Mildred Pierce
(1945, Suspense Thriller)

Starring: Joan Crawford, Zackaray Scott, Bruce Bennett, and Ann Blyth.

This thriller had me second-guessing and sympathizing with the characters throughout this engaging movie. Great movie! I was annoyed with Veda for causing the separation of her parents because Bruce Rennett was quite the looker in his youth. They should have had more children, much nicer than Veda, but NOOOOO! Mildred has to be stupid, and try her best to please her conniving, manipulative daughter, played by the wonderful Ann Blyth. However, this was Joan Crawford's movie to shine. She desperately wanted an Oscar, but thought that she stood no chance of bringing that statuette home, so she decided that she would tell people she was sick, so that she would have an excuse to stay at home. How fickle and petty actors can be! They can be as insecure as us at times. When she became the first actress to receive her Oscar from her bed, she was prepared. She had her makeup and hair done for that camera, and history was made. Crawford had her beloved Oscar. The world makes sense again! :-) After this gem of a movie was over, there was an hour-documentary on the life of Joan Crawford. Man, she was trash! I certainly would not want my life made into a documentary, but at least my documentary would have some positive moral, and my relatives would not be casting stones at me. At least, they would not treat my memory as harshly as Joan Crawford's first daughter. She was a little bitter! Does anybody know why she was such a shrew? Jealous or maybe just plain psychotic! Crawford might not have been an ideal mother or an exceptional role model, but one must acknowledge her as a remarkable actress.