After the success of his most notable film, Casablanca, Curtiz directed this film exploring the dark side of the American family. Structured in flashback, Mildred Pierce recounts the sacrifices of a mother, Mildred (Crawford), for her libertine daughter (Blyth), as she is questioned by the police about the murder of her second husband. Based on the racy novel by James Cain, the film skirts its notorious sexual themes with innuendo. Crawford won her only Oscar as the melodramatic matriarch.