriage of convenience and that there is no love between them.

This decision would turn out disastrous for Mildred as she is now going to face the biggest challenge of her life. As mentioned earlier, both the plot and Mildred were far ahead of their time. The adaptation to this story by Ranald MacDougall was key in making this plot one-of-a-kind.

The 2011 adaptation of the book, which features Kate Winslet as Mildred, is closer in the plot to the book and does not include the crime, which is in this movie. As a biased noir fan, the movie is my preferred option for watching. This is an awesome movie, with excellent cinematography, that should not be missed.

There are two powerhouse performances in the film. One is of course from Joan Crawford as Mildred. The other is from Ann Blythe playing Veda who goes toe to toe against Mildred. This is one of the rarest of plots that pits the femme fatal against a female protagonist. Ann Blythe’s performance placed Veda as a villain in AFI 100 Years … 100 Heroes and Villains.

Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett

Direction: Michael Curtiz

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