Mildred Pierce (1945)

After the murder of her second husband (Zachary Scott), his wife (Joan Crawford in her Oscar winning role) recounts to the police her rise from a Glendale housewife to a restaurant tycoon and the events leading up to the killing. Based on the novel by James M. Cain and directed by Michael Curtiz (WHITE CHRISTMAS). This noir melodrama is greatly admired and it's a thoroughly entertaining movie but while Crawford brings the stature of an iconic movie star to the film, I wish Mildred had been played by a better actress like Barbara Stanwyck. After leaving MGM, this would begin her tenure at Warners and there was a newfound hardness in her acting that would only get worse. Cain's novel was altered considerably (the murder is an invention of the film) and the 2011 Todd Haynes mini series is more faithful to Cain's book. Still, it's well crafted and an excellent example of the studio system at its height. As the selfish and manipulative daughter, Ann Blyth is terrific! With Jack Carson, Eve Arden, Bruce Bennett, Lee Patrick and Butterfly McQueen.