Movie adaptations of novels often prove to be cases of “they should have left well enough alone.” With remakes of adaptations, the risk can be doubly great. Fortunately for Hollywood, the early books of James M. Cain seem to have written with films in mind. Cain was proof of the old axiom that pulp fiction often provides better source material for films than does literature.
Why? Because many of the elements that will distinguish a book as literature aren’t translatable to the screen. Prose style, interior monologue, subtle characterization, narrative asides – these things are generally cast aside.
The standard characteristics of pulp, however, such as strong narrative momentum, clearly defined plot points, well-paced suspense arcs and easily typed characters, are components that often make a highly-filmable script.
Cain’s trilogy of pulp classics, Double Indemnity, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Mildred Pierce, are cases in point. It should be noted, however, that Cain didn’t consider himself a pulp novelist. On the contrary, he considered himself a writer of romances.
While this might seem to be stretching a point with respect to Indemnity and Postman, one could at least argue that Cain had drawn his themes from literature. Both books, which are essentially the same story cast in different milieux, are updated versions of Emile Zola’s Therese Rauquin. The formula: A man and a woman fall in love, and, carried away by their passion, decide to murder the woman’s husband. But their crime poisons their relationship, and tragedy follows.
Cain’s focus was on the passion, not the crime. What makes the stories compelling, however, is the fact that the two elements are fused together. In fact, you might call it Cain’s syllogism. If (a) a man and a woman fall in love, and (b) the woman is married, then (c) the husband’s days are numbered.
Mildred Pierce, while often grouped with the first two novels, was clearly a departure. Passion still plays a part in thep proceedings, but of a different sort. In this case, it’s a woman’s blind devotion to her daughter. This motive force is both the key to her success and her curse. Cain specialized in triangles, but in this case it’s one that more closely resembles the one formed by real life Hollywood star Lana Turner, Turner’s lover Johnny Stampanato, and Turner’s daughter. Same geomtery, same type of tragedy in the end.
The original filmed version of Mildred Pierce was directed by Michael Curtiz, and starred Joan Crawford, Zachary Scott, Jack Carson and Anne Blythe. It was one of Curtiz’s best efforts, and is probably the best of the adaptations of the three books under discussion.
The remake will be a five-hour mini-series, directed by Todd Haynes (“Far from Heaven”). Rachel Evan Wood and Guy Pearce will co-star. From early reports, the setting of the story has been moved to New York, which seems like an odd choice, since the original took place in Glendale, California. In fact, it’s worth remembering that the three kings of classic pulp, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler and Cain, were all essentially California novelists. None of them hailed from that venue, but like the rest of American popular culture in the 20th century, they moved west. Ironically, the cradle of American noir was the land of perpetual sun.
