How old is mildred pierce

Pierce as Mrs. Christopher Koron Archie as Archie. Halley Feiffer Arline as Arline. Hope Davis Mrs. Forrester as Mrs. Miriam Shor Anna as Anna.

Margaret Hall Mrs. Floyd as Mrs. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Glendale, California, Mildred Pierce, a young mother with a talent for baking, is left a "grass widow" after throwing her husband, Bert, out of the house.

Forced to hunt for work to support herself and her two young daughters, year-old Veda and seven-year-old Ray, Mildred visits an employment agency, only to encounter job opportunities she feels are beneath her. Amidst her job search, she receives dating advice from her friend and neighbor, Lucy Gessler, and begins an unexpected affair with an ex-business partner of her husband's, Wally Burgan.

When Mildred receives a call from the agency regarding an opening as a housekeeper to a wealthy socialite, she reluctantly agrees to meet with her. Did you know Edit. Trivia Director and screenwriter Todd Haynes decided that every scene should be from Mildred's perspective, and so required Kate Winslet to be in every single scene of the five hour miniseries. Winslet has publicly stated that this was her hardest shoot around 18 weeks on set since Titanic User reviews 92 Review.

Top review. Faithful to the novel. If you're one of the many people who read James M. Cain's novel Mildred Pierce and were utterly baffled by the changed made to the film adaptation, have no fear: the remake is so faithful to the book, it's as if someone's reading it aloud.

Spread out in a 5-part miniseries, every detail of the long-suffering mother's journey is shown, from the dissolution of her marriage to her baby steps of adapting to the business world, to the sadness each of her daughters bring, and to her second chance at love with a young playboy. Kate Winslet takes the helm, and after her predecessor won a long-awaited Oscar for the original, Kate took quite a risk.

And as has been frequently mentioned here, Ernest Haller's cinematography especially in the brilliant prints now being shown on cable is consistently evocative and beautiful. So many of his shots live in the memory: in the scene where a mink wearing, gun wielding Mildred comes upon Monte and Vida kissing, the image is an almost primal one of betrayal and glamor -- the way their profiles are in darkness, the way Ann Blyth arches back against the bar, the hard, dim glitter of lame and the billows of tulle from her gown.

The way Vida tumbles forward into almost blinding lamplight while Monte's face hardens behind her -- these are the kinds of wonderful images the best old films regularly delivered. Also excellent is Anton Grot's art direction, opulent but still managing to help create the particular SoCal atmosphere of this picture. And director Michael Curtiz must be praised for keeping everything in perfect balance.

This is one of the most admired '40s pictures and well worth a look. Details Edit. Release date October 20, United States. United States. English French. Warner Bros. Box office Edit. Technical specs Edit. Runtime 1 hour 51 minutes. Black and White. Related news. Sep 4 Gold Derby. Aug 30 The Wrap. Contribute to this page Suggest an edit or add missing content. Top Gap. By what name was Mildred Pierce officially released in India in English? See more gaps Learn more about contributing.

Edit page. See the full list. The Rise of Will Smith. Watch the video. She becomes a waitress, uses this experience to develop her own restaurant, and so on. Veda at an early age is beautiful, a talented singer, and her mother spoils her, buys her everything, and Ida is consistently ungrateful and manipulative.

This is an inversion of the Mommie Dearest story of the hateful mother; Ida is the daughter we love to hate. Mildred is unreasonably supportive of Veda, but she is also seethingly jealous of her, and a little obsessed with her. And in a few moments, Oedipally? But this book is also from its most basic perspective about women and money, in a time in which women are largely disrespected by men. Is it still happening, the world over?

Of course. Equal pay? The glass ceiling? Point made. She generally figures out how to manage the system. Now to re-see the film version with Joan Crawford. And maybe the Kate Winslet mini-series. View all 5 comments. Wow, freaking wow. I had no idea I would be sucked into this novel the way I was -- I couldn't put it down! I know that phrase is overused, but seriously, I couldn't put it down! And when I did have to abandon it for life and work, I couldn't wait to get back to it.

This is so different than Cain's other noir novels where sex and violence, scheming, backstabbing and a dead body feature so prominently. Unlike Double Indemnity or The Postman Always Rings Twice , Mildred Pierce is a full-length novel that takes its time delving deep into character and focusing on the minutiae of one woman's epic financial rise during the Great Depression and her extremely damaging and twisted relationship with her eldest daughter Veda.

Veda -- what a vile and loathsome and brilliant literary creation. Don't get me wrong; I had my problems with Mildred too, but Veda just takes the cake.

I've never wanted to scream and slap someone across the face so badly as I wanted to with her. Choke on that, you witch! Cain isn't writing a love story or a novel of redemption. He shines a light on greed and pride in such a way that you must look, even though it's so ugly, so distasteful. Cain is a master in this, capturing 's California and a woman's place in it. Without ever losing the propulsive thread of his tawdry, daytime drama narrative, Cain is able to show the sneering side of class consciousness, the brute realities of gender roles, and the poisonous type of love that can bring a family to its knees.

Veda may be a villain, and easy to despise, but I became so frustrated with Mildred's choices and blind not to mention unhealthy devotion to her daughter that I came to despise her a little too.

Can we say that by the end of all this mess everyone gets what they deserve? Well, this is Cain, so I'll let you figure it out. View all 4 comments. Jan 26, Lou rated it it was amazing Shelves: mystery-thriller , classics , adapted-to-screen , noir. Well done story that paints a realistic portrayal of a woman's struggle for success during the depression era.

This story gives me thoughts of a previous read novel Revolutionary Road by Yates which also was adapted into big screen well. They really are both of similar tones. A decline of the family structure, loss of possessions dear to them in this world, a really heart warming and life learning story. Is there more light at the end of the tunnel for the main protagonist Mildred? You are taken Well done story that paints a realistic portrayal of a woman's struggle for success during the depression era.

You are taken through the to's and fro's of a mother-daughter relationship. Can Mildred give her kids the right upbringing financially and emotionally? She certainly has a lot of determination and love but it's not a one sided coin there's the negative forces around this enduring woman. I have seen the movie a while back but really can't recollect much of it, I will be watching the tv adaption soon. Movie and Book update June 6 Still yet to finish the new mini-series and i want to watch the original but i found a good review by The man himself Stephen King will post it below under spoilers and some images until i get round watching it.

The best-actress competition, however, was a horse race. The general consensus was that Joan Crawford probably deserved the Oscar for her portrayal of Mildred Pierce in the film of the same name, but three of the other nominated actresses—Ingrid Bergman, Jennifer Jones, and Gene Tierney—seemed more likely to win.

Crawford was arrogant, overmannered, and difficult to work with. Arrogant she may have been; stupid she was not. Terrified of losing, she pretended to be sick on the big night. Crawford welcomed reporters into her bedroom only after her win was safely in the bag. Um … well … that sort of depends on your sensibilities, Constant Viewer.

Or you could put The Bells of St. Mildred Pierce opens in Glendale, Calif. During the years between, Mildred trudges with grim and not particularly admirable fortitude from one disaster to the next, dragging Veda, her harpy of a daughter, behind her like an anchor.

Mildred survives—somehow—but the viewer is left with the sense that none of her victories mean much, and is apt to greet the credit roll at the end of part five with a sigh of relief. Gee, that must be swell. Mildred, at least, is capable of love. In Veda, love has been annealed to a hard diamond of ambition. Worse, Mildred becomes her willfully blind enabler. Mildred herself is horrified, and that is one of the things that makes her so hard to like.

The other is her grim refusal, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, to see that she is nursing a viper in her bosom. And when Ray dies of a fever, the rattlesnake is the only one left in the nest. Chief among them are excess waste and too many choices. Joan Crawford was not that woman; Kate Winslet is. Mildred expands to three restaurants, experiences giddy success, and then loses everything hence, back to Glendale.

She blames the men who gave her too much credit and too much bad advice, but the real culprit is Veda, who hangs on her like a leech, bleeding Mildred dry until she blossoms as a coloratura soprano something that happens late, with no foreshadowing, and in spite of her nonstop cigarette consumption.

Veda leaves for New York, but not before committing one final act far too shocking for the version of Mildred Pierce to even contemplate—hence the trumpery murder plot. Nudity has rarely looked so evil. Or so enticing. If for no other reason, you may want to tune in to see two actors at the height of their creative powers and physical beauty.

All the same, there are problems here. In words of one syllable? In his memorable introduction to three of James M. The Depression-era set decoration is perfect, and you get to appreciate all of it because Haynes lingers on each stucco bungalow, each deserted seaside road, each overdecorated Beverly Hills manse. There are soporific panning shots and at least one dolly-track sequence that seems well-nigh endless. Mildred and her friend, Lucy, are at the seashore, and I began to think they were going to walk all the way to San Diego.

Perhaps even Mexico City. There are enough shots of a pensive Winslet seen through rain-beaded windshields to make you feel like screaming.

The original paperback version of Mildred Pierce was only pages. You could read the whole thing aloud before the miniseries finishes. I think Cain would marvel at the acting and production values, but roll his eyes at the plodding pace. And yet Mildred Pierce has a visceral, snake-farm fascination.

Veda is, after all, what she has, and Mildred fights for it, tooth and nail. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her. View all 9 comments. After being challenged in ways I have never expected in , I decided was going to be the perfect year to also get out of my literary comfort zone and take some risks. What the heck!! For me the only really sordid things about this novel were the number of pages I had to read about mortgages, other bureaucratic procedures and too many unrealistic characters playing the business type; gosh, how sordid can that be?!

Also very sordid was the number of times the story conveniently jumped forward only to get to a very predictable ending. Bureaucracy kills. View all 32 comments. Aug 24, Alex rated it really liked it.

And he does, leaving her and their children behind. Alone and jobless, Mildred has to find a way to feed her young girls but the social status she once owned pulls her back from working as a maid or waitress. In the end she is forced to work as a waitress at a restaurant. Her ambition and talent makes her a successful businesswoman. But Mildred has two weakness: an obsession to her eldest almost diabolic daughter Veda and se 3. But Mildred has two weakness: an obsession to her eldest almost diabolic daughter Veda and secondly her affinity towards cheating, manipulative men.

They will be her downfall. I liked most of the book although some parts of it were so boring, I was thinking of not completing it. I did not like any of the characters. All were selfish and controlling. I couldn't understand why Mildred loved Veda so much and I cannot stress out how much I disliked Veda. But these are the same things that kept me interested.

I have not read any other books about such mothers and daughters. There are so many finer points to be discussed about these characters, this book can be used for character study. View all 7 comments. Jul 10, Julie rated it really liked it Shelves: california-dreaming , book-club , mommie-dearest. If ever a book screamed, "You need a book club," it was this one. You need group support and discussion for this cast of characters!

Jul 24, James Thane rated it liked it. James M. While Mildred Pierce was turned into something of a crime story in the movie starring Joan Crawford, the book is the fairly straight-forward story of a California woman who struggles to make a life for herself and her daughter, Veda, during the years of the Great Depression.

As the book opens, Mildred throws her lazy, unfaithful husband out on his ear and become the single mother James M. As the book opens, Mildred throws her lazy, unfaithful husband out on his ear and become the single mother of two young daughters. Forced to fend for herself, she becomes a pie maker. She later takes a job as a waitress and through hard work and grim determination parlays the skills she learns on the job into owning her own restaurant. However, Veda, Mildred's elder daughter, has nothing but contempt for her mother's efforts and is embarrassed that her mother is so declasse.

Veda, who is most certainly the daughter from Hell, aspires to higher things and never stops to appreciate the sacrifices that her mother makes on her behalf.

Nor does she apparently ever stop to wonder how she, her sister and their mother would survive save for Mildred's efforts that Veda so casually mocks. The amazing thing is that Mildred is totally enchanted by this ungrateful urchin and bends over backwards to please her. Mildred constantly ignores and forgives the hateful things that Veda says and sacrifices her entire life to pleasing the little snot until, in the end, a serious crisis results. Cain has created here two of the most memorable characters in American fiction and has woven around them a gritty story of Mildred's struggle to survive and succeed, both in business and in her plaintive attempt to win her daughter's favor.

I admire what he has done, but I can't say that I really enjoyed this book all that much. I simply could not identify or empathize with any of the characters, and my patience with Mildred Pierce ran out very early on. As terrible a thing as it is to say, were I Mildred Pierce, by the third or fourth chapter of this book, her darling Veda would have been in traction and I would have been in jail.

But that, of course, would have made for a much shorter novel. May 13, Alex Gradet rated it liked it. I want Veda Pierce to become real. So that I may punch her. Aug 07, Mary rated it really liked it Shelves: mother-issues , fiction , This was fun. Mother-daughter dysfunction at its finest. View 2 comments. If there's one thing I'm taking away from reading this, it's that bad things happen to good people. Unfortunately, that goes both ways. I was surprised by how this novel just sucked me in, even though there was so much to get frustrated about.

Mildred Pierce is the tale of a woman living during the Great Depression who is trying to provide for her two daughters after getting divorced from her cheating husband. The problems don't end there, as there is money to be earned and some proper family is If there's one thing I'm taking away from reading this, it's that bad things happen to good people.

The problems don't end there, as there is money to be earned and some proper family issues to deal with. On the one hand it's interesting to see a woman doing her thing in the s. Mildred Pierce was brave enough to get rid of her husband, but earning money afterwards turns into an entirely different issue.

There are limitations to what she can or is expected to do and in addition to that she has also got her own pride to overcome before taking on the job as a waitress. Later that turns out to bring valuable and prosperous knowledge, making her a great example of a self-sufficient woman of that time period. The main charm of this book lies in the relationship between Mildred and her daughter Valda.

Rarely have I felt such pure and outright antipathy towards a character. What makes it worse is, how Mildred is absolutely aware of what kind of daughter she has: "She was afraid of Veda, of her snobbery, her contempt, her unbreakable spirit.

And she was afraid of something that seemed always lurking under Veda's bland, phone tonnes: a cold, cruel, coarse desire to torture her mother, to humiliate her, above everything else, to hurt her. It's painful and upsetting to watch, but at the same time that relationship is exceptionally well written, so you understand where she is coming from.

The more Mildred tried, the less I liked her for it. I'm not going to lie, I honestly hoped something bad would happen to Veda. I'm left with a bittersweet feeling. May 02, j e w e l s rated it it was amazing. Love these old melodramatic plot lines- VEDA!! View all 3 comments. Those expecting noir crime fiction like in Cain's Double Indemnity or Postman will find that Mildred Pierce is not exactly crime fiction, but it shares quite a bit in common with those other famous Cain novels.

It, too, is set in the Depression-era and involves an emotionally-charged character, but it is more of a life-long character study, a novel-length portrait of the rise and f "Mildred Pierce" is perhaps best known as the character that won Joan Crawford the Best Actress Academy Award.

It, too, is set in the Depression-era and involves an emotionally-charged character, but it is more of a life-long character study, a novel-length portrait of the rise and fall of a woman of the Depression-era.

Mildred first comes to our attention in the novel as a pie-baking stay-at-home wife of a well-to-do real estate magnate, the head of Pierce Homes, a new housing tract in Glendale, California.

But, times being what they were, business has kind of grinded to a halt and the husband, Bert, spends most of his time hanging out with his mistress and away from the hen-pecking of his wife. The house is mortgaged to the hilt and, after a final spat, Bert packs his bags and moves down the street. Now, Mildred suddenly realizes that she only has a few odd dollars to feed her two kids and get by, let alone pay the bills.

What follows is her going to an employment agency and getting offered a maid's job, one she could not possibly take. What if her precocious older daughter Veda would find out?

And, that, my friends, foreshadows the mother-daughter relationship to come as the proper prim upper-class child has her mother's eye and heart. Mildred eventually becomes a waitress in a hash house and manages to sell pies to the owner and makes it on her own to become a force to reckoned in the restaurant industry.

But, what is telling is not her successes so much as her fear that her proper daughter will look down on what she does and that she is not upper class. Indeed, when Mildred finally becomes involved with a new man it is another layabout, a rich playboy who doesn't work, plays polo, and lives off the family money until like many great fortunes the Great Depression plays havoc with it. The heart of the story is Mildred's relationship with this man who she ends up supporting and her daughter who she promises the world to and can never really deliver.

Mildred is an amazing character and Cain's novel portrays her as so multifaceted that you feel her struggles and understand her failings as she clings to this man and to her hard-to-please daughter. Of course, there are some shocking scenes in it that come up somewhat unexpected. Cain is an amazing writer and Mildred Pierce shows the breadth of his talent.

Mar 27, Natalie Richards rated it really liked it Shelves: owned-book. I remember watching the film of this book years ago and loved it. This is a very character driven book and Mildred and Veda are something else!

May 12, Terris rated it really liked it Shelves: classics. I really enjoyed this story of Mildred Pierce's life as a young mother and wife in the 's, and how she survives divorce, personal heartbreak and drama, and goes on to build her huge, successful restaurant business Well, that's not the whole story, of course -- Wow! There's so much more, but it is a very compelling read. I loved the way it was written, and I couldn't put the book down throughout the dramatic, climactic ending.

I'd love to see the Joan Crawford movie. She'd be perfect I really enjoyed this story of Mildred Pierce's life as a young mother and wife in the 's, and how she survives divorce, personal heartbreak and drama, and goes on to build her huge, successful restaurant business She'd be perfect for this one!

May 21, Christine Boyer rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: Psychological thrillers. Recommended to Christine by: Julie. When my sister first put this book on my recommendation list, I thought, wait, is she talking about one of my favorite films? I mentioned some plot points in the film and she said, yep, that's one in the same! When I was a pre-teen, before cable was around, I loved to watch old movies on television, particularly from the s.

However, I sadly did not even know it was based off of a nov When my sister first put this book on my recommendation list, I thought, wait, is she talking about one of my favorite films? However, I sadly did not even know it was based off of a novel. And I had never heard of James Cain. Mildred Pierce was incredible on so many levels - I don't even have enough space here to do it justice.

Fast-paced, suspenseful, written back in the day, however, it felt contemporary. Vivid setting, and a host of three dimensional characters that jump off the page! There is only one other daughter in literature who is as awful as Veda - remember Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Lots of material here for incredible book club discussions: mother-daughter relationships, marriage, women having careers, all kinds of sexual topics, rich vs.

This is one wild ride you must take!!