Mildred Pierce Information

Mildred Pierce is a five-part miniseries that first aired on HBO on March 27, 2011. Adapted from James M. Cain's 1941 novel of the same name, it was directed by Todd Haynes, and starred Kate Winslet in the title role, alongside Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood and Melissa Leo. Carter Burwell wrote the original score for the miniseries.

It is the second adaptation of the novel, after the 1945 film noir produced by Warner Bros. and starring Joan Crawford.

Synopsis

Mildred Pierce depicts an overprotective, self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a new man, all the while trying to earn her spoiled, narcissistic daughter's love and respect. The miniseries follows Cain's original novel exactly, dramatizing nearly every scene and dispensing with the murder subplot which was added for the 1945 film. The dialogue is taken almost entirely word-for-word from the novel.

Cast

• Kate Winslet as Mildred Pierce
• Guy Pearce as Monty Beragon
• Evan Rachel Wood as Veda Pierce (Sumi Jo as her singing "voice")
• Melissa Leo as Lucy Gessler
• Morgan Turner as Young Veda Pierce
• James LeGros as Wally Burgan
• Brian F. O'Byrne as Bert Pierce
• Mare Winningham as Ida Corwin
• Hope Davis as Mrs. Forrester

Production

Parts of the miniseries were filmed in three New York locations: Peekskill, Point Lookout and Merrick.

Reception

Mildred Pierce received generally favorable reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film currently holds an average score of 69, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Salon.com called it a "quiet, heartbreaking masterpiece", while The New York Times reviewer, Alessandra Stanley, commented that while the miniseries was "loyally, unwaveringly true to James M. Cain's 1941 novel", it did not "make the most of the mythic clash of mother, lover and ungrateful child", and was "not nearly as satisfying as the 1945 film noir".

Novelist Stephen King, reviewing Mildred Pierce for The Daily Beast and Newsweek, praised the acting of Winslet, Pearce and Wood, and admired the show's attention to detail and structure, but complained that the five-hour adaptation was "too damn long". He finishes with, "Winslet's Mildred is a genuine star turn. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her."

The series was shown Out of Competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in 2011.

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient(s) and nominee(s)	Outcome
Primetime Emmy Awards
	Outstanding Miniseries or Movie	Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, John Wells, Todd Haynes and Ilene S. Landress
	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Kate Winslet
	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Guy Pearce
		Brian F. O'Byrne
	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie	Evan Rachel Wood
		Melissa Leo
		Mare Winningham
	Outstanding Directing in a Miniseries or a Movie	Todd Haynes
	Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special	Todd Haynes and Jon Raymond
	Outstanding Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Movie	Mark Friedberg, Peter Rogness and Ellen Christiansen De Jonge
	Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Movie	Ed Lachman
	Outstanding Costumes for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Ann Roth, Michelle Matland and Patrick Wiley
	Outstanding Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Movie	Jerry DeCarlo and Jerry Popolis
	Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries or a Movie	Patricia Regan and Linda Melazzo
	Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Carter Burwell for Part 5
	Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Patricia Regan and Linda Melazzo For Part 5
	Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie	Drew Kunin, Leslie Shatz, Bobby Johanson and Joshua Reinhardt For Part 5
	Outstanding Special Visual Effects	Lesley Robson-Foster, John Bair, Renuka Ballal, Nathan Meier, Constance Conrad, Marci Ichimura, Josephine Noh, Aaron Raff and Scott Winston For Part 5
	Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special	Laura Rosenthal
	Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie	Camilla Toniolo For Part 4
	Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music	Carter Burwell
Golden Globe Awards	Best Miniseries or Television Film
	Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film	Kate Winslet
	Best Supporting Actor " Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Guy Pearce
	Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Evan Rachel Wood
Satellite Awards	Best Television Film
	Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film	Kate Winslet
	Best Supporting Actor " Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Guy Pearce
	Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Evan Rachel Wood
Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	Guy Pearce
	Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	Kate Winslet

Ratings

Episode(s)	Date	Viewers
Part One and Part Two	March 27, 2011	1.270 million
Part Three	April 3, 2011	0.987 million
Part Four and Part Five	April 10, 2011	0.964 million

International Broadcasting

• Hong Kong: TVB Pearl (Aired in November 2012)