Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) is a self-made woman. When her husband loses his job, it’s up to Mildred to keep the family afloat by selling baked goods. Instead of being grateful or doing anything to help, her husband leaves. Left alone with two daughters, Mildred works as a waitress to make extra money to buy her eldest daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth), who is a brat and high-society wannabe, the material things that will supposedly make her happy. Mildred is wooed by Monte Beragon, and through hiss dwindling inheritance, Mildred buys her own restaurant. She throws herself into her work, but nothing makes Veda happiness. Mildred decides to marry Monte in order to give Veda the status that she wants, but even that is not enough to make anybody happy.

Joan Crawford is considered one of the greatest actresses of all time, and it’s hard to deny when watching Mildred Pierce. However, she is not the best performance in the movie. That distinction goes to Ann Blyth, who plays her daughter, Veda. Veda is absolutely despicable. She’s bratty, obnoxious, and selfish beyond reason. Next to Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven, and maybe Ann Savage in Detour, Veda is one of the most venomous femme fatales in all of cinema. Her dynamic with Mildred is what makes the movie. Mildred spends her time, money, blood, sweat and tears giving Veda a life of luxury, a life she never had and didn’t think she could have without a wealthy husband. And to the very end of the film, Mildred tries to provide and protect, and it gets her nowhere. Veda throws it all back in her face. The easy life is not enough for her, and it will never be enough.

There are a lot of things going on in Mildred Pierce. First, it’s a feminist work about a self-sufficient woman and how she navigates the world that’s against her. But it’s also a cautionary tale of the dangers of chasing material things. Mildred’s goals are noble, but her methods of provision feed Veda’s heightened sense of materialism, effectively hobbling her instead of helping her. And of course, as greed operates, Veda is never satisfied. She continually wants more and more and it’s ultimately her downfall. Mildred Pierce excels where other noirs fail because of those layers. Making characters three-dimensional is crucial to exceptional filmmaking, and Mildred Pierce delivers in spades.

Bonus Review: Leave Her to Heaven

Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) is a writer who arrives in a New Mexico town to get away and work on his next book. There, he meets Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney), who is visiting the area to spread the ashes of her deceased father, and they fall for each other instantly. Richard loves her spirited personality, and Ellen loves him because he reminds her of her father. Yikes. After a whirlwind romance, the two get married and both get more than they bargained for. Ellen is obsessive about keeping Richard all to herself, and no one is going to interfere with that – not his teenage brother, Danny, or her cousin, Ruth. What was originally a happy love affair quickly sours into torment for Richard Harland. The question eventually becomes: how far is Ellen willing to go to hang on to Richard? The answer: watch the movie and find out.

When I watched Leave Her to Heaven for the first time, my jaw was pretty well on the floor from about halfway through the film all the way to the end. The pivotal scene where Ellen is in a boat watching Richard’s brother, Danny, swim makes the film turn a complete 180 degrees, and it never lets up from there. Before my brother watched the film, I explained that Gene Tierney in the film might be the most villainous woman in film history, with no other details. When he watched it, he texted me simultaneously with the following messages:

“Seems like a regular romance to me.”

“When does she do something bad? It’s pretty tame so far.”

“Oh no…”

“Nevermind. I get it now.”

And when he texted me that “Oh no…”, I knew exactly what scene he was at. That’s how drastic the tone shifts at that scene. I want to say more, but it would spoil too much, so I refuse to elaborate. All I can say is that you should take the time to watch this movie.