In a wonderful opening scene dripping with noir flavor, a man is shot several times by an unseen assailant who then flees the scene. Speaking of that, the movie opens with a murder. This allowed for the film’s introduction of the murder angle and several other creative differences. Several plot lines from the book couldn’t be included in the picture due to the movie content code restrictions of the time. The film was adapted from James Cain’s edgy 1941 hardboiled novel. The acclaimed director didn’t want Crawford as his lead but after his first choices bowed out (Bette Davis, Barabara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland), she got the job. “Mildred Pierce” was directed by Michael Curtiz. Her performance was rightly recognized and her career was revived. The film was a huge success and Crawford would go on to win the Best Actress Oscar. One of her first pictures with her new studio was “Mildred Pierce”. Hungry for a new start, Crawford signed with Warner Brothers. A few moderate successes would follow before her 18 year run with MGM studios was ended. In 1937 she was called “The Queen of the Movies” by Life magazine but she would be called “Box Office Poison” only one year later. Joan Crawford had an interesting career to say the least.
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