Sunday, October 09, 2005
Mildred Pierce 1945 film - The Joan Crawford Collection
- Who's watched: M & G
- Mentions: *1*
- Commentary: This came as one of five in a Joan Crawford Collection (Click the part of the title that says "The Joan Crawford Collection" for a different summary and review). Each of us had seen this at least once before we acquired it. Both of us are fascinated by the emotional violence in the film.
Update 9/23/21: I often watch this version and Kate Winslet's Mildred Pierce mini-series back-to-back. They both feature terrific actors in all parts. The actors who play Veda are both equally electrifying. Despite the fact that Joan Crawford has a penchant for playing "bad women", she was equally effective in this movie as a good woman, a woman who values her cohorts, a woman who expects nothing but the same from her husband but is not devastated when he fails, and a woman who over-values a talented but uncompassionate daughter. Granted, the daughter in this version isn't really much to hang one's hopes on, while Kate Winslet's daughter Veda is promising. And, in the mini-series, no one gets killed. But, the overall effect is the same, and quite delicious to watch!
An added delight with this version is Eve Arden as Ida Corwin, the role Mare Winningham plays in the miniseries. Eve Arden is sassy and smart as Ida Corwin, but we don't get a lot of her character development in the movie. In the mini-series, Ida's trajectory expands and becomes a mini-story in its own right.
Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Actor Role Joan Crawford Mildred Pierce Jack Carson Wally Fay Zachary Scott Monty Beragon Eve Arden Ida Corwin Ann Blyth Veda Pierce Bruce Bennett Bert Pierce Lee Patrick Maggie Biederhof Moroni Olsen Inspector Peterson
The link to the Wikipedia write-up of this film can be found here.
Release Date: 1945
Directed by Michael Curtiz.
Labels: dramaA, film-noir2, joan-crawford, me-favorite3, melodramaA, mystery2
