Liked reading your post, Arundel. It named some of my impressions.

"Getting stinko" was popular during those days. "Tipsy" or "drunk" were polite terms. "getting stinko" was on a level of " the "getting wasted" of today. It's a wish and an attempt that you can just drink the pain away, knowing that you really can't. Great ending.

@Rawbun; I'm amazed, also, that Carrey is 5' 6". He's films much taller than that. I would have guessed Winslet to be about 5' 5".

Ha! I once told someone on the MM blog who asked "How old are you?" that I had daughters who were still carded. But, I jumped in on that Happy Hour where everyone posted their birthdate on one of the A.V. Club blogs.

Now, remember, that cookbook was from my mother's collection.:) However, I relate best to people between 35 to 55 years old. You'll find that happens as you grow older and you've tried to take care of yourself. But, what I am referring to here is about a mental thing, a brain thing. Sometimes I think its about a…

Look around at how ordinary women are dressing on the streets and tell me we don't need a star system again. At least Mad Men has started to bring back the "star look" .

Arundel: found your comments interesting in terms of a showing to a group, plus your critique of the movie points. BTW where can one get the Mildred Pierce Joan Crawford classic? I'm not of the era that thought of her as a punchline. I remember on MM that a poster reminded me that she was in Johnny Guitar in an…

I've not read the book either. And, yes, I probably saw the movie when I was a toddler during WWII. One would not have very good recall at that age for A.V. purposes. My mother would finish her housework; then bicycle me down to the Village Theatre to watch the latest in movies for a nickel. Apparently, I could…

Good question, Arundel. That puts a new twist to the idea. I did notice the watch also, because I have one or two from my mother that looks like that. But, it really could be the same watch. Mildred wrongly assumes that something from her might be treasured by Veda. She's looking for anything to make a connection…

What you are saying is, "This kid really has a great career ahead of her". Can't you see her as a teenager in an episode of "Breaking Bad"?

Waffles from the Household Searchlight cookbook.1939
1 1/3 Cups Flour 2 Eggs
1/2 Teaspoon Salt 1/4 Cup Melted Butter or
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder Butter Substitute
1 Teaspoon Sugar 1 Cup Sweet Milk

Hey, Oliver, good catch. That green is very much a period color. But, I had not "seen" it as relating to money or prosperity. I am really caught up in the colors used in the wardrobes. I've always had a thing for the looks that span 1915 to 1945. It's the use of the biased cut skirts for women, I think.

The food scenes are wonderful. I checked out my mother's "The Household Searchlight Recipe Book" published by the Household Magazine in Topeka, Kansas, 1939. If you need to know how to select the fowl, de-feather the fowl, singe the skin, dress the bird, the clean the bird, cut the chicken in pieces this is one of…

I've got to go back and watch because I did not see some of the key scenes found in Donna's write up. I glad she mentioned them. Maybe the scheduling conflicts account for that.

The Divorce
I thought the scene between Mildred and her husband when they discussed their divorce was so moving. I felt so for each. Somehow they put aside all of their anger to close unfinished business. They even tried a little humor which turned to tears. I found it incredible and part of Mildred's flaw that she…

"a ratty old serviceable number in a scene that magnifies the humanity of a divorced woman with 2 children not in a big goddamned hurry to show off her child birth ravaged body" That's how I saw her approach to the beach scene. (Winslet). I, too, thought the costuming on the miniseries seemed very authentic for the…

Waffles are less work. They look bigger on the plate. I'm looking forward to seeing the menu.

@Changshafu: "rode hard and put up wet". I thought the reason that Winslet"s Mildred was so dowdy in the first two parts was to blend in the grimness of the times and her struggle with her general appearance. She did look like a woman about 15 years older than her age. But, then again, women tended to look like…

So true, Le Petite Mort Goldman. You got to the "heart" of it.

YEA, Lydia. Enjoyed reading your piece. You shed alot of light on the possible marriages that the women could have made in Utah. Most women are marrying in their home turf and having to make it work. Thanks for bringing focus to that.