There's Always A Gun In A Drawer

Oscar Noir Week 5

Mildred Pierce

Monday, June 14, 2010

Liz arrived early to the theater and saw that the line was already forming outside, so she parked her car wherever and got in line.  Later on, she asked an usher if her car was parked in an OK spot, but the usher wasn't sure, so she moved her car so that she was right in front of me on the residential street.  I figured that I should get in line, too, since I was able to eat half of my dinner on the way there, and Liz had freaked me out about the line.   I was annoyed by a guy that seemed to have some kind of attention deficit disorder because he wouldn't stop walking around by the line.  When they let us in, Liz was able to score us some good seats toward the middle of the theater.  I overheard some people talking about a guy in the back of the theater, but couldn't figure out who he was supposed to be.

Cartoon:  "The Super Snooper" (1952)

Yay!  Daffy Duck!  It was like film noir in color and in cartoon!  He was a detective who needed another case (and he was shown with empty liquor bottles), and went to Beverage Hills to investigate.  At a mansion, he met a duck dressed just like Jessica Rabbit, but, like, with a duck face.  She kept trying to mack on him while he described all of the different ways that he thought she might have killed her husband.  He later found out that he was in the wrong house the whole time.  

Short: "Adventures of Captain Marvel, Chapter Four: Death Takes The Wheel" (1941)

The lady sitting next to me joined in during some of the audience's hissing at The Scorpion.  I just giggled at it the whole time, and may even hiss along next week.  Billy, at literally the last minute, realizes that the radio wires were disconnected, and hears his friend's voice just in time to turn into Captain Marvel and get the heck out of the plane.  Betty overhears some stuff and goes to investigate, and the cliffhanger of the week is that she's conked out at the steering wheel of a car in a parking garage, as it careens in circles toward the bottom of the garage.  Funny how her head is in the perfect position for the car to follow the curve of the garage jussst rrright.

Feature: "Mildred Pierce" (1945) Screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, based on the novel by James M. Cain, Directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Joan Crawford, Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, and Bruce Bennett.

• A special guest in the audience played a waitress in the movie.  The other very special guest was Ann Blyth, whom spoke after the movie.  When I told Liz that she was there, she exclaimed "Get Out!" at me.  She loves this movie, but didn't actually see it during the past week, as she had done with "Laura".
• The movie was introduced by Callie Khouri, known for her screenplays for "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and, more notably, "Thelma and Louise".  She figured that she must have been asked to introduce this one because of the strength of the female leads in the movie.  She lamented that there were not as many great parts these days for women as there were back in the 1940s.  She also talked about the fact that in Film Noir, there always "happens to be" a gun in a drawer somewhere.
• Well, no WONDER Joan Crawford won the Academy Award for this, and no wonder Eve Arden and Ann Blyth were nominated, too.  They were all outstanding.
• What a BRAT that Veda was!  I wanted to slap the hell out of her many, many times.
• Hmmm...APPARENTLY, Kate Winslet is doing a miniseries version of the novel on HBO with Evan Rachel Wood, to be aired in 2011.  Hmmmm.
• Love is blind, Mildred.  How could you not see that Monte was just a free-loading cad when you met him?
• Liz told me later that there really was a Mildred's restaurant chain.  Interesting.
• Lots of applause when Butterfly McQueen made her first appearance on screen.
• Ida had the best lines: "Leave something on me.  I might catch cold."  "When men get around me, the get allergic to wedding rings."  "I like Mexico.  It's so...Mexican."
• So, seriously.  She was doing the remodeling the house into a restaurant herself, and gets on the ladder in that dress and high heels?  How did she not break her neck every day?

Afterward, there was a discussion with Ann Blyth.

• She had brought along a couple of girlfriends, most notably Jane Withers, who spoke for a bit herself from the back of the theater. She's hilarious.
• Ms. Blyth couldn't believe how horrible Veda was.  She probably wanted to slap herself as may times as I wanted to slap her.
• Joan Crawford stayed home instead of attending the Academy Awards the night that she won.  Ms. Blyth was present in Ms. Crawford's home when they gave it to her.
• Ms. Blyth had a serious accident while tobogganing up at Lake Arrowhead, and was wearing a back brace under her dress during the awards.  Nobody knew about it but her dress designer and her mom.
• She still sings on stage, and sings every day at home.
• Q&A from the audience revealed that the house in Glendale where the movie was filmed is still there.

We stayed for a bit afterward so that Liz could meet her and get her autograph.  If I had been allowed, I totally would have taken a picture of her red with gold-tip shoes.  They were gorgeous.  Liz didn't have the nerve to compliment her on her shoes, but I did when I saw her downstairs.  Liz made me do it.  Ms. Blyth was appreciative.  I figured she would like a compliment about her shoes, because she's a girl. :) 

Next Up:  "The Killers"