Film Adaptation Analysis: Mildred Pierce (Film 1945)

Film Adaptation Analysis: Mildred Pierce (Film 1945)

In the adaptation of a written text to a film, certain alterations are usually made to fit the new audience, platform, and literature requirements. However, these alterations ought not to interfere with the ultimate message; otherwise, the movie would not be an adaptation but a different literary work[1]. Basically, Novels, are usually long a wide range of events relative to movies. Thus adaptation usually entails contraction where the film director eliminates several aspects of the novel to fit the new time frame. The film Mildred Pierce of 1945, directed by Michael Curtiz, exhibits a distinct difference in character development, plot, among other aspects of literature relative to James Cain’s novel from which it was adapted from.

Film in the 1940s not only focused on strict codes but similar to date had a strict consideration of the target audiences’ cultural and moral values. For a movie to sell, it ought to be relatable with the beliefs of the community at that particular time, and in a way, address pressing issues as well as avoid what the community considers immoral and unacceptable, otherwise, regular critics would negatively affect its audience coverage. Unlike in modern society, premarital sex was deemed to be queer in America in the early 20th century. Therefore, the film directors edited the plot to eliminate any instances of premarital sex and premarital pregnancies. In the book, Bert and Mildred’s marriage was occasioned as they had copulated and were about to sire a seed. Still, the movie eliminated this aspect of the plot to adhere to moral standards requirements. Note that the ‘operation’ or rather abortion that was deemed to be undertaken to Mildred’s first daughter, ‘Veda,’ is also not included in the film as it would imply that the kid had had premarital sex. However, the girl’s pregnancy is mentioned in the movie, but with a different intention of luring her mother to get money, since the pregnancy in the movie was fake. In the contrary, the novel is precise about sexual instance being real and evidenced, as shown by Mildred finding her daughter in bed with her step-father[2].

The character of Mildred, the main character, is developed differently in the film, relative to the novel. Worth noting, in both works, Mildred is a compassionate lady who loves her daughter and is willing to do anything, please Veda. She portrays all the characters of a good mother, and despite having issues with her daughter, she never relents to hating her daughter. In the book, she is very hardworking, and bold, trying almost everything to make ends meet. Mildred starts a business, which she manages and gets involved in politics to protect her business interests. However, during the period of movie-making, politics and managerial position was considered a masculine role, and very few women participated in such. Therefore, the Mildred in the film subscribes to social requirements at that time and hires someone to manage her business, as well as stays away from politics[3]. Basically, this alteration in character development was necessary to reduce negative reactions from the audience. Besides, Mildred’s business manager, Ida, underwent several character transformations in the film as well. She is portrayed as a young, hardworking lady who with masculine traits trying to defy the community requirements by being a career woman. But then again, she cannot be both a career woman and manage a family. Therefore, she is single and does not have children. Note that these themes are not embraced in the novel, and Ida in the novel is described as being just smart, hardworking, and having some voice of reason[4].

A notable similarity between the novel and the movie was the strong mother-daughter relationship, or rather Mildred’s love for Veda. Veda is an imperious, self-absorbed woman who only acts to benefit herself with little regard to the consequences. Upon her parents’ separation, she is only remorseful for she won’t be able to afford a luxurious lifestyle; she does not support her mother’s career as a waitress despite their straining situation. She even fakes pregnancy to win some cash for herself. Despite all these negative attributes, her mother does not give up on her, and Mildred in both works is portrayed as a woman willing to do anything to appease her[5]. Basically, Mildred’s decision to open her restaurants, and also marry Monte, were both aimed at strengthening her always weakening the bond with her daughter. During adaptation, the movie never altered these bonds, and build the characters of Mildred and Veda, in conjunction with the novel’s perspective.

Michael Curtiz succeeded in transforming an American mythology novel into a film noir. In Cain’s story, there is no violence, and the only evident deaths are by natural illness. For instance, Mildred’s young daughter dies of pneumonia, and the cause of Mildred’s trouble is purely emotional as she struggles to win her daughter’s love. However, the film took a different approach and involved gunshots and even murder. At the onset of the film, Monte Beragon is killed, and the case is escalated to the police, who would obviously begin an investigation to trace the killer. At this point, the main suspect is Mildred, but upon gathering intelligence on the ownership of the killers gun, Bert, who happens to be Mildred’s first husband, is introduced as a second suspect. This story is different from the novel, that starts with Mildred’s first divorce, and might have been intentionally placed to ensure that the audience expects a different plot altogether. Technically the film gives Mildred’s story as a flashback, building up events that reveal the real murders, Veda, who is later arrested as the truth is revealed.

Different from the novel, The film addressed several community issues, such as social classes and its determinants, as well as capitalism. In Cain’s story, Mildred and family have issues, that Mildred tries to mitigate by working hard, maintaining a close relationship with her daughters as well as trying to find a father figure by remarrying. The film escalates these issues t on including social class and the struggle individuals go through to maintain their social status[6]. After divorce, Mildred could not reveal her job to her daughter, and Veda didn’t expect her mother to lower her standards to that extent. Mildred has advanced in business, and though details on her success are left out, Curtiz was keen enough to portray both Mildred and Veda as capitalistic. The only reason Mildred agreed to marry Monte was to win her daughter back, and by admitting that she never loved him displayed how she only cared about her success regardless of its effect on others. Then again, she had earlier officiated the divorce with Bert to secure her property and initiated Monte’s relationship due to his financial accomplishments. Veda, on the other hand, is portrayed as a self-centered woman, with all actions deemed towards her gain. She fakes pregnancy to earn cash, lured her mother into marrying Monte to have the life she was promised, and even kills Monte after she found out he was not into her and might not be able to offer what he had promised[7]. Note that the movie was released when capitalism was being initiated in American society, and Curtiz could have used the movie to show its dark side. To the outside world, Mildred’s house appeared as a thriving family with the successes in her restaurant chains, but inside the home was in constant chaos.

In a nutshell, Curtiz’s film was a success but borrowed very little from the novel it was adapted from. Most of the transformation in the adaptation was intentional and was aimed at enhancing the audience’s amusement as well as meeting the movie production requirements of the time. Basically, the main differences were in the themes, plot development, character development, but maintained the message of how a financially stable family could be undergoing a social crisis.

Bibliography

Burke, Liam. “Special Effect: Have film adaptations changed mainstream comics?.” Scan: Journal of Media Arts Culture 9, no. 1 (2012). https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/55201117/___SCAN___journal_of_mediaarts_culture___.pdf?response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DSpecial_Effect-Have_film_adaptations_cha.pdf&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential-=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A%2F20191125%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date-=20191125T180857Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=-9e8600b8bc3e03468bf713627d977f9c7c9c07026493f596e6e9b37cc282a486

Cain, James M. Mildred Pierce. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2010.

Cook, Pam. “Beyond adaptation: mirrors, memory, and melodrama in Todd Haynes’s Mildred Pierce.” Screen 54, no. 3 (2013): 378-387. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312292008_Beyond_adaptation_mirrors_memory_and_melodrama_in_Todd_Haynes’s_Mildred_Pierce

Gill, C. M. “Martyring Veda: Mildred Pierce and family systems theory.” Style 44, no. 1-2 (2010): 81-98. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/style.44.1-2.81?seq=1

Putri, Thesalonica Gita Pramesti. “The Concept Of Motherhood Experience In Cain’s Mildred Pierce Through A Social Feminist Perspective.” Phd Diss., Sanata Dharma University, 2018. http://repository.usd.ac.id/22912/2/134214056_full.pdf

Smith, Imogen S. “Mildred Pierce: A Woman’s Work.” The Criterion Collection. Last modified February 20, 2017. https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4433-mildred-pierce-a-woman-s-work.

Tasker, Yvonne. “Women in film noir.” A companion to film Noir (2013): 353-368. https://library.pcw.gov.ph/sites/default/files/women%20in%20film%20noir.pdf

[1] Burke, Liam. “Special Effect: Have film adaptations changed mainstream comics?.” Scan: Journal of Media Arts Culture 9, no. 1 (2012).

[2] Cain, James M. Mildred Pierce. Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2010.

[3] Tasker, Yvonne. “Women in film noir.” A companion to film Noir (2013): 353-368.

[4] Smith, Imogen S. “Mildred Pierce: A Woman’s Work.” The Criterion Collection. Last modified February

[5] Gill, C. M. “Martyring Veda: Mildred Pierce and family systems theory.” Style 44, no. 1-2 (2010): 81-98.

[6]. Gill, C. M. “Martyring Veda: Mildred Pierce and family systems theory.” Style 44, no. 1-2 (2010): 81-98.

[7] Putri, Thesalonica Gita Pramesti. “The Concept Of Motherhood Experience In Cain’s Mildred Pierce Through A Social Feminist Perspective.” Phd Diss., Sanata Dharma University, 2018.