James M. Cain s Mildred Pierce - 765 Words

The process of converting a work of art from one medium to another often requires a significant alteration of the content to fit the form and standards of the new medium. Adapted from 300-page novel to a 2-hour movie, Michael Curtiz’s Mildred Pierce is a prime example of a loose Hollywood adaption that makes drastic changes in characters, narrative configurations, and framing structure to conform to the standards and expectations of American cinema. Most ostensibly, the movie employs murder as a framing device and a hook to draw the audience’s attention to Mildred’s story, therefore transforming the linear, chronological plot of the novel into an episodic and achronological one. As a result, in Curtiz’s film adaptation of James M. Cain’s Mildred Pierce, we see several plot points in the story abbreviated and diminished, and many of the themes in the novel either lost or reduced. Both versions of Mildred Pierce depict the struggle of a woman during the post-Depression era to become independent after separating from her husband. In the book as well as the movie, Mildred’s actions and trials are a result of her desire to please Veda. She struggles to find a job and hustles to keep her restaurant business together to become financially independent so she can afford Veda the lavish lifestyle she craves. Near the beginning of the movie, we see a heartbroken Mildred who just discovered that the dress she has worked so hard to buy for Veda is nothing more to her than just a rag.Show MoreRelatedJames M. Cain s Mildred Pierce And The Movie Version ``896 Words   |  4 Pagesdisloyalty to the original author and readers. However, in 1945 Warner Bros. produced the movie Mildred Pierce based on the same name novel written by James M. Cain. This film not only became an exception in this general view, but also amazed the audience and even Cain himself by extraord inary performances and unique edit technique and literary point of view. There are a few distinctions between Cain’s Mildred Pierce and the movie version, mostly with the ingenious use of different point of views in severalRead More Themes in the Novel and Movie Adaptation of James Cain’s Mildred Pierce1573 Words   |  7 PagesAdaptation of James Cain’s Mildred Pierce In contemporary film making, â€Å"Hollywood-ization† generally refers to the re-creation of a classic work in a form more vulgar and sexually explicit than the original in an effort to boost movie attendance. After all, sex and violence sell. However, from the mid-1930’s to the 1950’s, â€Å"Hollywood-ization† referred to the opposite case where controversial books had to be purified to abide by the Production Code of 1934.[1] This occurred to many of James Cain’sRead More James M. Cains Novel Mildred Pierce: Comparing the Book and Movie Version869 Words   |  4 PagesJames M. Cains Novel Mildred Pierce: Comparing the Book and Movie Version Mildred Pierce is one of the greatest novels written by James M. Cain. After the success of the novel, the Hollywood film came out, produced by Jerry Wald. The novel and the movie are very different from each other. â€Å"James M. Cain sent several letters of complaint to producer Jerry Wald, objecting to the changes Wald wanted to make, especially the dramatic idea of making Veda a washout musically and putting her inRead MoreThe Studio System Essay14396 Words   |  58 Pagescomplete control over design decisions, the personnel of the department, the assignment of tasks, and the attribution of credit. In the autocratic system that prevailed at MGM Gibbons had complete control. According to the director, Pandro S. Berman, He was the most influential person on the lot except for the owners, Nick Schenk in New York and Louis B. Mayer in Culver City (Affron 17). Gibbons was nominated for the Academy Award for Art Direction 40 times. He received