'''''Mildred Pierce''''' is a 1945 [[Warner Bros.]] [[feature film]] starring [[Joan Crawford]], [[Ann Blyth]], [[Jack Carson]], [[Zachary Scott]], and [[Eve Arden]] in a [[film noir]] tale about a long-suffering mother and her ungrateful daughter. The screenplay by [[Ranald MacDougall]], [[William Faulkner]], and Catherine Turney was based upon the [[1941 in literature|1941]] novel ''[[Mildred Pierce]]'' by [[James M. Cain]]. The film was directed by [[Michael Curtiz]] and produced by [[Jerry Wald]] with [[Jack L. Warner]] as [[executive producer]]. ''Mildred Pierce'' was Crawford's first starring film for Warner Bros. after leaving [[MGM]] and won her the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]].
==Plot==
[[File:Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce trailer.jpg|thumb|200px|left|from the trailer for the film]]
While 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 by police after they discover the body of her second husband, Monte Beragon.
The film, in ''[[film noir|noir]]'' fashion, opens with Beragon (Scott) being shot. He murmurs the name "Mildred" as he collapses and dies. The police are led to believe that the murderer is restaurant owner Mildred Pierce's (Crawford) husband, who under interrogation confesses to the crime. She then relates her life story in [[flashback (literary technique)|flashback]].
We see housewife Mildred unhappily married to a newly unemployed Bert Pierce ([[Bruce Bennett]]). He was originally a real estate partner of Wally Fay (Carson), who propositions Mildred after learning that she and Bert are about to [[divorce]]. Mildred keeps custody of her two daughters: 16-year-old Veda (Blyth), a snobbish social climber and aspiring pianist, and 10-year-old Kay (Jo Anne Marlowe), a tomboy.
Mildred's principal goal is to provide for eldest daughter Veda, who longs for possessions the family cannot afford. Mildred needs a job and the best she can find is as a waitress — a fact she hides from Veda. One day, Veda gives their maid Lottie ([[Butterfly McQueen]]) Mildred's waitress uniform, thinking nothing of it, until Mildred admits that she is a waitress, infuriating Veda, who thinks it a lowly employ.
Mildred's younger daughter Kay contracts [[pneumonia]] and dies; to bury her [[grief]], Mildred throws herself into opening her own restaurant on the coast (next to what appears to be the [[Santa Monica, California|Santa Monica]] beach). With the help of her new friend and former supervisor, Ida (Arden), Mildred's new restaurant is a success. Wally helps her buy the property, and then it expands into a chain of "Mildred's" throughout [[Southern California]].
Mildred continues to smother Veda in affection and worldly goods, but Veda is nonetheless appalled by Mildred's common background and choice of profession. Mildred goes as far as entering into a loveless marriage with the formerly wealthy Monty Beragon in order to improve her social standing and impress her daughter. Beragon lives the life of a playboy supplemented by Mildred, much to Mildred's dismay and potential ruin. Mildred ends up losing business thanks to Monte's manipulation and Veda's greed.
When Veda takes up with the scheming Monty, a showdown ensues at the beach house where the film began. We discover what really happened: that Veda, furious over Monte's unwillingness to take her seriously, is the one who shoots him. Mildred can cover for her daughter no more, and Veda is led off to jail.
