Summary
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
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome back to the home of the oxymoron. Evil genius. He asked the newspaper to print his obituary early so he'd enjoy it. That's like hiding at your own funeral. Yeah, a big, great gig. I'm Russell Kane. Join me to weigh in on whether the biggest players in history are more evil or genius. Becoming that rich, I'd say that is some level of genius. It also helps |
| 0:21.2 | it. It's a long time ago, right? It's like the podcast version of telling your kids the ice cream |
| 0:26.1 | van plays music when it's out of ice cream. Listen to evil genius on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:33.3 | BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts. This is the Arts and Ideas podcast with me, Matthew Sweet. |
| 0:41.1 | Mildred Pierce is on our menu, |
| 0:43.4 | that dame from the film noir with Joan Crawford |
| 0:46.2 | and the novel by James M. Kane, |
| 0:48.7 | discussed by a bunch of wise guys after this message. |
| 0:53.5 | With the BBC Sounds app, you can find some of your favourite shows with ease. |
| 0:59.0 | For example, you can tap the search button at the bottom right and type in Classical Fix. |
| 1:04.0 | This will take you straight to the podcast, where we aim to open up the incredible world of classical music to everyone. |
| 1:11.0 | Featuring some famous faces, including the comedian James Acaster. |
| 1:14.8 | Listening to it feels like all the grimes coming off you. |
| 1:18.0 | The musician, Nadine Shah. |
| 1:19.6 | Right now I'm on some adventure. |
| 1:21.9 | And many more. |
| 1:23.4 | Download the BBC Sounds app to start listening to Classical Fix and many other podcasts. |
| 1:29.1 | Welcome to the first program in a new year of free thinking. |
| 1:32.8 | I can promise hard work, strong drink, snobbery with violence and a great heroine. |
| 1:38.6 | One with a name we could write in neon through hot Californian air, Mildred Pierce. |
| 1:54.4 | As I say it, an image may come to you, a keros scuro image from the night world of 1940s Hollywood. |
| 2:02.6 | Joan Crawford in Sable, with shoulder pads like a quarterback, her huge black eyes, full of agony and determination. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.