Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Mildred Pierce Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 7, 2017

Winner of Oscar Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Michael Curtiz's "Mildred Pierce" (1945) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new filmed conversation between critics Molly Haskell and Robert Polito; Peter Fitzgerald's documentary "Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star"; archival interview with author James. M. Cain; archival Q&A session with actress Ann Blyth; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

So much to lose

The entire film is like a giant puzzle whose key pieces can be arranged in a number of different ways. Eventually its story -- the majority of which is told via various uneven flashbacks -- is wrapped up with a logical finale, but before it there are multiple twists that could have easily been used to accomplish the same.

The first important piece in the puzzle is the cold-blooded murder of a man in a lavish house. Moments after the man collapses and dies, a car drives away into the night. Soon after, Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) is approached by two policemen and asked to meet Inspector Peterson (Moroni Olsen) in his office. She is told that the dead man is her husband, Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), and that the killer is almost certainly her ex-husband, Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett). But, is he really the killer?

A series of flashbacks now begin reconstructing Mildred’s past and her relationships with Monte and Bert. Her transformation from a frustrated housewife into a successful businesswoman is the second important piece in the puzzle. The transformation is inspired by Mildred’s inexorable desire to give her daughter, Vida (Ann Blyth), the type of life she couldn’t have. There is a special bond between them, but their wildly different expectations of each other gradually push them afar.

The last crucial piece is the significance of Mildred’s success. As her business continues to grow, she finds herself surrounded by people that have far stronger feelings about her finances than she does. Then naturally her success becomes a litmus test of sorts that pulls off their masks and forces them to reveal their ambitions.

The resolution is hardly surprising but the events leading up to the murder are presented in ways that make it impossible not to ponder a number of different scenarios. The true strength of the film, however, comes from the excellent characterizations as they basically eclipse the mystery and push the film in an entirely new direction. (Critics frequently and easily place the film in the noir column, but such profiling essentially ignores all of its other strong qualities that make it equally effective as an uncompromising critique of the American class system and values).

Crawford’s performance is impressive but to single her out as the star of the film is rather unfair. Scott and Bennett are equally good and Blyth looks like she was born to play the spoiled daughter. Jack Carson also leaves a lasting impression as the pushy womanizer Wally Fay.

Director Michael Curtiz and cinematographer Ernest Haller (Gone with the Wind) chose some spectacular locations in Southern California and the film has that very classy early Hollywood look and ambience that are now irreversibly lost. The soundtrack was composed by multiple Oscar winner Max Steiner (Casablanca, Since You Went Away).

Mildred Pierce Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Michael Curtiz's Mildred Pierce arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner at Motion Pictures Imaging in Burbank, California, primarily from the 35mm original nitrate camera negative. Some sequences, including the entire last reel of the film, were seamed from a 35mm nitrate fine-grain master held by the Museum of Modern Art in New York and a 35mm safety fine-grain master. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film's DRS, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management.

Transfer supervisor and colorist: Lee Kline/Criterion, New York."

Excluding a few very small density fluctuations the entire film looks very healthy and all-around stable. In fact, even a couple of well-known shaky transitions (from the DVD release) look surprisingly good here. The color grading is very convincing -- there is a nice range of solid blacks and an even nicer variety of gentle grays and whites. Unsurprisingly, a lot of darker footage looks quite impressive. There are no traces of compromising degraining and sharpening corrections. There are a few areas where some momentary softness emerges, but it is quite easy to tell that these are inherited limitations. There are no distracting debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, or other significant age-related imperfections. My score is 4.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Mildred Pierce Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

There are no technical/mastering anomalies to report. Clarity and depth are very good and there are no balance issues with Max Steiner's score. As it is almost always the case with early post-war genre pictures the range of nuanced dynamics is somewhat modest, but such is the film's original sound design.

Mildred Pierce Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for Mildred Pierce. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• Molly Haskell and Robert Polito - in this filmed conversation, critics Molly Haskell and Robert Polito discuss the original novel by James M. Cain that inspired Mildred Pierce, the noir/other qualities of the film and versatility of the character played by Joan Crawford, Michael Curtiz's direction, etc. The conversation was recorded exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 1080p).

• Joan Crawford: The Ultimate Movie Star - this archival documentary produced by Peter Fitzgerald examines the life and career of Joan Crawford. It is narrated by Anjelica Huston, and includes interviews with the star's biographer Bob Thomas, actors Diane Baker, Betsy Palmer, Cliff Robertson and Anna Lee, columnist Liz Smith, and playwright/Crawford historian Charles Busch, amongst others. The documentary was produced in 2002. In English, not subtitled. (88 min, 1080i).

• David Frost and Joan Crawford - presented here is an archival excerpt from The David Frost Show in which Joan Crawford discusses her contribution to Mildred Pierce and work with director Michael Curtiz. The episode was broadcast on January 8, 1970. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080i).

• Ann Blyth - presented here is an archival Q&A session with actress Ann Blyth (Veda Pierce) which was filmed after a screening of Mildred Pierce at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco in 2006. The session is presented and moderated by film noir expert Eddie Muller. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, 1080i).

• James M. Cain - presented here is an archival interview with author James. M. Cain conducted by Hugh Downs for the Today show. The two gentlemen discuss the role of violence in American literature and culture, the relationship between TV and violence, and the Cain's decision to leave Hollywood and return to Maryland. The interview was conducted on November 26, 1969. In English, not subtitled. (11 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring critic Imogen Sara Smith's essay "A Woman's Work" and technical credits.

Mildred Pierce Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This recent trend of having major post-war American films from Warner's vaults restored and released via the Criterion Collection is very encouraging. There are literally hundreds of very important films that can be saved from oblivion and rediscovered by a new generation of film lovers. Michael Curtiz's Oscar winner Mildred Pierce does not need my recommendation so I am just going to say that the new 4K restoration is excellent and the Blu-ray represents a major upgrade in quality over previous home video releases. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.