Mildred Pierce
1945 · Movie · NR · 111 min · ★ 7.6 · 88% critics
After a painful marital split, a determined mother pushes herself toward success and builds a thriving restaurant business to care for her spoiled daughter. As the family’s troubles deepen, danger and heartbreak come crashing in, blending a personal melodrama with a murder mystery told through later reflections.
Based on Mildred Pierce
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Streaming on TCM — or rent from $3.99.
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Details
- Years
- 1945
- Release date
- 1945-10-20
- Language
- English
- Rated
- NR
- Runtime
- 111 min
- Critic score
- 88/100
- TMDB rating
- 7.6/10 (451 votes)
- Budget
- $1,400,000
About
You’ll probably like Mildred Pierce if you enjoy classic noir-style melodrama and high-stakes family conflict with a standout central performance; Not for you if you dislike murder mysteries or melodramatic mother-daughter dynamics like in The Postman Always Rings Twice.
Pros: Joan Crawford’s Oscar-winning lead; intense noir-meets-melodrama; strong mother-daughter tension | Cons: dark, unhappy subject matter; some dialogue feels off; uneven cast reactions
Themes
- daughter
- infidelity
- husband wife relationship
- restaurant
- snob
- business woman
- promise
- spoiled child
- film noir
- murder
- black and white
- beach house
- +15 more
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1946
- Academy Award — Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay · 1946 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Picture · 1946 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Cinematography, Black-and-White · 1946 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Supporting Actress · 1946 · nominated
Show all 6 awards →
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 1946 · nominated
Cast & crew
Joan Crawford
as Mildred Pierce
Jack Carson
as Wally Fay
Zachary Scott
as Monte Beragon
Eve Arden
as Ida Corwin
Ann Blyth
as Veda Pierce Forrester
Bruce Bennett
as Albert 'Bert' Pierce
Lee Patrick
as Maggie Biederhof
Moroni Olsen
as Inspector Peterson
Veda Ann Borg
as Miriam Ellis
Jo Ann Marlowe
as Kay Pierce
Directed by Michael Curtiz