Directed by:
Michael CurtizCinematography:
Ernest HallerComposer:
Max SteinerCast:
Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett, Lee Patrick, Moroni Olsen, Veda Ann Borg, Jo Ann Marlowe, George Tobias (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Melodrama casts noirish shadows in this portrait of maternal sacrifice from the 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. Recasting James M. Cain rich psychological novel as a murder mystery, this bitter cocktail of blind parental love and all-American ambition is both unremittingly hard-boiled and sumptuously emotional. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
![Joan Crawford](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/164/337/164337552_1af6aa.png)
Joan Crawford
USA
Best movies:
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
![Jack Carson](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272327_608eef.jpg)
Jack Carson
Canada
Best movies:
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958)
Love Crazy (1941)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
![Zachary Scott](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/042/871/42871817_3bfa15.jpg)
Zachary Scott
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Secret of Convict Lake (1951)
Colt .45 (1950)
![Eve Arden](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272400_33a907.jpg)
Eve Arden
USA
Best movies:
Anatomy of a Murder (1959)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Grease (1978)
![Ann Blyth](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/576/165576583_46e5d9.jpg)
Ann Blyth
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Brute Force (1947)
Thunder on the Hill (1951)
![Bruce Bennett](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/424/424248_0f7b88.jpg)
Bruce Bennett
USA
Best movies:
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Sudden Fear (1952)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
![Lee Patrick](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/124/120/124120157_88d190.jpg)
Lee Patrick
USA
Best movies:
Vertigo (1958)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Caged (1950)
![Moroni Olsen](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/298/159298409_d4a028.jpg)
Moroni Olsen
USA
Best movies:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
![Veda Ann Borg](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/156/158156422_ca9657.jpg)
Veda Ann Borg
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947)
![Jo Ann Marlowe](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/886/160886915_d05214.jpg)
Jo Ann Marlowe
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
The Strange Woman (1946)
Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
![George Tobias](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/431/431683_bec1cb.jpg)
George Tobias
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Ninotchka (1939)
The Glenn Miller Story (1954)
![Butterfly McQueen](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/105/792/105792799_a34c7c.jpg)
Butterfly McQueen
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Flame of Barbary Coast (1945)
![Joyce Compton](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/477/158477133_758ea5.jpg)
Joyce Compton
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Sorry, Wrong Number (1948)
![Bess Flowers](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/619/160619287_5a558a.jpg)
Bess Flowers
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Rear Window (1954)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
![Jack Mower](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/332/160332802_ec610a.jpg)
Jack Mower
USA
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
![James Flavin](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/000/159000167_c82328.jpg)
James Flavin
USA
Best movies:
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
In Cold Blood (1967)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
![Jeffrey Sayre](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/162/159162653_651df8.jpg)
Jeffrey Sayre
USA
Best movies:
Bon Voyage! (1962)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
North by Northwest (1959)
![Harold Miller](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/975/160975967_38771f.jpg)
Harold Miller
USA
Best movies:
Song of Love (1947)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
![Fred Kelsey](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/440/159440935_32eef6.jpg)
Fred Kelsey
USA
Best movies:
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Love Is News (1937)
Storm Warning (1951)
![Robert Arthur](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/872/162872891_f79a95.jpg)
Robert Arthur
USA
Best movies:
Ace in the Hole (1951)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Twelve O'Clock High (1949)