January 05, 2021

Mildred Pierce

45 minutes

Mildred Pierce, James M Cain's 1941 novel was turned into a noir film starring Joan Crawford which earnt her an Academy Award. Matthew Sweet and his guests crime writers Denise Mina & Laura Lippman + academics Sarah Churchwell & Lizzie Mackarel have been re-watching the film and comparing it with the novel as they consider how the social realism and depiction of suburban female life differs from his other books which became hit films The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity.

Laura Lippman's novels include the PI Tess Monaghan series and stand alone titles such as Lady in the Lake, Sunburn and After I'm Gone.

Denise Mina's crime novels have won many prizes and her latest The Less Dead has been shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award.

Sarah Churchwell is Professor of American Literature and Public Understanding of the Humanities at the University of London and the author of books including The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe and Careless People: Murder, Mayhem and the Invention of The Great Gatsby

You can find other Free Thinking discussions of film and the relationship between novels and film on the programme website including

Jonathan Coe's recent novel looking at Billy Wilder and his late films https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000p1dx

Michael Caine in the film Get Carter made by from Ted Lewis's 1970 novel Jack's Return Home https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mt05

Tarkovsky's Stalker https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0775023

Rashomon and the writing of Akutagawa, which led to the film by Kurosawa https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b01vwk

Marnie and Winston Graham's novel https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b098n4j4

Many are in this playlist called Landmarks https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01jwn44

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

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