Follow Zap2it:
'Mildred Pierce': 3 ways (other than nudity) HBO's miniseries differs from the 1945 movie
Twitter
Google
HBO's miniseries "Mildred Pierce" debuts on Sunday (March 27), and it's already generated considerable buzz over Evan Rachel Wood's nude scene.While that's one rather significant difference from the 1945 version of "Mildred Pierce" that starred Joan Crawford -- which, by the way, is airing on TCM at 8 p.m. ET Saturday -- it's far from the only one. If you're doing a compare-and-contrast viewing of the two works, here are a few things to look out for in the miniseries.
It's not a murder mystery. Author James M. Cain had a reputation as a hard-boiled writer thanks to his crime tales "Double Indemnity" and "The Postman Always Rings Twice" (which were also made into great films in the mid-'40s), and the screenplay for "Mildred Pierce" was in the same vein. Cain's novel, however, isn't structured that way, and HBO's take is much more faithful to the source material in telling Mildred's (Kate Winslet) story of how she managed to build a life for herself during the Depression. So if you're waiting for someone to get whacked in the miniseries, you'll be disappointed.
The scope is bigger. Because of the way it was structured, the 1945 movie kept things pretty tight. Several characters from the book were dropped, and the flashback that leads up to the murder covers only a couple years. The miniseries (again, taking its cues from Cain's novel) spans close to a decade in the life of Mildred and her ungrateful daughter Veda (played by Morgan Turner as a young girl and later by Wood), and you'll see a lot of Mildred's friend and neighbor Lucy Gessler (Melissa Leo), who was absent from the movie.
Veda: Still awful, but better explained. In novel, film and miniseries, there's no two ways about it: Veda is a pretty terrible person -- snobby, petulant and psychologically cruel. The movie doesn't make much of an attempt to explain her behavior -- she's just bad -- but the miniseries at least goes to some lengths to explore the character. It's not overt, and in some ways "she's just bad" kind of covers it, but you'll get a better sense of why she is the way she is over the course of the miniseries.
Parts 1 and 2 "Mildred Pierce" premieres at 9 p.m. ET Sunday on HBO. Part 3 is set for April 3, and the final two installments air April 10.
Follow Zap2it on Twitter and Zap2it on Facebook for the latest news and buzz
Photo/Video credit: Warner Bros., HBO
Zap2it Elite Sheet Must Reads from the Web's In-Crowd
Our Partners
i can't wait to see this - don't have HBO so i guess i'll have to wait for netflix
It was wonderful, so realistic. I love the orginial, but I believe that this production truly depicits the era, and the actors are great.
"Mildred Pierce," both the novel and the faithful miniseries, is about what happens to a family in the aftermath of a child's death. The young Veda was haughty and snooty, but every little girl goes through that same phase. Girls are told that they're "angels" and are read stories about fairy princesses, so they eventualy try on the role for size. Before Ray's unexpected death, Veda had been kind and loving to her. Veda grew into a monster after Ray had died. And, to fill the void and cure the ache caused by Ray's absence, Mildred began to dote obsessively on Veda. Both the mother and the surviving mother spun out of control. Veda's grieving soul turned black, and Mildred's unhealthy attentions fostered that transformation.