Is Mildred pierce a good movie?

Yes! She won the Oscar for best actress in 1946 for her role. I've seen it many times. It's a great watch. Enjoy!

It's superb. One of my favorites. And very watchable... yet fulfilling.

Which one, the original or the remake. Don't watch the remake.

I think the original is definitely worth 2 hours of your time—if you consider yourself at all interested in the history of film. It deserves it's place as a classic movie. It's sort of campy melodrama by today's standards, as all old movies are. If you just want to spend 2 hours entertained in front of a tv set, you may find other choices.

I watched the HBO remake and the original back to back. They are very different animals, and it's unfair to compare them, in my opinion. But I enjoyed them both. The remake wasn't nearly as campy. But the original wasn't supposed to be campy.

Better the original than the miniseries remake. It didn't need the extra scenes.

And delightfully quotable.

A wonderful, unforgettable movie and a very enjoyable remake that deviated enough to keep my interest.

It's not campy in the same way something like TROG is though. It's melodramatic but a genuinely touching film.

Get out before I kill you OP.

I committed the 5 or so hours to the HBO version with Kate Winslet. It was worth it and I saw it many times. I even ended up meeting one of the actors in one of those "strangest places artists meet dataloungers". We shook hands, he was a cool guy.

The pron version, Mildred's Piercings, is better.

The costumes for the remake are fabulous. (confession, I worked on the film as a costumer). Prefer Joan and Ann to Kate and Evan.

I say campy because I watched it with my millennial niece. Of course, she's unfamiliar with the "BIG ACTING" style of 1940s Hollywood. Viewed through her eyes, yeah, it was pretty over the top by today's standard.

Its noirish take on a woman's picture is just perfect. Like NOW, VOYAGER if Gladys Cooper has been mysteriously pushed down the stairs.

The art direction of the remake kept me engaged. So many beautiful costumes and such attention to period detail, in the homes, cars, furnishings.

The book is a real treat. The miniseries is much more faithful to it. Like a scene by scene recreation of the novel.

Required viewing.

By all means do yourself a favor and watch it! It's a fantastic work of art and Crawford is outstanding. The photography, the music, the pacing, the direction, the script, the supporting cast - they're all top notch, vintage Warner Brother/classic Hollywood. A seminal American film.

Incidentally, Todd Haynes has always loved that movie and I think it shows, even when he's not being scrupulously faithful to it; my old DVD copy, issued a few years before he shot the remake, included a featurette where he fanboyed over its many virtues. He also mentioned Douglas Sirk because the man can't help himself (neither would I)

Watch the original. I didn’t make it through the miniseries.

I remember only the 2011 director saying of that they tried to recreate the '30s through the lens of the '70s, because more films set in the '30s were consciously made in that decade that any other post '30s decade. (Chinatown, Paper Moon, even '67's Bonnie and Clyde).

It's too dragged out for me though.

You can watch either as a mid-century melodrama or as a campy artifact of that era. Either way, it's enjoyable to watch. And Ann Blyth slapping Joan is the mother of all face-slaps.

Mildred in a pensive mood....

R14 is on the money - it’s a hybrid - in a very small sub-genre - a women’s film that’s also going for noir. That doesn’t happen very often. I’m hard pressed coming up with any other examples off the top of my head... maybe the Stanwyck, Sorry, Wrong Number, perhaps? There must be more! But the original Mildred Pierce shines and Crawford gives it a camp factor that burns with the light of a hundred suns! Fabulous.

The remake is very good too - but a completely different animal. Much more faithful to the source material. The role hasn’t been tailored to fit Miss Crawford - and the story is allowed to take plenty of time to unfold. Also well worth viewing. Great seeing Mildred played as an actual woman and not like a drag queen’s idea of a woman (is that a little harsh? You know it’s meant with love!)

Available on Criterion Collection with lots of cool extras. Worth the bucks (well, at a half price sale anyway).

She bought a love.....

I don't regard the film as camp. It's a meditation on how society was rearranging itself at the time in terms of notions of ambition (Mildred betters herself to satisfy her daughter), success (it's not all it's cracked up to be), social hierarchies (playboy Monty's family has run out of money and he needs self-made Mildred's money), family/divorce (Mildred breaks up with Bert despite having no means of support), sexual liberation (Mildred sleeps with Monty although she's technically still married) and the changing role of women (Crawford as a waitress who becomes a restaurant tycoon). Add in the scandalous affair between Mildred's new husband and her own daughter and a cold-blooded murder and you've got quite a powerful mix of themes.

It’s OK. I didn’t get the reason for having Mrs Beathimoff.

Now that's a good analysis, R27. And I agree with you that the movie is too good to dismiss as camp, like a lot of later Crawford melodramas and sci-fi. When I saw it at the Castro in SF in 2010, the audience laughed at Kay dying. I thought that was sick, rude, and insensitive, and I wasn't the only one; a man behind me said "showing a movie to this audience is casting pearls before swine." I also sat next to a middle-aged man whose mother was president of a Joan Crawford Fan Club.

[R29] Thanks, I appreciate your comment. A work of art that's in a different style than the audience is used to can elicit lots of weird responses. When you think of child mortality rates back then you know that many if not most members of the audience experienced similar deaths in their families (both my parents born in 1926 did) so it was no laughing matter. And the fact that it came out in the last year of WW2 probably contributes to some of its darker qualities. On the flip side, I remember a female friend telling me years ago that she watched it with another female friend who sobbed throughout the movie, I think due to the powerful mother/daughter dynamics. Go figure.

Great posts r27

[27] All that is true. There is a lot of pathos and social commentary in the movie. But it can appear campy as well. Particularly to modern eyes who are accustomed to cinéma vérité style of filmmaking that really, forever changed our standards in the 1970s. We don't look for great, big theatrical performances now, as much as we expect reality.

it's wonderful, OP! Watch it ASAP. The HBO miniseries, on the other hand, is perfect if you want to sleep in a coma.

[quote]We don't look for great, big theatrical performances now, as much as we expect reality.

We expect it more than we get it.

^SLIP^ in a coma...dang!

Mildred Pierce is a marvelous film! Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth and Eve Arden were superb. Eve Arden’s character, Ida Corwin is a great comic relief, she wisecracks during the film. Miss Crawford deserved that Oscar.

The remake was excellent, too. I recommend it.

It's terrific fun, OP. It's rare that an Academy Award winning performance is actually an actor's best one. This is.

"it’s a hybrid - in a very small sub-genre - a women’s film that’s also going for noir. That doesn't happen very often. I’m hard pressed coming up with any other examples off the top of my head."

How about a women's film - noir - western? The Furies is, R24.

"Sold, one Beregon."

[R38] Yes! Love that moment! And I love how the camera moves in for a close-up synchronized with Crawford raising the booze-filled glass to her lips. Genius! We can thank Michael Curtiz.

1) It's a masterpiece.

2) It's very dirty, prurient, corrupt, immoral - despite slapping on some technically ethical plot points that play like camp

3) All the roles could be gay men.

Op, do you have a learning disability?

Jack Carson is really good in it, and he has one of the best lines in the whole picture: "You know, Mildred, I've learned that if you want to get Veda to do something, you have to hit her in the head first."

[quote]I also sat next to a middle-aged man whose mother was president of a Joan Crawford Fan Club.

I would imagine that he didn't have to think too hard about why he turned out to be gay.

If you have to ask then no. OP. You're clueless.

That Todd Haynes may be homosexual and may like dresses but he is no film maker.

They're slow, self-reverential and uninterested in plot.

R3, OP is referring to original, of course. Remake is way more than two hours.

It's a subversive lesbian love story.

[quote]R24 In the remake it's great seeing Mildred played as an actual woman and not like a drag queen’s idea of a woman. (Is that a little harsh? You know it’s meant with love!)

We know, Bette.

I think OP is distinctly middle class.

OP, turn in your gay card immediately.

Agree, a good analysis by R27. Also agree with R42, when I watch it for the 3rd and 4th time, I really appreciate Jack Carson's role and his interaction with Crawford. You need to watch it, OP.

And, of course, the fantastic Carol Burnett parody

It's great. Completely entertaining. Also has Eve Arden and Jack Carson in it. When I first saw it I wanted her to get with Jack Carson. He has chemistry with everybody, but the character turned out to be just comic relief/shady.

The picture moves along and doesn't waste a lot of time. They drive the plot forward very well, and there are a lot of strong films. Also, in one shot you can see how short Joan Crawford really is. Her shoulder pads are nearly as wide as she is tall, and she's wearing huge platform shoes.

Great contrast between Crawford and Ann Blyth, who played the daughter. Crawford is her kind of mannish self, but sexual, and Ann Blyth is one of those perfect, petite, 1950s kind of doll-looking girl (only it was the 1940s). She's unapologetically bitchy. No vulnerability in her at all, but a good performance, so you have no problem hating her. Only weak point is maybe Monty, the husband. He's so useless you're glad he's dead. I guess that's the point - who cares if he's banging the daughter - Mildred barely even likes him anymore herself. But maybe someone more appealing would have made the character interesting.

^A lot of strong scenes, not "films".

[quote] We don't look for great, big theatrical performances now, as much as we expect reality.

But we can get reality at home!

On TCM right now.

Sad story about Jo Ann Marlowe, the actress who played the younger daughter. She was in a car accident in her early 30's that left her in in a coma for 22 years! Then she died.

Mildred Pierce is a fucking GREAT movie. Even people who are not normally into classic B&W movies tend to like it.

Kate Winslet is glorious in it...very textured and beautifully modulated.

It's on TCM right now. Veda just slapped Mildred.

Veda was a Bitch!

I love both versions, the original with Crawford and the remake with Kate Winslet.

The Carol Burnett Show version of "Mildred Fierce" is brilliant

Far better than the never-ending, stripped-of-all-dramatic interest Kate Winslett mini-series

"Don't worry about me mother, I'll get by"

It's worth it.

It's a terrific movie. There's an underlying grittiness there, that contributes some weight and depth. Miss Crawford is always a star, but she's at the top of her powers here. I think you could see how much she identified with the character, and the themes, in this drama. She really KNEW what it meant to be dismissed as poor white trash, and you could see her very real rage.

It sucked. So did Joan’s acting.

OP seems dreadfully recherché, n'est-ce pas?

OP, you've never spoken of your people or where you came from.

Just ask Ann and hundreds of homosexuals at the Castro Theatre.

....

[italic] (with contempt) [/italic]

My OP - a waitress.

It's very entertaining and I recommend it, but I don't think it's good.

Absolutely watch the Joan Crawford film. It's great.

The Todd Haynes TV mini series with Kate Winslet is good but slavishly faithful to the source material, where the Joan version makes changes that are perfect for cinema.

I love you, Mother. Really I do.

Veda has so many great lines; near the end, to Mildred: "You know how I am."

Yes, OP. It's considered a classic for a reason.

r69 I hope they served a nice selection of Hostess snack cakes at that event!

Along with Two chicken dinners. One without gravy.

Two chickens. Hold one gravy. Not 'without,' say hold.

SoCal here. Like how the movie mentions actual places I know: Glendale, Pasadena, Arcadia, Arrowhead. Sort of grounds it a little, and California almost becomes a character itself lurking in the background of the film.

It's very dated, but lots of fun- entertaining.

Did Wally fuck Veda in the Crawford version? Seemed kind of ambiguous.

It's really worth seeing. This is about the only time Ann Blyth played a complete monster (normally she played sickly-sweet characters and trilling soprano parts in muscials), and she's really very funny and memorable in the part. Plus it has some great supporting actors: Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Butterfly McQueen, and Jack Carson, and they all have great lines.

Joan isn't that good in the title part actually--as Pauline Kael points out, she substitutes toothache-y intense concentration for acting (she's hilariously over the top when sailors wolf-whistle Veda in a seedy nightclub singing "The Oceana Roll," the most harmless song imaginable). But she's iconic in the part, and she wears her shoulder pads and furs memorably. She did a much better job of acting though two years later in "Possessed." which is probably her best performance.

[quote]Far better than the never-ending, stripped-of-all-dramatic interest Kate Winslett mini-series

Exactly. I normally like Haynes, but while approaching this material from a realistic/naturalistic angle might have seemed like an interesting idea, in reality it was just tedious to watch. All the life is drained out of it. And by the end the plot just starts to seem embarrassing and ridiculous, because Kate Winslet and Evan Rachel Wood don't invest the melodrama with the conviction it needs.

I agree about Joan in the 1947 "Possessed." She gave a great performance. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Here's the opening scene....

R79, yes, those areas of California are most definitely a "character" of the film. The book makes it very clear.

All things considered, R53, Mildred would have been better off with Jack Carson's character, Wally. They'd have been amazing business tycoons together, and Wally would never have taken any shit from Veda.

I remember reading somewhere that Shirley Temple was in contention for the role of Veda at one point. What an interesting casting choice that would've been.

The volumes of the Mildred's humble bungalow weren't so modest.

R84 The look on Crawford's face in that POSSESSED screen capture tells the world everything it needs to know about her "acting".

She was a stylist as a performer, not what we'd really call an actress. Like Elizabeth Taylor, she lucked into a few roles that suited her well..but she was not a natural performer.

Watching her stuff is a little torturous on that level. She does offer other pleasures, but not for acting.

^Oh shut up, Mercedes!

Has there ever been a thread about how Mercedes' son killed his wife and children, then himself, when he got into a financial dispute with his mom? Maybe I even started one...it's all going blury!

BUT, McCambridge's autobiography THE QUALITY OF MERCY is one of the best I've ever read. She was intelligent. And (though I like Crawford in some respects, as an icon), we can't [italic] in a court of law[/italic] say Mercedes wasn't 10 times the actress Crawford pretended to be.

It is a masterpiece, from a time when Actors could really act! I hate the whole "natural" style that took over starting in the late 1960's. I want to watch people being over the top, heightened versions of humans, if I want to watch "real-life," I watch the news. Funnily, I wonder if there might be a return to the old Joan Crawford acting style soon? Because, those horrible reality show people, who are supposed to be real life and are so popular, present themselves in that over the top melodramatic style of the films of the 30's and 40's.

[quote]R91 a time when Actors could really act! I hate the whole "natural" style that took over starting in the late 1960's.

I thing Ingrid Bergman was quite natural, and ahead of her time in her approach to acting.

Her technique has always struck me as different than that of most her contemporaries.

^^ [bold]think[/bold] (!) not "thing"

Makes me want to eat chicken at the restaurant, drink whiskey with Jack Carson, and live at that beach house.

Smoke a pack of cigarettes at Mildred's. Over the welcome cocktail. Between courses. Over desert. In the car driving away. Bet the food was good. I wonder if there was any action in the men's room.

R92 Ingrid Bergman did seem fairly natural, I guess my point isn't so much about being natural, which is fine for some performances, it is that the "natural" style from the 1960's-today seems more artificial to me than the old melodramatic performances of the past. Today it seems as though actors go so far out of their way to appear as their idea of "natural" that they fail. It's like the recent trend of mumbling their lines, because it is seen as authentic, but it isn't always, most people speak normally.

[quote]It's like the recent trend of mumbling their lines, because it is seen as authentic, but it isn't always, most people speak normally.

The actor I could not WATCH in [italic] this [/italic] regard is Vincent D'Onofrio on LAW & ORDER: SVU

Good GOD, but he was so TICKY and ANNOYING ! ! !

R97 Vincent D'Onofrio was on "Law and Order: Criminal Intent," not SVU.

Thanks. I can't tell the difference any more : (

I like how Mildred told Veda they were arguing about her, specifically her dress. That's always advised, to tell kids it's them you are arguing over.

Love Zachary Scott. He was good-looking, but not in a bland, typical leading man way. Sexy guy..

Wally was hot. Maybe if Mildred had fucked him she would have been less shitty an actress.

Mildred was an actress? I thought she was a restauranteuse.

She came from unknown people.

[quote] And, of course, the fantastic Carol Burnett parody

Kids! They'll keep ya hoppin'!