Tuesday, November 24, 2009

November 24, 2009

Mildred Pierce (1942)
Most websites classify this as a film noir, but I'm not entirely sold on that. Certainly the framing device is noirish, with the mysterious murder of Monte Beragon, but other than that, it leans far more toward melodrama than noir. Joan Crawford gives a very strong perfomance as Mildred. She reminds me in a way of Scarlett O'Hara - she's strong-willed and stubborn, but willing to do anything and everything that she has to in order to survive. Of course, it's possible that she reminds me of Scarlett because Butterfly McQueen (who played Prissy in Gone With the Wind) plays her housemaid Lottie. Might not have completely been film noir, but still a good movie.
My Netflix rating: 4 stars

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