Product Description

What Veda wants her mother Mildred Pierce provides. Even if Mildred must end her middle-class marriage climb atop the male-dominated business world and marry a wealthy man she doesn't love. "I'll do anything" Mildred says in explaining her love for her daughter. But does anything include murder? Just when you think you got this nominee for five other Oscarsincluding Best Picture figured out along comes a shocking twist ending! Director: Michael Curtiz Starring: Joan Crawford Jack Carson Zachary Scott Eve Arden Ann BlythRunning Time: 109 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569675384

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9805 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2005-06-14
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 111 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
For a full dose of pure, unfiltered Joan Crawford, look no further than this slab of scorching film noir. Crawford is in her element as the heroine of James M. Cain's pulp-fiction classic, a ditched wife and mother who is forced to become a waitress. On the strength of Crawford's steely willpower (and maybe those intimidating wide-wing shoulder pads), she constructs an empire of eateries, only to be disappointed by her rotten daughter (Ann Blyth) and a ferret-faced new husband (Zachary Scott). Director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) whips up a storm of atmosphere, and the script is a series of tartly written exchanges. The best lines go to perennial wisecracker Eve Arden, as Crawford's acid-tongued pal--she earned her only Oscar nomination for the role. Commenting on the ungrateful daughter, Arden says, "Alligators have the right idea. They eat their young." Crawford herself took home the best actress Oscar, and the film was a triumphant personal comeback: her longtime studio MGM had released her from her contract before Mildred Pierce came along. Is this great acting? (Pauline Kael called it "heavy breathing.") Whatever Joan Crawford is doing in this movie, it's movie presence at its most formidable. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Great film from Hollywood's Golden Era
This film is a gem from the Hollywood era. Joan Crawford delivers a terrific performance as Mildred Pierce, a middle-aged women desperately trying to provide for her daughters as her marriage collapses. Told mostly in flashbacks, the film opens with a man being shot in a fancy Southern California beach house. The police pick-up Mildred and start questioning her, since it's her 2nd husband who is dead. Mildred recounts the ups and downs or her life and her inexplicable drive to win-over the love of her children, especially her spoiled, demanding eldest daughter named Veda.

The acting in Mildred Pierce is incredible. Crawford hits all the right notes as the workaholic mother with poor taste in men but a golden touch for running a business. She's almost overshadowed by Ann Blyth as the pampered, obnoxious teenage daughter Veda. Zachary Scott as Mildred's playboy second husband and a wisecracking Eve Arden add a lot of color to the cast. Combine great acting with a cracking plot and you'll find that Mildred Pierce is a must-have DVD if you like movies from the 1940-50s.

Joan Crawford in one of her best performances
entertaining Hollywood picture, a little ahead of its time...a woman who runs her own business but does it for the all the wrong reasons

Mildred Pierce
Seemed much better than when I was young. I didn't understand the plot then. Second time 'round it was excellent!