Mildred Pierce (1945)

Michael Curtiz

Screenplay by Ranald MacDougall; adapted from the novel by James M. Cain

Joan Crawford (Mildred Pierce)
Jack Carson (Wally)
Zachary Scott (Monte Beragon)
Eve Arden (Ida)
Ann Blyth (Veda Pierce)
Bruce Bennett (Bert Pierce)
Lee Patrick (Maggie Binderhof)
Moroni Olsen (Inspector Peterson)
Veda Ann Borg (Miriam Ellis)
Jo Ann Marlowe (Kay Pierce)


Guilty by suspicion: Wally finds Monte's dead body	Stopped by a cop	Veda plays nice to Mildred

Mildred and Monte in better days	Family ties	Mildred and the statue compete to see who can go without blinking the longest

Movie poster

COP
I think you maybe had an idea to take a swim. That's what I think.
MILDRED
Leave me alone.
COP
You take a swim, I gotta take a swim. Is that fair? Since you feel like bumping yourself off, I gotta get pneumonia. Never thought about that, didja? Okay. Think about it. Go on, beat it. Go on home before we both take a swim.

MILDRED
Wally, I'm swamped you've got to help me.
WALLY
Who me? I'm an executive.
MILDRED
Yes you're now vice president in charge of potatoes.

MILDRED
I want my daughter back.
IDA
Personally Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.

Trivia

Mildred Pierce is one of the few films noir where a woman--Mildred herself--supplies the voice over