Title character (Joan Crawford) commiserates with her maid Lottie (Butterfly McQueen) as they make pies for extra income, narrates, then discovers her snobby older daughter Veda (Ann Blyth) has found out about her lowly job, in Mildred Pierce, 1945.
Butterfly McQueen (born Thelma McQueen; January 8, 1911 – December 22, 1995) was an American actress. Originally a dancer, McQueen first appeared in films as "Prissy" in Gone with the Wind (1939). She also appeared in the films Cabin in the Sky (1943), Mildred Pierce (1944), and Duel in the Sun (1946).
When Monte tells Veda he would never marry her because she is a "rotten little tramp", she shoots him with Mildred's gun. Veda begs her mother to help conceal the murder; Mildred reluctantly agrees.
Her fame rested on one indelible performance: a slave who lacked the midwifery skills to help Melanie Hamilton. Butterfly McQueen was 28 when she auditioned for the role of Prissy, Scarlett O'Hara's fussy maid, in Gone with the Wind.
Mildred Pierce (8/10) Movie CLIP - Cheap and Horrible (1945) HD
Why is Butterfly Mcqueen uncredited in Mildred Pierce?
After GWTW, she played a domestic in many films, often uncredited—she had a fairly substantial role in Mildred Pierce, but apparently it wasn't impressive enough for the producer or studio to even list her name.
In the book, Scarlett gives birth to three children: Wade Hampton Hamilton, Ella Lorena Kennedy, and Eugenie Victoria "Bonnie Blue" Butler. In the film version only Bonnie is featured. Almost universally, the studio and the public agreed that the part of Rhett Butler should go to Clark Gable.
On Wally's advice, Mildred starts divorce proceedings against Bert to protect her new business. She also starts dating Monte, a wastrel from old but rapidly dwindling money. Mildred's younger daughter Kay contracts pneumonia and dies.
Weeks pass as Mildred moves to Reno, Nevada to establish residency in order to get a speedy divorce from Monty. Bert visits her. Mildred ultimately is forced to resign from her business empire, leaving it to Ida, a former company assistant. Bert and Mildred, upon the finalization of her divorce, remarry.
How old was Joan Crawford when she filmed Mildred Pierce?
At the time of the film's 1945 release, she was 41, and beautiful, directed by a once-skeptical giant, Michael Curtiz. Crawford was already enormously famous, as much for her rivalries and feuds (studios, directors, Pepsi Cola, Bette Davis) as her acting.
The Postman Always Rings Twice, filmed several times, is barely 130 pages; Mildred Pierce is not much longer. The story was based on real life. Cain knew Kate Cummings, the single mother of actress Constance Cummings, who had sacrificed her career for her daughter's glory.
While Mildred spends a weekend with new beau Monty Beragon, her seven-year-old daughter Ray gets the flu and goes to the hospital. While Mildred is busy with the imminent opening of the restaurant, Ray gets worse and dies. Grieving, Mildred admits to herself how grateful she is that it was Ray and not Veda who died.
His wife has no memory of her overdose. She thinks she is hungover from a party. Mildred "had both ears plugged with elctronic bees that were humming the hour away." (Bradbury, 16.)
Veda's singing parts were actually performed by world-renowned coloratura soprano, Sumi Jo. The filmmakers used some of Jo's existing recordings along with new recordings made specifically for this movie.
Mildred runs out of her house with a suitcase and disappears into a taxi. Montag realizes she was the one who raised the alarm. Mildred is so emotionally disconnected that she's able to turn in her husband and slip off in a taxi to start another life without a word of farewell.
Kate Winslet found this out recently while filming Mildred Pierce for HBO. The period piece required Pearce, 43, to drive an unwieldy 1929 Cord automobile with heavy steering and awkward gears. And at one point, with Winslet, 35, in the passenger seat, they had a very close call.
How old was Ann Blyth in the movie Mildred Pierce?
Blyth was only 16 when she made the Michael Curtiz film. (Crawford won the Best Actress award for that film). After Mildred Pierce, Blyth sustained a broken back while tobogganing in Snow Valley and was not able to fully capitalize on the film's success.
Scarlett is too fixated on Ashley Wilkes to realize her pursuit of him is misdirected until the climax of the novel. With the death of Melanie Wilkes, she realizes her pursuit of Ashley was a childish romance and she has loved Rhett Butler for some time.
Scarlett soon receives a notification of divorce from Rhett. She makes plans to leave for America but learns that Rhett is now married to Anne Hampton, who is said to resemble Melanie Wilkes. Heartbroken, Scarlett decides to remain in Ireland.
In this sequel Rhett marries Anne Hampton after divorcing Scarlett and he reunites with Scarlett only after Anne dies. He and Scarlett have a second daughter called Katherine, known as "Katie" or "Cat".
