Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7771 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-01-01
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 111 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Masterpiece
Mildred Pierce features the best performance of Joan Crawford's career and it bagged her the Oscar for Best Actress in the process.

She stars as the title character, the doting Mother of two spoiled daughters, the young Kay and the vicious, money hungry Veda.

After Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) finds out that her husband (Bruce Bennett) has been unfaithful, the pair seperate and ultimately divorce. She is left completely dependent on herself and as a result, has to get a job waitressing to help pay the bills.

Veda - played brilliantly by Ann Blyth, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress - soon becomes sick of the family's hard times and demands that her Mother provide her daughters with a better life. Mildred then seeks advice about opening up her own restaurant from realtor Wally Fay (Jack Carson) who introduces her to Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), a property owner.

The film begins with Beragon's murder which Mildred admits to immediately and then progresses as she tells her story from the beginning. However, as she relates the events to the police, several different things seem suspect. Is Mildred lying, and if she is, will the truth come out in the end?

An excellent film noir from the Golden Age of cinema, the film was nominated for six Oscars - including Best Picture - and was directed by Michael Curtiz, the director of Casablanca. Joan Crawford is astounding as a desperate woman willing to do anything to protect her ungrateful children. The supporting cast are also on top form and the film is a joy to look at, beautifully photographed and fully restored.

Weren't the pies bad enough?
A must for those who have a classic movie collection, MILDRED PIERCE is probably the best-known Joan Crawford movie of all time. With great performances by Bufferfly McQueen and Jack Carson, along with Eve Arden and a host of others, you can't go wrong here. What's also so amazing is that the ensemble cast has so many good lines and is so woven into the movie. You'd think that this would have been a Joan Crawford "Vehicle" or sorts, but that's not the case. All the characters are intertwined and the plot and sub-plots fit neatly into one another.

The story of a parent trying to give their child everything, this movie will remind other of STELLA DALLAS on many levels. Crawford won an academy award for this performance, and it was very well deserved--her acting is even and not so over the top as in some of her earlier (and later) films. This is a movie you can see over and over. The only part that I don't truly warm up to is some of the quick scene shifts. For instance, when Kay dies, Mildred says something like "but I had to get the restaurant up and running," giving the impression that she wasn't devestated by Kay's death. While we know instinctively that this was not the case, and she even comments "Don't let anything happend to Vita" it still seems an abrupt transition. But then when you've seen this movie twenty five times as I have, you're bound to catch things that others might miss.

Made in 1945, in the middle of WWII, this is still one of the best "classic" Hollywood movies of all time. I rank it right up there with NOW, VOYAGER and GONE WITH THE WIND. And for those who liked NOW, VOYAGER, you might notice in the middle of MILDRED PIERCE the main theme from NV since Max Steiner did the scores for both. It's subtle, but it's there--just a bit of useless movie trivia for you.

Joan Crawford was Fantastic, Oh Yes She Was.
Having left MGM in '43. Joan Crawford had been kicking around Warner Bros for nearly two years before she made this excellent movie. It was well produced, and has a fine supporting cast, but the movie belongs to Joan Crawford.

Allegedly, Bette Davis and Barbara Stanwyck had turned the role down. Joan had a lot to prove, with her career in the doldrums, and the studio wondering if she could ever produce a box ofice hit. She did it in spades! The movie was a huge success, both financially and in terms of durability and prestiege. She won an Oscar, and her career was rejuvenated.

It is the story of just how much a Mother will do for her children. The character's strong will and determination were qualities that Joan could relate to. Sure, Joan's own parenting skills have been called into question since her death. The woman can hardly defend herself now can she? Call me perverse, twisted even, but it all adds a layer of dark comedy to the movie for me.

This is the finest moment of one of Hollywood's biggest and most enduring stars. Can't you see Julia Roberts in a remake in a few years?