Eleanor Almaraz

Critique of Micheal Curtiz’s ‘Mildred Pierce’

Micheal Curtiz’s film Mildred Pierce (1945) has come to be known as one of the
quintessential juggernauts of the art-form known as film noir. The film embodies all the
formal features associated with the genre. The characteristics in its lighting, theme, set
design, and costumes all help the viewer process the psychological meaning of this
poignant, “black film”. The film doesn’t just merely tell you a story; its subversive tactics
take hold of the viewer from all sorts of indirect angles. There is meaning in every shot
leaving nothing to circumstance. The films’ emphasis on style is also another characteristic
of noir that immediately sets it apart from other films of its day. Every prop, every line of
dialog and even every eyelash is there to indicate and signify a greater purpose. This
symbolism of death and unhealthy love become exposed in the shadows and horizontal
lines that loom across the screen and onto the faces of cinema’s now iconic cast of
characters.
The theme of Mildred Pierce as it relates to noir is multilayered. The action starts out
in medias res captivating the viewer with the immediate depiction of death. This abrupt
and violent action is something the viewer has found typical of most film noir narratives.
The opening scene in several famous noir films depicts bloodshed. Take for example Billy
Wilder’s film Sunset Blvd. (1950). The establishing shot is a dead man floating face down in
the water. Another of Wilder’s films Double Indemnity (1944) starts out with the same
motif a bleeding man shot at the hands of a beautiful femme fetale. The theme of the femme
fetale is one of those characteristics of noir that is carved in stone. To the viewers delight
Mildred Pierce has two femmes fetales. The lead female role for which the film is also
named is overacted by the legendary Joan Crawford. This over dramatic portrayal of a
seemingly weak and overly sexualized female character is another example of a typical
running theme of noir. The emphasis on Mildred’s legs dangling disembodied from atop a
ladder relates the feeling of objectification by men on the female body. The character
known as Vida Pierce played by the lovely Ann Blyth reminds the viewer of another
secondary femme fetale character, “Eve” from Joseph Markiewicz’s film noir classic All
About Eve (1950). Like Eve, Vida comes off innocent and eager but driven in an unhealthy
way. This unhealthy drive for success and money by all means necessary is a central theme
of a classic noir femme fetale. Both women use their talent and sexuality to attain the status
they crave. Attaining a level of security that starts out with good intentions but escalates to
a level of hubris ambition, lead to their downfall each and every time. It is a tragic flaw that
links these dangerous women together and a human quality that resonates at some level
with most people.
One of the more entertaining factors of watching classic Hollywood film noir is
admiring the costumes. Watching the clothes change as the character changes is sometimes
an easy tool in determining just what the character is feeling. Since not a hair seems out of
place or a button undone without a necessary purpose in this film, one can analyze most
any scene in the film and determine something insightful. Mildred’s costume progression
from middle-class feminine home maker in an apron to self-made masculine business
tycoon in a well-tailored women’s suit is so cliché and obvious. Mildred’s physical
transformation reflects her psychological state. In one scene she is covered in mink fur and
dark clothing when she tries to set up Wally Fay for the murder of Monte Beragon, making
her appear like a sort of she wolf. Monte Beragon appears first in well-tailored suits, polo
match garb, and tasteful casual clothing then digresses to more tattered older out of
fashion suits as he gradually becomes poorer. As Monte drinks, gambles and chooses a
 Eleanor Almaraz
Critique of Micheal Curtiz’s ‘Mildred Pierce’

morally wrong character we as viewers observe, through his fashion, the downward spiral
he is experiencing. As we watch Mildred become empowered and masculine in costume
with her new-found success in business we simultaneously watch Monte become
emasculated as he accepts money from Mildred. As he becomes more and more
emasculated his passive aggressive nature is reflected in his ongoing affair with Mildred’s
daughter Vida. Eventually coming to his demise at the hands of his immoral vice is symbolic
of a sort of dark justice that seems to be a common thread in most noir films. If you live the
life of a heathen you die the life of a heathen a very clever way of depicting the social
blocking of this character.
The lighting lends a great helping hand to the typical characteristics of noir. The way
in which the framing of the light seems to sculpt the scenes of this film make it instantly
recognizable as a noir picture. The scene where Mildred is on the pier contemplating
suicide embodies many of the stylistic techniques of noir, such as the shimmering wet
drops of rain on her face. The low-key lighting in this scene emphasizes the glistening of the
wet landscape like a cleansing of the evil that had just taken place. All the shiny objects in
the mise-en-scene directing our eyes as if we were magpies, symbolizes the fact that this
film was more gloss then depth. It is over stylized and exaggerated like the characters in it.
Like Dale E. Ewing Jr. states in his article, Film Noir Style and Content, “the style and gloom
of film noir afforded an appealing paradigm of disorder. At the surface of life, America
reflected an innocent appearance, but this was only repression, which is a breeding ground
for all sorts of irrationalities and fears”. The darkness of lighting is the physiological state
the characters in it are living in. The unhealthy approach and bad choices made permeate
the story through the dark images and symbolic props. The viewer is voyeur to an
underbelly of thought and action that embodies the cinematic art-form of film noir in all its
nihilistic grandeur.