Film Noir 2019
- Mildred Pierce
- USA1945
- Michael Curtiz
- 113 DCP
- PG
- Film Noir 2019
Screening Dates
- August 14, 2019 6:30
- August 18, 2019 8:10
- August 20, 2019 6:30
“The twisted combination of high-strung soap opera and hard-edged pulp produced what may be the greatest Hollywood melodrama of all time.”
American Cinematheque
Joan Crawford gives an iconic (and Oscar-winning) performance in this top-notch mix of moody film noir and glossy “woman’s picture,” expertly directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca), and based on the hardboiled novel by James M. Cain (Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice). Opening with a murder, Mildred Pierce relates, in flashback, the rags-to-riches tale of devoted, divorced L.A. mom Mildred, who transforms herself from working-class waitress to wealthy restaurateur, but can’t win the love or respect of her spoiled, spiteful daughter Veda (Ann Blyth), the film’s teenaged femme fatale. Todd Haynes adapted Cain’s book in 2011 as a five-part mini-series for HBO.