Mother's Day with Mildred Pierce

Stunning photography—cinematography—
along with an ingenious twist in the script, turned James M. Cain’s novel of Mildred Pierce, into a visual masterpiece.  Unlike his other novels that were later made into the films Double Indemnity (1944), and The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) which are noir stories even on the page, Mildred Pierce was not written as such.  It’s more a character study of a woman who indomitably struggles against privation, and whose Achilles’ heel is her greatest passion, her daughter.  In the hands of the Warner Bros. studio, this story, rather than a weepy so-called “woman’s picture” becomes first class noir.  Largely, this is due to the cinematography—and a newly invented murder plot.
--- From Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.

You know this coming Sunday is Mother's Day when Turner Classic Movies includes Mildred Pierce (1945) in the lineup.  That infamous mother-daughter duo played by Joan Crawford and Ann Blyth will start their scene-stealing at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.  Ann and Zachary Scott play out a famous scene in the striking lobby card above.

Mildred Pierce on TCM

She's baa-aa-ack!

This coming Sunday, as part of its tribute to Mother's Day, Turner Classic Movies is again showing our favorite instructional video on how to raise children--Mildred Pierce (1945).  This was the role that earned Ann Blyth her Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, the youngest (at 16 years old) at that time to have been nominated for a major acting award. 

The lobby card above is not from the original release of the movie, but from a re-release.  The original publicity images from the movie showed only Joan.  We can see how great an impact Ann's Veda Pierce had on the critics and the public by subsequent marketing showing her front and center.

Tune in Sunday, May 8th at 4 pm ET for Ann, Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Eve Arden, Zachary Scott and a the rest of the gang in this glossy noir.  We covered Mildred Pierce here at my Another Old Movie Blog.