Mildred Pierce. Crime/Film-Noir. Directed by Michael Curtiz. Written by Ronald MacDougall. Based on the novel by James M. Cain. (Black-and-white, 1945, USA, 111 minutes, not rated) Starring Joan Crawford (Academy Award® for this role), Jack Carson, Zachary Scott, Eve Arden, Ann Blyth, Bruce Bennett. When Mildred Pierce's out-of-work husband leaves her for another woman, Mildred decides to raise her two daughters on her own. Despite Mildred's financial successes in the restaurant business, her oldest daughter, Veda, resents her mother for degrading their social status. In the midst of a police investigation after the death of her second husband, Mildred must evaluate her own freedom and her complicated relationship with her daughter.