As long as a heart beats

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Movie
German title As long as a heart beats
Original title Mildred Pierce
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1945
length 111 minutes
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Ranald MacDougall
production Jerry Wald for
Warner Brothers
music Max Steiner
camera Ernest Haller
cut David Weisbart
occupation
synchronization

As long as a heart beats (Original title: Mildred Pierce ) is an American film with film noir elements from 1945 with Joan Crawford directed by Michael Curtiz . The film earned Joan Crawford the Oscar for Best Actress at the 1946 Academy Awards . It is based on the novel of the same name by James M. Cain .

action

Monte Beragon is shot dead in a beach house. Immediately afterwards, Mildred Pierce lures her long-time admirer and business partner Wally Fay into the beach house under the pretext of getting involved with him and leaves him alone with the corpse. She wants to blame him for the deed. Mildred returns to her home in Pasadena, where she promises her daughter Veda that everything will be fine. Later, at the police station, her husband Bert confesses the crime. Now Mildred describes the course of events from her point of view.

It tells of material worries and the emotional emptiness marked marriage with Bert Pierce. She tries everything in her power to offer her two daughters Veda and Kay a better life and for this reason earns a little household money with a small catering service. One day Mildred learns that her husband is cheating on her with the neighbor. The couple split up and Mildred tries to get a job to make ends meet for herself and the children. However, since she has no formal education, Mildred has to be content with a job as a waitress. She owes the job to the kindness of Ida Corvin, who recognizes Mildred's desperation and selflessly gives her a chance. Mildred quickly becomes the best waitress in the restaurant and receives correspondingly high tips. In addition to working in the restaurant, Mildred also works late into the night for her catering service. Eventually she opens her own restaurant. Wally helps her buy a suitable building. The seller is the charming but financially shabby playboy Monte Beragon, with whom Mildred falls instantly in love.

Ida, who has since become a good friend, helps Mildred with organization and business matters. At the same time, however, she sees through the depraved character of Veda, who appears friendly and loving on the outside, but basically harbors a deeply felt hatred of her mother. Veda is materialistic through and through and despises Mildred for her simple origins. Mildred has great financial success with her restaurant and is considering expanding. She wants to discuss these matters with Monte Beragon. They both spend a romantic day at Montes beach house. On her return, however, she learns that her younger daughter Kay is seriously ill with pneumonia. The child dies a short time later and from that moment on Mildred only lives for Veda, who now fulfills every conceivable desire for luxury.

The will to enable her daughter to have a life without material worries drives Mildred to realize her dream of the restaurant chain. After realizing how much Monte is after her money, she breaks up with him. At the same time it emerges that Veda forced a young heir from a good family into a hasty marriage with the lie of an alleged pregnancy. Wally negotiates financial compensation for the annulment of the marriage for Veda. Mildred finally realizes how profoundly her own daughter hates her. She tears up the check for the severance payment, slaps Veda and throws her out of the house. In the end, however, the motherly feelings prevail and Mildred takes Veda back into her home. In order to give her daughter the social splendor she had longed for, she even married Monte, who, however, managed to raise all of her fortune within a very short time and drove Mildred into bankruptcy. Mildred is forced to sell her stake in the restaurant chain to Wally.

At the police station, Mildred reveals that she committed the murder of Monte. In the meantime, however, Veda has confessed to the murder. She had an affair with Monte and when he refused to marry Veda, she murdered him. Mildred knew the truth and wanted to take the expected punishment for the act.

Mildred meets her husband Bert in front of the police station and leaves the building with him.

background

Joan Crawford moved to Warner Brothers in mid-1943 after 18 years under contract with MGM , in which she rose from starlet to one of the biggest and highest paid stars . Her career was in deep crisis at the time. The actress, who became known for portraying ambitious women who fight for a position in society on their own, has mostly only been offered roles by the studio in recent years that other stars had rejected. With Katharine Hepburn , Greer Garson and Irene Dunne , new competitors were ready for substantial engagements, who also enjoyed the goodwill of studio boss Louis B. Mayer .

So after the failure of her last two flicks, the actress asked to be released from her current contract. She accepted Warner Brothers' offer of $ 500,000 for three films with a guaranteed say in the script, director and co-stars. At the time, the studio also hired Barbara Stanwyck and Rosalind Russell to increasingly appeal to the female audience and to no longer have to rely solely on the services of Bette Davis , who was in constant dispute with the studio management. The first few months were very difficult for Joan Crawford as the studio couldn't get around with suitable scripts. Contrary to oral promises, the project to film the novel Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton was stopped. The only professional appearance during this time was the participation in the propaganda revue Hollywood Canteen . It was not until the middle of 1944 that things started to move in a positive direction. After the success of Paramount Pictures with the filming of Woman Without a Conscience , the studio decided to also film a story by James M. Cain . Warner Brothers had already acquired the rights to the book Mildred Pierce and the first script versions were beginning to circulate. The choice of the actress for the part of Mildred turned out to be very difficult. A very first draft of the script was offered to Ann Sheridan , who was appalled to play the mother of a murderous teenager.

After another revision, which softened the character of Mildred and defused certain aspects between mother and daughter, Barbara Stanwyck, who was nominated for the Oscar for Best Actress for Woman Without a Conscience , wanted to take on the lead role. Director Michael Curtiz was very impressed by the idea and he was vehemently committed to Stanwyck. It was producer Jerry Wald who thought of Joan Crawford. He sent her a draft of the script, and the actress agreed to submit to an casting for the first time in her entire career . She convinced the reluctant Curtiz and got the role. As a result of her efforts, Mildred's age was corrected down by five years and her social position was raised significantly at the beginning of the film. It was Crawford who suggested Shirley Temple for the role of Veda. Temple, who was looking for a more mature image after retiring as a child star, turned down the offer. Michael Curtiz was also not taken with the idea. He snapped at Crawford in front of the entire crew:

“And who should play Mildred's lover? Mickey Rooney ? "

In the end, Ann Blyth got the job. The two actresses got along very well during the set, and Crawford went out of his way to help the inexperienced Blyth with her scenes. After a few skirmishes, Crawford and Curtiz also got together. Both were later to turn The Road to the Successful .

Theatrical release

The cost of producing Solange a Heart Beats ended up being $ 1,450,000, which is roughly the average budget for an A-movie. Domestically, the film grossed a massive US $ 3,483,000. In addition, there was foreign income of US $ 2,155,000. The cumulative total revenue of $ 5,638,000 made Solange a Heart not only the most commercially successful film by Joan Crawford to date, but also the highest-grossing film for the production company for the entire year.

Reviews

Thomas M. Pryor found words of praise for the film and leading actress in the New York Times .

"Joan Crawford plays a troubled lady and gives a true and generally satisfactory performance [...]" As long as a heart is beating "is exactly the moving drama you have been waiting for."

After a few decades, TV Guide Online was still full of praise and recognition:

"Everything about" As long as a heart beats "is first class, from the excellent production values ​​to Curtiz 'wonderfully balanced direction, who never allow themselves, who do not allow themselves any sentimentality."

The lexicon of international films also said something friendly:

"Routine and tightly staged melodrama, which is particularly noticeable through Joan Crawford's remarkable interpretation of the main role."

Awards

As long as a heart beats went to the 1946 Academy Awards with six nominations and ended up winning in one category.

Crawford did not attend the ceremony in person.

1945 National Board of Review

  • "Best Actress" - Joan Crawford

1996

synchronization

The first German dubbed version was created for the German cinema premiere in 1950, the second for television around the 1970s.

role actor 1. Synchronized version 2. Synchronized version
Mildred Pierce Beragon Joan Crawford Eva Eras Rosemarie Fendel
Wally Fay Jack Carson Curt Ackermann Thomas Bride
Bert Pierce Bruce Bennett Ernst Fritz Fürbringer Niels Clausnitzer
Veda Pierce Ann Blyth Constanze Engelbrecht
Monty Beragon Zachary Scott Randolf Kronberg
Ida Corwin Eve Arden Renate Grosser
Port policeman Garry Owen Wolfgang Preiss

literature

  • Joan Crawford: My Way of Life . Simon & Schuster, New York 1971, ISBN 0-671-20970-1 .
  • Roy Newquist (Ed.): Conversations with Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1980, ISBN 0-8065-0720-9 .
  • Shaun Considine: Bette and Joan. The Divine Feud . Dutton, New York 1989, ISBN 0-525-24770-X .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk : The Complete Films of Joan Crawford . Citadel Press, Secaucus, NJ 1988, ISBN 0-8065-1078-1 .
  • Lawrence J. Quirk, William Schoell: Joan Crawford. The Essential Biography . University Press, Lexington, KY. 2002, ISBN 0-8131-2254-6 .
  • Alexander Walker: Joan Crawford. The Ultimate Star . Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1983, ISBN 0-297-78216-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ THE SCREEN; 'Mildred Pierce,' Warner Drama Starring Joan Crawford, New Bill of the Strand - Western Thriller Moves Into Gotham . In: The New York Times . September 29, 1945 (English, online [accessed April 30, 2017]): “Joan Crawford is playing a most troubled lady, and giving a sincere and generally effective characterization [...]" Mildred Pierce "is just the tortured drama you've been waiting for. "
  2. ↑ Mildred Pierce. In: TVGuide.com. Retrieved on April 30, 2017 (English): "Everything about" Mildred Pierce "is first-rate, from stellar production values ​​to Curtiz's marvelously paced direction, which refuses to allow sentiment to rule the story."
  3. ↑ As long as a heart beats. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed April 30, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ↑ As long as a heart beats (1st synchro) at the German dubbing index
  5. ↑ As long as a heart beats (2nd synchro) at the German dubbing index