Themes in the Novel and Movie Adaptation of James Cain’s Mildred Pierce

Themes in the Novel and Movie Adaptation of James Cains Mildred pierce In contemporary film making, Hollywood-ization generally refers to the re-creation of a classic work in a form more vulgar and sexually explicit than the captain in an effort to boost movie attendance. After all, sex and violence sell. However, from the mid-1930s to the 1950s, Hollywood-ization referred to the opposite case where controversial books had to be purified to abide by the end product Code of 1934.1 This occurred to many of James Cains novels as they moved from text to the genre of film noir. As has been said about Cains The Postman ever so Rings Twice, The property, bought several years ago, was kept in the studios archives until now because of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayers inability to clean it up.2 The sanitation of Cains novels greatly took from the virile themes of female emotional and financial independence that were rarely addressed at that time as they were adapted for the screen. James Cains Mi ldred Pierce, published in 1941, explored issues that plagued the domestic woman amidst the social upheaval caused by the Great Depression of the 1930s and suffered from the rule of the Production Code. As Mildred Pierces first marriage with Bert Pierce disintegrates, she is confronted with the responsibility of supporting her two children while creating opportunities for financial independence despite having no skills or education. She becomes a successful restaurateur through the careful economic consumption of the men around her only to become the slave to the desires and whims of her eldest daughter, Veda. According to David Madden, the story of Mildred Pierce is a powerful and suggestive study of social inequity and ... ...rs, again The Postman Always Rings Twice, belles-lettres/Film Quarterly (2000) 41. 3 Madden, David, James M. Cain (Twayne 1970) 68. 4 Oates, Joyce Carol, Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties (London Southern Illinois University Press, 1968) 1105 Farrel l, James, Literature and piety (New York The Vanguard Press, Inc, 1945) 89. 6 Madden 1487 Farrell, James, 88 Work Cited1 Encyclopedia Britannica Online www.search.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=119926&sctn=6.2 Biesen, Sheri Chinen, Raising Cain with the censors, again The Postman Always Rings Twice, Literature/Film Quarterly (2000)3 Madden, David, James M. Cain (Twayne 1970)4 Oates, Joyce Carol, Tough Guy Writers of the Thirties (London Southern Illinois University Press, 1968)5 Farrell, James, Literature and Morality (New York The Vanguard Press. Inc, 1945)