Happy (?) Mother's Day, Mildred Pierce
May 10th 2008 14:36
Joan Crawford and Zachary Scott in 'Mildred Pierce'
What makes a good mother? If Mildred Pierce (1945) puts forth any opinion on the matter, it's probably that a good mother shouldn’t try to bribe her children for love. Yet the titular character does just that, and for one most undeserving child. What ensues is tragedy in the truest, i.e., Aristotelian, sense: Mildred Pierce has good traits, perhaps, but her actions lead to the downfall of her family and, inevitably, murder. The question is, is Mildred guilty of misguided ambition, or is she simply a bad mother?
The film, directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the pulp novel by James M. Cain, features memorable performances its main actors, as well as one of the most melodramatic film noir scripts ever filmed. In the beginning, Mildred (Joan Crawford), a high society lady--evident from her mansion, jewels, and her luscious fur coat--is called to the police station for questioning in the murder of her second husband.
In flashback, Mildred narrates her humbler beginnings. Years ago, the Pierce family consisted of Mildred, housewife; Bert (Bruce Bennett), her recently unemployed husband; elder daughter Veda (Ann Blyth), obsessed with high fashion and upper-class life; and the somewhat neglected tomboy Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe). One afternoon, Bert chastises Mildred for spoiling Veda and neglecting Kay, who is in his mind "twice the girl that Veda is". When he finds out that Mildred ordered a new dress for Veda, he accuses Mildred of trying to buy her love. Mildred is convinced that she can make it on her own, selling pies and cakes for extra money, and besides, she doesn't like how Bert spends so much time with the widow down the street.* So, in what must be one of the most efficient (and narratively convenient) breakups ever, Mildred and Bert decide to separate.
Although Veda certainly has ideas about class, it's clear that Mildred also yearns for the trappings of respectability. She wants music lessons, dance lessons, and better clothes for the children--and a servant would be nice too. Later, Mildred overhears Veda complaining that her new dress smells cheap and is juvenile, and that she "wouldn't be seen dead in [the] rag". Instead of prompting Mildred to give a well-deserved smack to the ungrateful trollop, this makes her ponder her financial situation--as if this were the first time she realised that maybe the money from pastries would've been better used on bills than a frivolity.
Being inexperienced for most kinds of work, Mildred becomes a waitress at a diner, much to Veda’s embarrassment and scorn. But Mildred soon sees that money from waiting tables is not enough to support her family, pay the bills, and--most importantly--pay for the lifestyle that she wants. She enlists the help of friend and real estate agent Wally Fay (Jack Carson) in opening a restaurant, which quickly becomes a success. At the same time, she starts a romance with idle, old-money Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), who enchants her with his charm, and Veda with his aristocratic tastes.
Unexpectedly, Kay dies of pneumonia, but Mildred’s grief doesn’t last long (barely a scene, in fact); the American Dream has come true for her at last. Within a few years, Mildred’s Fine Foods becomes a franchise, enjoying the patronage of the respectable middle class. Mildred’s enormous financial success means that she can buy Veda all the haute dresses she wanted, and even a car. With all this, though, Veda is still not satisfied. She tries to extort money from another family in order to “get away from...everything that smells of grease". Mildred's wealth affords her the trappings of economic status, but she can’t hide the fact that she had to work for it, which Veda finds degrading: “You think just because you made money, you can turn yourself into a lady. But you can't. You'll never be anything but a common frump!”
Mildred and Veda’s vanity leads to their ruin. Veda can’t stand the fact that her mother is a businesswoman--which doesn't prevent her from accepting gifts or wearing nice clothes, of course--and Mildred desperately wants Veda’s love, not recognising that Veda cannot love her unconditionally, as Kay did. If Mildred were a better sort of mother, the film asks, wouldn’t she realise that she can’t and shouldn’t buy her child’s love? But vanity is the root of Mildred’s many errors of judgment. She is persuaded by the surface qualities of people, rather than their depths; she cannot distinguish what’s real amongst the fakery. She sees Veda’s charm and effusiveness, and Monte’s exotic good looks and wit, but didn’t see Bert’s innate nobility or Kay’s good nature.
After the case is closed, Mildred joins Bert outside the police station in an affirmation that the ex-husband was right and noble all along. Moreover, only the men in the film, such as Wally, Bert, and to an extent Monte, seem to possess the clear-seeing rationality that Mildred supposedly doesn’t have.** The moral of the story is that that women can’t make it in the real world on their own, and a woman who tries to have a career and a family is doomed to fail spectacularly. Although the story skewers misguided parenting and the empty pursuit of worldly goods, it’s really just another film that puts a woman in her place. Don’t take Mildred Pierce too seriously, though: steeped in artifice, it has drama without passion, grief without resonance--just like a good B-movie ought to be.
*I haven't read the book, but I believe there is a gay subtext here that was censored.
** Mildred’s friend Ida (Eve Arden) is an exception. She’s the self-proclaimed sort of woman men don’t marry, i.e., they think of her as a sister, not as a sexual being. Although Wally taunts her repeatedly, she has a smart mouth herself, and is the only genuinely funny character in the movie. She's also the counterpoint to Mildred, telling her to forget about Veda: "Crocodiles have the right idea--they eat their young."
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