Mildred Pierce (film)
The most astonishing fact about Curtiz's film adaptation is that it was designed as a
thriller. For that reason, a murder was introduced into the plot.
Whereas the novel is told by a third person narrator in strict chronological order, the film uses
voice-over narration (the voice of Mildred). The story is
framed by the questioning of Mildred Pierce at the local police station where she has been brought after the police discover the body of Monty Beragon.
She tells her story in a series of long
flashbacks. Finally, after Mildred tries to confess to the murder, Veda is brought into the police station and accidentally incriminates herself. It turns out Veda has shot Monty Beragon because he insulted her and told her he has no intention of eloping with her. This is the point when Mildred can no longer protect her daughter, when Veda is held responsible for her own actions for the first time.
According to Jim Hitt (
Words and Shadows. Literature on the Screen [New York, 1992]), "the
Mildred Pierce (Warner Bros., 1945) of director
Michael Curtiz is not the
Mildred Pierce of author James Cain, and Cain didn't like it". However, the movie is "a superior example of
film noir, improving the novel on several counts". William L. DeAndrea (
Encyclopedia Mysteriosa. A Comprehensive Guide to the Art of Detection in Print, Film, Radio, and Television [New York, 1994]) briefly states that "a murder that doesn't appear in
James M. Cain's novel was added to the film, thereby moving it into the
genre."
Some of the other changes that were made - an inexhaustive list:
* The material is condensed, the story is tightened and updated, the pace quickened, time is constricted:
The novel spans a period of nine years (from 1931 to 1940), whereas the action of the film is set in the 1940s and spans only four years. Accordingly, in the film, the characters do not really grow older: Mildred does not change her appearance, she does not put on weight and become matronly; Veda does grow older though, but only four years, from around 13 to around 17. Generally speaking, Mildred is more of a tycoon in the film. Her restaurants are glamorous places, and she owns a whole chain ("Mildred's") rather than just three.
Also, all references to the
Depression and the
Prohibition era were removed.
* The plot is simplified and the number of characters reduced:
For example, the part of the action which revolves around Veda's training and success as a singer (including her performance at the
Hollywood Bowl) was dropped altogether. Obviously, Veda's music teachers do not appear in the movie version.
Mildred's numerous domestic servants are primarily represented by a single young and rather pretty
African American housemaid
Butterfly McQueen (stereotyped as sweetly dumb and thus comical) who also seems to be helping out at the restaurants.
* The depiction of sexuality is softened (in accordance with what was both legal and acceptable in movies at the time; see
Production Code / Hays Code).
The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry.
