Another Noir Alley selection: Mildred Pierce. I've seen the movie before, but this was this first time in years that I watched the entire film.
I admit I'm not a big Joan Crawford fan. Maybe Bette Davis prejudiced me against her. Joan's good as Mildred, but I don't know if her performance was Oscar-worthy. I was more impressed with the work of Ann Blyth, Jack Carson, and Eve Arden.
I'm also more interested in who didn't play Mildred. Bette Davis turned the role down. She said she couldn't stand to work with director Michael Curtiz again--they made seven films together. According to TCM host Eddie Muller, Ann Sheridan also turned down the role. I don't know why--she would have been good.
The oddest part of Muller's story is that Barbara Stanwyck wanted the part and they turned her down. That's shocking; she would have been great. I would have loved to see her as Mildred--a lost opportunity.
No comments:
Post a Comment