Mildred Pierce Film Analysis

The star system was an important part of the Studio System in classical Hollywood cinema. From the 1910s, stars were born. Studios create new personas, new names and new backgrounds for the stars. A new image, whether or not it had anything to do with how the person really was in real life, would be invented for the new stars. The stars would be distinctively different and moviegoers would be able to recognise them individually. The Hollywood studios, that the stars are under contract with, managed their publicity, roles, lifestyles and even fan clubs. During the classical Hollywood period, the stars themselves did not have much say in the films that they appear in. The companies would choose the role they deem most suited to boost their popularity.

In Mildred Pierce, Joan plays Mildred, a female protagonist. Bert, the inactive husband, was jobless and Mildred had to support the family. She left the abuses of the patriarchal authority, opened her own restaurant and became a strong woman who was financially independent. Monte, who ended up leaching on her wealth, is also considered the ‘wrong man’. Waldman calls this the ‘wrong man’ solution: the only thing wrong with the heroine’s former situation of confinement is that she fell victim to the ‘wrong man’. The ‘right man’ will correct the problem’. (Williams, 1988) Joan had 4 marriages, in which the first 3 of them ended in divorce. In one of her marriages, her husband had become comfortable with her being the breadwinner of the family. His incompetence and temperate character soon got on her nerves. Mildred’s rejection of patriarchy, taking over the role as a father, showed the independence of women during post-war

Her image as a glamorous independent woman in Mildred Pierce during the depression era allowed women to feel relatable to her. She was hence able to make a comeback in 1945 after receiving much attention again from the public. Joan knew the importance of a star’s image in the Hollywood industry and cautiously took great care of her own, rejecting roles that she felt would bring down the name of “Joan Crawford”. Joan taking up the role as Blanche Hudson in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane also shows how certain stars function as a marketing idea and that this led the film to its great success. Having acted in many films and taking up different roles, audiences would generally remember the stars for the more prominent characters they played in a particular film. Their image would then easily be confused with the film character. Joan Crawford won the Oscar’s award for Mildred Pierce in 1945 and hence, it would not of much surprise that the public’s image of her was shaped by the role she played