Review of Mildred Pierce (1945) by Jonathan D — 12 Aug 2012

Mildred Pierce had plenty of melodrama, and at one point I tired of it. But it used linear flashbacks to establish a mood quite remarkable on its own accord, leading up to that final and shocking conclusion - the identity of the REAL femme fatale murderess.

After all, Joan Crawford seems the archetypal woman for such a character, but the swift repression of that in the film was superbly done. The real culprit behind the film's murder was the bitchy daughter, played to a hatefully excellent level by young Ann Blyth, whose spoilage at the hands of an indulgent mother, which in turn soars following the death of her younger daughter, becomes her own undoing by the end.

The movie is a tragedy, yes - but not the normal main-female-becoming-the-murderer archetype. Indeed, on another level, Mildred Pierce actually has a happy ending, freeing and severing all servile bonds that stuck mother-and-daughter and disabled the mother from pursuing a true relationship with a loyal and staunchly protective first husband.