I first saw Mildred Pierce on television when I was growing up. This is the crux of what drives the narrative in this terrific film.

The problem is that she loses sight of the fact that her eldest daughter’s ambition for wealth has led to the erosion of their relationship, leading her mother to stop at nothing to ensure her daughter’s happiness. Cain Mildred Pierce is a powerful drama that speaks to a mother’s obsession with ensuring that the life of struggles and poverty she endured won’t be experienced by her daughters. Cain’s rich psychological novel as a murder mystery, this bitter cocktail of blind parental love and all-American ambition is both unremittingly hard-boiled and sumptuously emotional.”īased on the novel of the same name by James M.

But as Mildred pulls herself up by her bootstraps, first as an unflappable waitress and eventually as the well-heeled owner of a successful restaurant chain, the ingratitude of her materialistic firstborn (a diabolical Ann Blyth) becomes a venomous serpent’s tooth, setting in motion an endless cycle of desperate overtures and heartless recriminations. Joan Crawford’s iconic performance as Mildred, a single mother hell-bent on freeing her children from the stigma of economic hardship, solidified Crawford’s career comeback and gave the actor her only Oscar. ”Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from Hollywood master Michael Curtiz. I really loved this summary taken from the press jacket and decided to include it as the start of my review: Joan Crawford’s iconic performance as Mildred, a single mother hell-bent on freeing her children from the stigma of economic hardship but, at what cost? Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from Hollywood master Michael Curtiz.

Mildred pierce book review