Mildred Pierce / Warner Bros. Pictures Inc. presents ; a Warner Bros.-First National picture ; screen play by Ranald MacDougall ; produced by Jerry Wald ; directed by Michael Curtiz.
Edition:
Blu-ray special edition.
Publisher:
The Criterion Collection,
Copyright Date:
2017
Description:
1 videodisc (111 min.) : sound, black and white ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 folded booklet.
Container of (work): Mildred Pierce (Motion picture) http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2007050258 Container of (work): Joan Crawford (Motion picture)
Notes:
Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett, Lee Patrick, Moroni Olsen, Veda Ann Borg, Jo Ann Marlowe. Title from title frame. Based on the novel by James M. Cain. Originally released as a motion picture in 1945. Full screen (1.37:1). Special features: New conversation with critics Molly Haskell and Robert Polito about Mildred Pierce; Excerpt from a 1970 episode of The David Frost Show featuring Joan Crawford; Joan Crawford: the Ultimate Movie Star, a 2002 feature-length documentary; Q&A with actress Ann Blyth from 2002, conducted by film historian Eddie Muller; Segment from a 1969 episode of The Today Show featuring Mildred Pierce novelist James M. Cain; Trailer; Essay by critic Imogen Sara Smith.
Summary:
"Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from Hollywood master Michael Curtiz. Its iconic performance by Joan Crawford 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. But as Mildred pulls herself up by the 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"--Container.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.