Joaquim da Silva Fontes, Significação e Estabilidade do Género no ...

has happened, but, as if hypnotized, he does nothing to alter the course of events.
(...) His best novels are in full gear from the first word and drive forward without a
pause for breath until the final inevitable moment - the point where they click off
neatly, leaving you with the void. (O’Brien 1997:69)
Cain’s novels are indeed “in full gear from the first word”, as O’Brien observes,
and this can also be seen in his other novel, Mildred Pierce, which was adapted into a film
by Warner Brothers in 1945. The movie stars Joan Crawford as the title character and is
almost entirely told in flashback, following the noir tradition. It opens with Mildred’s
attempted suicide; disturbed in the attempt by a passing policeman (fig. 8), and entangled
in a complex murder case, Mildred is brought in for police questioning and tells her
tortuous story to a homicide detective. As her story begins, we hear gunshots and
Figure 8. Mildred Pierce
Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott), her second husband, calling the name “Mildred” as he
crashes to his death in his beachfront home. Mildred is the hard-working, devoted mother
of two, the spoiled-rotten, detestable teenager Veda (Ann Blyth, in a role that typed her for
life), and Kay (Jo Marlowe), a lively ten-year-old, who suddenly dies of pneumonia.
Mildred’s children represent everything to her and, after her daughter’s death, she
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