---
title: "Mildred Pierce: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/mildred-pierce-1945/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/mildred-pierce-1945"
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 12
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Mildred Pierce (1945): what the critics said

Critics' score 77 from 12 reviews: 11 positive, 1 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics are on the film’s side: eleven of the twelve reviews are positive. The praise gathers around Joan Crawford, whose Mildred is called steely, headstrong and compelling even by those who do not usually warm to her, and around Michael Curtiz’s control of a story that runs melodrama and noir side by side. The mother-daughter relationship draws most of the admiration, and several reviews single out the photography of 1940s suburban California.

The spread is narrow; most scores sit in the seventies. The one mixed voice is The New York Times, writing on release, which finds the film short of driving force and the daughter hard to believe. The 1945 notices are cooler than those written since; the warmest come from critics looking back, who read it as a class fable about a woman blocked at every turn by the men around her. The Los Angeles Times notes it is less faithful to the novel than later adaptations.

## Little White Lies — David Jenkins

Rating 4/5/5. 13 August 2018. 

The critic calls this Curtiz's masterpiece, a knotty, invigoratingly bleak women's picture-noir hybrid that remains a tight genre film accounting for real life's rocky terrain. They single out the combustible mother-daughter dynamic and Crawford's headstrong performance for praise.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/mildred-pierce)

## Los Angeles Times — Justin Chang

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 23 February 2017. 

Michael Curtiz’s 1945 film remains a rip-roaring entertainment and noir classic, even if not as faithful to the novel as later adaptations. Joan Crawford won an Oscar for her performance as the single mother-turned-restaurateur whose good intentions pave the road to hell.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-critic-choice-20170223-story.html)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 13 April 2001. 

The critic finds Michael Curtiz’s noir thriller utterly gripping for its narrative control, photography of vanished 1940s suburban California, and Joan Crawford’s compelling central performance. Crawford is singled out as an electrifying diva presence in a story of pride, social shame and passionate but unreturned maternal love.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2001/apr/13/culture.peterbradshaw2)

## Empire — Angie Errigo

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The film is a superbly nasty noir that plays havoc with the era's American ideals of women, home, mom and her apple pie. Throbbing melodrama doesn't come with more conviction, and Mildred is compelling even to those usually turned off by the tough Crawford.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/mildred-pierce-review/)

## Evening Standard — Alexander Walker

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2012. 

The role rescued Joan Crawford and was largely her own story, prophetic of her real life as a success-driven mother who loses her daughter's love. The American Dream falls to pieces in Mildred's case, with a stinging rebuke when she slaps her ungrateful child.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/mildred-pierce-7434129.html)

## Slant Magazine — Chuck Bowen

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 5 March 2023. 

The critic praises Curtiz’s 1945 melodrama for its focus on a determined woman’s struggles in a male-dominated world and the way it blends noir elements with class fable and mother-daughter drama. Crawford’s powerhouse performance, especially in key emotional scenes, is singled out as virtuosic and central to the film’s resonance.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/mildred-pierce-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-michael-curtiz/)

## The New Yorker — John McCarten

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 29 September 1945. 

The film contains enough excitement to jolt even the most lethargic customer despite its length, with a deft adaptation of Cain's story of mother love, murder, and blackmail. The critic praises the lucid photography and Crawford's subdued, reasonable performance amid a highly competent cast.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1945/10/06/1945-10-06-095-tny-cards-000020290)

## The Times — Ed Potton

Rating ★★★★☆. 17 August 2018. 

The critic calls it a classic Hollywood comeback vehicle for Joan Crawford in the title role of this noirish melodrama from Michael Curtiz, noting her mesmerising, steely and teary performance. Crawford’s rise from housewife to restaurateur is highlighted alongside the fractious mother-daughter relationship.

[Read the review](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/film-review-mildred-pierce-1945-bxvdmxmgs)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1944. 

The cleanup job on Cain's novel has resulted in a class feature, showmanly produced and tellingly directed, that keeps the development adult while skirting the censorable. The dramatics are heavy but skillfully handled, with Joan Crawford reaching a peak of her acting career.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1944/film/reviews/mildred-pierce-2-1200414499/)

## The New York Times

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 29 September 1945. 

The critic finds the film a tortured drama that will likely succeed with audiences despite its demanding premise and lack of driving force. Joan Crawford gives a sincere and effective performance as the troubled mother, though the direction lets the character of the daughter become incredible.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1945/09/29/archives/the-screen-mildred-pierce-warner-drama-starring-joan-crawford-new.html)

## Paste — Andy Crump

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 7 April 2023. 

The film succeeds on the strength of Joan Crawford's definitive performance as the central character, a strong woman driven by love for her children but stymied by patriarchal society. It is one of noir’s most sympathetic and purely humanist tales, sandwiched within a probing whodunit.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/1940s/the-50-best-films-of-the-1940s)

## Eye for Film — Chris

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 6 January 2008. 

The critic calls it one of the best black-and-white classics, praising its sharp script full of camp, emotional punch, stellar performances by Joan Crawford and others, and strong cinematography and direction by Michael Curtiz. They highlight the noir mystery elements, Crawford's Oscar-winning comeback role as a determined self-made woman, and the film's enduring appeal as an overly theatrical but delightful tale.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/mildred-pierce-film-review-by-chris)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/mildred-pierce-1945.md