Director: Michael Curtiz Producer: Jack L. Warner
Genre: Film Noir
Writer(s): Ranald MacDougall, and William Faulkner
Year of Release: 1945
Running Time: 111 min.
Language: Some Profanity
Movie Rating: PG-13
Actors: Joan Crawford, Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, and Even Arden.
Wow, this movie was just Awful!!!!!, I Did not like this movie. Maybe it was the fact that the acting was overdone or maybe it was the fact that Mildred Pierce kept letting her stupid daughter walk all over her. Anyways the plot of the film is set in the suburb’s in the 1940’s. At the beginning it starts off with a man named Monte Beragon who is shot whispers the voice Mildred. Then the next scene it shows a woman, who we can tell is very wealthy. She is about to kill herself by jumping off the Pier into the Ocean before a Police Officer stops her. She then meets her friend Wally (Jack Carson) at his restaurant, and she tells him that the police are after her. The police take her in and then the police bring another man, Mildred’s ex-husband Bert (Bruce Bennett) admits that he killed the man, however Mildred confesses that she did it, surprisingly, the police thinks she is lying then she tells the story how it all begin. Mildred Pierce was married to Bert Pierce who is a real estate, but now unemployed. She played the perfect homemaker from taking care of her selfish 16 yr. old daughter Veda (Ann Blyth) and 10 yr daughter Kay. Kay, later on, dies of pneumonia. Both Bert and Mildred are aware of Bert’s affair with another woman, and she asks Bert to leave and for a divorce. With no money she looks for a job and gets a job as a waitress. Along the way she realizes she wants to open up a new restaurant with the help of Bert’s co-worker and Mildred’s friend Wally to help her look for a place. She and a friend and co-worker at her old restaurant run the new one and make a ton of money. Soon Mildred meets Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), a wealthy playboy, and him and Mildred become close and later on get married, and that’s where it all begins!! A very interesting plot, but not quite as secretive who killed Monte. This was not a good enough Murder Mystery through half of it I COULD ALREADY GUESS WHO IT WAS!!!! Ridiculous!! The daughter Veda made me so mad, because she was such a jurk to her own mother, and Mildred was such a sapp who let everyone keep stepping allover her like a doormat. Zachary Scott, who played Monte, didn’t do anything in the film but hold a cigar in his hand and where bathrobe the entire time!!!!! Who is this Tool?? HUGH HEFNER!!!! However, I absolutely loved Jack Carson, who plays the fun-loving Wally. He was creative upbeat and I could really feel his character involved in Mildred’s life in such a big way, so I give him a round of applause, The rest of the film, a blank expression on my face.
If I were to rate this film I would give it an Adrien Brody= 2.5/10
Hardworking dedicated, but only good enough to watch to the point I want to fall asleep
From watching Mildred Pierce I gained knowledge as to how actors interacted with each other in the older films. I thought this film was quite entertaining as to the dramatic characters within the film embraced their role and engaged me as to how some families are blinded by the verbal abuse caused by their children. Mildred’s daughter was a brat who only desired for the materialistic things. She sought out the things that valued most to her which were ballet classes, piano classes, and clothing that were non-affordable to her family. She grew in character throughout the movie skyrocketing to the point in which she did not appreciate the sacrifice put into her so called “needs”. The movie begins with the soft tone of how a murder case was going on and who killed Mildred’s ex boyfriend. As the movie soon gets a setup we find out that as Mildred divorces she has difficulty sustaining her home and two girls, mostly Veda. When Kate her youngest daughter dies, Mildred is on brink of committing suicide, an officer suspects and instantly steps in causing her to stay alive. She pities herself for quite a while when she finally realizes that the end of her career is not yet over. When her femme fatale side instantly appears we see a dramatic change of character in her. She becomes a waitress making good money to support all of Veda’s necessities; although it seems easy as to how she does her job she conceals her façade of working a sophisticated job to not embarrass her daughter. Veda finds out her mom is a waitress and is instantly offended that her mom works there. Mildred is upset still having the nerve to work as a waitress. One of her ambitions though is the earning of money to buy a place she wants to own. She conquers her strive and opens up the place with her former friend Monte. Monte is the sneaky slick guy that many would fall for, but with the quip remarks Mildred seems to have him at her feet. The intense climax occurs when Veda and Mildred blow off esteem and Mildred does not resist the power to smack her daughter for being so snobby. Mildred leaves for a while and comes back to find out her daughter has become such a low character that she cannot stand look at her for making herself look cheap. Veda sings in a bikini and short skirt to drunken men for imagery. When everything develops Mildred is back to where a plot crimes scene is imbedded. It is a must see on my list due to the sacrifice, plot line, and suspense that eager’s me to encourage people to watch this film. I give it a nine out of ten, not only that I am not a big fan of black and white but this movie was a treat to the eye.
ReplyDeleteJazmine Gutierrez
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ReplyDeleteI completely disagree with this review because i'm not into black and white films and I thought this movie was great. The acting was good and i especially liked how the movie made you think that Mildred killed Monte.
ReplyDelete-Marc Carrillo
Oh my gosh, I thought this movie was pretty awesome. Yeah, Mildred's daughter was a bitch but that added to the entertainment! I like your rating system, too! Although I think Adrian Brody deserves at least a 7.
ReplyDelete