Trivia / Mildred Pierce

The 1945 film:

• Career Resurrection: Joan Crawford had been dubbed 'Box Office Poison' and steadily made a series of flops for MGM. Likewise in her first two years with Warner Bros, she had turned down numerous scripts. This earned her an Oscar and got her back on track.
• Creator-Preferred Adaptation: After seeing the film, James M. Cain sent Joan Crawford a signed first edition of the original novel. The inscription read: "To Joan Crawford, who brought Mildred Pierce to life just as I had always hoped she would be, and who has my lifelong gratitude."
• Enforced Method Acting: According to Ann Blyth, Joan Crawford told her to actually slap her during the staircase scene.
• Executive Meddling: When Warner Bros. bought the rights to the novel, they ordered it rewritten to be in line with James M. Cain's other noir stories. While it is widely rumored that the changes were done to appease The Hays Code, in truth they were made because studio executives thought no one would see a movie where a mother is treated like a doormat for 111 minutes.
• Playing Against Type: The movie!
  • Joan Crawford playing a doormat. While Mildred is a Rags to Riches story, like most of the actress's characters in the 1930s, it marked a far maturer role for her.
  • Ann Blyth in a rare villain role.
  • Jack Carson (a notable comedian of the 1940s) playing a slimy yet charming corrupt businessman.
• Reality Subtext: Much like Mildred had, Joan Crawford had supported herself as a waitress and saleswoman before finding success.
• Wag the Director: Joan Crawford was in constant clashes with Michael Curtiz over her character's wardrobe. The director was annoyed that Crawford was trying to make Mildred look more glamorous than she should. Crawford insisted she was buying all her clothes off the rack, but she was still secretly having her costume designer altering the waists and padding the shoulders.
• What Could Have Been:
  • William Faulkner did a rewrite of the script that would have been drastically different - a longer more elaborate voice over narration at the beginning, more emphasis on Mildred's restaurant business, a few sleazy and underhanded business deals, and Veda being even nastier than she is in the final film.
  • Olivia de Havilland, Joan Fontaine, Myrna Loy, Rosalind Russell, Ann Sheridan and Barbara Stanwyck were all considered for the lead.
  • Shirley Temple was originally considered for Veda Pierce.
  • Michael Curtiz and producer Jerry Wald originally had Ralph Bellamy in mind for Bert Pierce.

The 2011 miniseries:

• Creator-Chosen Casting: Kate Winslet was the first and only choice for Mildred here.
• Fake American: English Kate Winslet as Mildred, Australian Guy Pearce as Monty, and Irish Brian F. O'Byrne as Bert.
• Non-Singing Voice: Although Evan Rachel Wood does have musical experience, in the miniseries her singing voice is supplied by Sumi Jo (Veda is an opera singer).

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