As a "who done it," I'm not sure it comes as much of a surprise who done it, or even why. That said, I thought the movie told an unusual story in an unusual way.
The beginning is the end, really. The film opens with a man getting shot. Soon enough we will learn that the man is Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott). He's the person Mildred Pierce (Joan Crawford) buys the property from for what will become her first restaurant.
That's all getting ahead of the story, though. Mildred ends up at the police station because when he's shot, she's married to Monte. She sits in the station telling the detective her life story. That is the movie.
Mildred's whole deal is that she will do anything for her children. Unfortunately, her oldest daughter, Veda (Ann Blyth), turns out to be an amoral spoiled brat. Are we to blame Mildred for how she turned out? Veda's dad, Bert (Bruce Bennett) more or less implies that Mildred is to blame. His view is that Mildred doesn't set limits and realistic expectations, maybe doesn't even stand up for herself. He would say that she's a doormat for Veda.
Veda does seem to be a rather unlikeable teenager, and yes, she is out-of-control, going so far as to elope with a boy, just so she came claim to be pregnant and extort $10,000 for his wealthy family.
Whatever Veda does, Mildred tries to protect her. Finally, though, she's had enough and kicks her out. Scandously, Veda starts working as a nightclub singer. The way the movie portrays it, Veda might as well be a stripper. She smokes and drinks, and while most of what she does seems fairly tame, all the implications are that she is an amoral girl who will do whatever she wants, no matter who she ends up hurting. Including her own mother.
The police working the murder are interesting. They have the murder weapon, but do they ever bother to dust it for prints? At one point, the detective handles the weapon with his bare hands. Talk about contaminating the evidence.
Mildred ends up bringing Wally (Jack Carson) back to the scene of the crime, and somehow he's locked in and has to bust his way out. Police driving by see him busting out of the house. It's pretty weird. They start shooting at him, completely missing, arrest him after finding the dead body inside, but don't bother to handcuff him. They're just super chill about handling a murder suspect, especially after just shooting at him.
Wally is one of the men in Mildred's life. He's loved her forever, but here is Mildred bringing him back to the crime scene and locking him in for the police to find him. I point this out because Veda is absolutely shown as having no redeeming qualities, but if Mildred is trying to set up Wally, that's a pretty shitty thing to do. Bert fooling around on Mildred is pretty shitty, too, so maybe Mildred and Bert aren't such great people either? But does that fully "explain" how Veda turns out?
The movie makes you think through the characters -- their flaws, what makes them good, what makes them bad, what makes them tick. And overall, I like the way the plot is constructed. Good supporting cast, too. Even the minor characters like the servant Lottie (Butterfly McQueen) and Mildred's friend Ida (Eve Arden) add something extra.
Rating -- 4.5/5 stars
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