Mildred Pierce (1945)

Joan Crawford: Mildred Pierce Beragon

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Quotes 

• Veda Pierce : [kissing the check from the Forresters to keep Veda's pregnancy quiet]  Well, that's that!

  Mildred Pierce : I'm sorry this had to happen; sorry for the boy, he seemed very nice.

  Veda Pierce : Oh Ted's all right really. Did you see the look on his face when we told him he was going to be a father?

  [Veda laughs] 

  Mildred Pierce : I wish you wouldn't joke about it.

  Veda Pierce : Mother, you're a scream, really you are. The next thing I know you'll be knitting little garments.

  Mildred Pierce : I don't see anything so ridiculous about that.

  Veda Pierce : If I were you, I'd save myself the trouble.

  Mildred Pierce : [pause]  You're not going to have a baby?

  Veda Pierce : At this stage, it's a matter of opinion. And in my opinion, I'm going to have a baby. I can always be mistaken.

• Mildred Pierce : Cut it out, Wally. You make me feel like Little Red Riding Hood.

  Wally Fay : And I'm the Big Bad Wolf, huh? Now, Milly, you've got me all wrong. I'm a romantic guy, but I'm no wolf.

  Mildred Pierce : Then quit howling!

• Mildred Pierce : You've been snooping around ever since I got this job, trying to find out what it is... and now you know. You know, don't you.

  Veda Pierce : [innocently]  Know what? Know what mother?

  Mildred Pierce : You knew when you gave that uniform to Lottie that it was mine didn't you.

  Veda Pierce : [feigns surprise]  Your uniform!

  Mildred Pierce : Yes, I'm waiting tables in a downtown restaurant.

  Veda Pierce : [contemptuously]  My mother - a waitress.

• Mildred Pierce : Wally, you should be kept on a leash! Now why can't you be friendly?

  Wally Fay : But I *am* being friendly!

  Mildred Pierce : No, I mean it. Friendship's much more lasting than love.

  Wally Fay : Yeah, but it isn't as entertaining.

• Mildred Pierce : That Ted Forrester's nice-looking, isn't he? Veda likes him.

  Monte Beragon : Who wouldn't? He has a million dollars.

• Monte Beragon : Drink?

  Mildred Pierce : You drink too much.

  Monte Beragon : I know, I do too much of everything. I'm spoiled.

  Mildred Pierce : You've too many sisters... They all seem to be my size too.

  Monte Beragon : I know, I like them your size.

  Monte Beragon : [raises a glass to toast]  To brotherly love.

• Mildred Beragon : [to Inspector Peterson]  I was always in the kitchen. I felt as though I'd been born in a kitchen and lived there all my life, except for the few hours it took to get married.

• Ida Corwin : Laughing boy seems slightly burned at the edges. What's eating him?

  Mildred Pierce : A small green-eyed monster.

  Ida Corwin : Jealous? That doesn't sound like Wally. No profit in it - and there's a boy who loves a dollar.

• Mildred Pierce : Get out Veda. Get your things out of this house right now before I throw them into the street and you with them. Get out before I kill you.

• Mildred Pierce : [to Monte about his negotiation regarding them getting married]  Sold...

  Mildred Pierce : [holds up glass to toast]  One Beragon.

• Monte Beragon : You know, Mildred, in the spring, a young man's fancy lightly turns to what he's been thinking about all winter.

  Mildred Pierce : It's a good thing California winters are so short.

• Mildred Pierce : You look down on me, because I work for a living. Don't you.

• Monte Beragon : [as Mildred caught Monte and Veda in a romantic embrace]  We weren't expecting you Mildred, obviously.

  Veda Pierce : It's just as well you know. I'm glad you know.

  Mildred Beragon : How long has this been going on?

• Mildred Pierce : And just what do you do, Mr Beragon?

  Monte Beragon : I loaf, in a decorative and highly charming manner.

  Mildred Pierce : Is that all?

  Monte Beragon : With me, loafing is a science.

• Mildred Pierce : I'm sorry I did that... I'd've rather cut off my hand!

• Bert Pierce : This'll only take a minute. It's, it's funny. It's harder to say than I thought. It's about the divorce, Mildred. You can have it. When I walked out on you that time, I told you to see if you could get along without me. I didn't think you could. When you asked me for a divorce, I still didn't think you could make a go of it alone. Now I know better. You're doing alright, Mildred. You're doing fine.

  Mildred Pierce : I never thought it would end like this.

  Bert Pierce : Who knows how anything is going to end? I'm sorry.

  Mildred Pierce : Yes, I'm sorry too.

  Bert Pierce : Well, that's that. That's what I came to say and now that I've said it, I just want you to know that I wish you all the luck in the world.

  Mildred Pierce : Thank you, Burt. Thank you.

• Mildred Pierce : You look down on me because I work for a living, don't you? You always have. Alright, I work. I cook food and sell it and make a profit on it. Which I might point out you're not too proud to share with me

  Monte Beragon : Yes, I take money from you, Mildred. But not enough to make me like kitchens or cooks. They smell of grease.

  Mildred Pierce : I don't notice you shrinking from a $50 bill because it happens to smell of grease.

• Mildred Pierce : [to the inspector]  I was in love with him and I knew it for the first time that night. But now he's dead, and I'm not sorry. Wasn't worth it.

• Mrs. Forrester : Your daughter has somehow got the idea that... well, I understand it, of course... any girl wants to get married, but Ted had no such thing in mind. I want that made clear.

  Mildred Pierce : You mean they're engaged? Veda and your son?

  Mrs. Forrester : Yes, but I'm quite sure you will agree with me, Mrs. Pierce, that any discussion of marriage between them would be most undesirable.

  Mildred Pierce : Why should Veda want to marry your son if he doesn't want to marry her?

  Mrs. Forrester : I'm not a mind reader, Mrs. Pierce. But let me tell you one thing. If you or this girl or anybody employs any more tricks trying to blackmail my son...

  Mildred Pierce : Trying to what?

  Mrs. Forrester : Understand me, Mrs. Pierce. I shall prevent this marriage. I shall prevent it in any way that I can.

  Mildred Pierce : I don't think you need worry, Mrs. Forrester. Having you in my family is a pretty dismal prospect. Good afternoon.

• Mildred Pierce : Look, Monte. I've worked long and hard trying to give Veda the things I never had. I've done without a lot of things, including happiness sometimes because I wanted her to have everything. Now I'm losing her. She's drifting away from me. She hardly speaks to me anymore except to ask for money or poke fun at me in French at me because I work for a living.

  Monte Beragon : All kids are thoughtless at her age.

  Mildred Pierce : Perhaps but I still don't like it. I blame it on the way she's been living. I blame it on you.

  Monte Beragon : I dont' think you understand Veda very well. She's not like you. You'll never make a waitress out of her.

• Bert Pierce : Maggie means nothing to me. You know that.

  Mildred Pierce : I wish I could believe it. You better run down there and apologize, or she won't play gin rummy with you anymore. It is gin rummy, isn't it?

  Bert Pierce : Now look, Mildred. Don't go too far or one of these days I'll call your bluff.

  Mildred Pierce : Oh, no, you're not calling me, I'm calling you. You might as well get this straight once and for all. Those kids come first in this house, before either one of us. Maybe that's right, maybe it's wrong. But that's the way it is. I'm determined to do the best I can for them. If I can't do it with you, I'll do it without you.

• Monte Beragon : You take my breath away.

  Mildred Pierce : Do I? I like you Monty. You make me feel... oh, I don't know. Warm.

  Monte Beragon : Wanted? Beautiful?

  Mildred Pierce : Yes.

  Monte Beragon : When I'm close to you like this, there's a sound in the air like the beating of wings. You know what it is?

  Mildred Pierce : No, what?

  Monte Beragon : My heart... beating like a schoolboy's.

  Mildred Pierce : Is it? I thought it was mine.

• Mildred Pierce : Veda, I think I'm really seeing you for the first time in my life. And you're cheap and horrible.

• Veda Pierce : I don't like this house.

  Mildred Pierce : Neither do I. But that's no reason to marry a man I'm not in love with.

  Veda Pierce : Why not?

  Mildred Pierce : Veda, does a new house mean so much to you that you would trade me for it?

  Veda Pierce : I didn't mean it, Mother.

• Mildred Pierce : [to Mrs. Forrester]  Having you in my family's a pretty dismal prospect.

• Veda Pierce : With this money I can get away from you.

  Mildred Pierce : Veda!

  Veda Pierce : From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease.

• Mildred Pierce : [after Veda slaps her]  Get out, Veda. Get your things out of this house right now before I throw them out into the street and you with them. Get out before I kill you!

• Veda Pierce : This is Miram Ellis, mother. She sings.

  Miriam Ellis : That's what they tell me anyhow, Mrs. Pierce.

  Mildred Pierce : I'm glad to know you.

  Miriam Ellis : Oh, it's mutual, I'm sure. I guess this calls for a medium-class celebration. Maybe I better send out for a beer. Full of vitamins.

• Mildred Pierce : You can do me a great kindness.

  Monte Beragon : If I can.

  Mildred Pierce : Ask me you marry you.

  Monte Beragon : Why?

  Mildred Pierce : Well, I must say your attitude isn't exactly enthusiastic.

  Monte Beragon : You went to considerable trouble to get rid of me once so naturally I'm a little startled by your proposal of marriage.

  [coyly] 

  Monte Beragon : This is so sudden, Mildred.

  Mildred Pierce : I have my own personal reason for wanting to marry you.

  Monte Beragon : The reason name Veda, I think.

  Mildred Pierce : Why should it be?

  Monte Beragon : Because you're reason for doing anything is usually Veda.

  Mildred Pierce : Well, whether it is or isn't, what's your answer?

  Monte Beragon : I can't afford you, Mildred. You have money and I haven't. All I have is pride and a name and I can't sell either.