Quotes
 Ida: Personally, Veda`s convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.
Ida: [to leering customer Wally] Leave something on me - I might catch cold.
Wally: Oh boy! I`m so smart it`s a disease!
Mildred: I`m sorry I did that... I`d`ve rather cut off my hand!
Veda: With this money I can get away from you. From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease. I can get away from this shack with its cheap furniture. And this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls.
Veda: You think just because you made a little money you can get a new hairdo and some expensive clothes and turn yourself into a lady. But you can`t, because you`ll never be anything but a common frump whose father lived over a grocery store and whose mother took in washing.
Ida: When men get around me, they get allergic to wedding rings.
Lottie: [on the opening of Mildred`s restaurant] This is just like my wedding night, so exciting!
Wally: You know, this is a pretty big night for you.
Policeman #1: Yeah?
Wally: Yeah, lots of excitement. There`s a stiff in there!
Policeman #1: Is that so? Oh and I suppose you were running right down to the station to report it?
Wally: [forced laugh]
Policeman #1: Yeah...
[to partner]
Policeman #1: Say, he say`s there`s a dead guy in the house.
Policeman #2: You never saw a deader.
Mildred: That Ted Forrester`s nice-looking, isn`t he? Veda likes him.
Monte: Who wouldn`t? He has a million dollars.
Monte: Oh, I wish I could get that interested in work.
Ida: You were probably frightened by a callus at an early age!
Veda: [kissing check] Well, that`s that!
Mildred: I`m sorry this had to happen; sorry for the boy, he seemed very nice.
Veda: Oh Ted`s all right really. Did you see the look on his face when we told him he was going to be a father?
[laughs]
Mildred: I wish you wouldn`t joke about it.
Veda: Mother, you`re a scream, really you are. The next thing I know you`ll be knitting little garments.
Mildred: I don`t see anything so ridiculous about that.
Veda: If I were you, I`d save myself the trouble.
Monte: Drink?
Mildred: You drink too much.
Monte: I know, I do too much of everything. I`m spoiled.
Mildred: You`ve too many sisters... They all seem to be my size too.
Monte: I know, I like them your size.
[raises glass]
Monte: To brotherly love.
Wally: [to Ida] I hate all women. Thank goodness you`re not one.
Mildred: You look down on me, because I work for a living. Don`t you.
Mildred: Sold...
[holds up glass to toast]
Mildred: One Beragon.
Monte: We weren`t expecting you Mildred, obviously.
Veda: It`s just as well you know. I`m glad you know.
Mildred: How long has this been going on?
Ida: I like Mexico; it`s so... Mexican.
Ida: Oh, men. I never yet met one of them that didn`t have the instincts of a heel. Sometimes I wish I could get along without them.
Trivia
Bette Davis and Rosalind Russell turned down the title role, and Barbara Stanwyck was very keen to take it, but Joan Crawford got in first and it earned her an Academy Award.
Joan Crawford had been under contract with Warner Brothers for two years before starring in this movie. To get the role, she had to submit to a screen test after years of flops at MGM--her previous studio--and turning down several scripts at Warner Brothers.
Shirley Temple was originally considered for the part of Veda Pierce.
Shooting the early scenes, director Michael Curtiz accused Joan Crawford of needlessly glamorizing her working mother role. She insisted she was buying her character`s clothes off the rack, but didn`t mention that her own dressmaker was fitting the waists and padding out the shoulders.
William Faulkner contributed to the script, but his additions were not used. He wrote a scene that had Butterfly McQueen consoling Joan Crawford while singing a gospel song.
Monty`s Beach House, used in the key opening scene and several others, was actually owned by the film`s director, Michael Curtiz. It was built in 1929 and stood at 26652 Latigo Shore Dr. in Malibu. It collapsed into the ocean after a week of heavy storms in January 1983.
Michael Curtiz was initially less than keen at working with "has-been" star Joan Crawford as she had a reputation for being difficult. Curtiz was soon won over by Crawford`s dedication and hard work.
Ann Sheridan was considered for the lead.
Mirroring her own life, Joan Crawford had also supported herself as a waitress and saleswoman before she achieved success as an actress.
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# Producer Jerry Wald was keen to exploit the potential of James M. Cain`s novel. He envisaged the idea of a climactic murder, then restructuring the story using flashbacks. He also infused the project with a higher moral tone that is in the original novel. With these changes, he was able to extract a cautious go-ahead from the Breen Office, which then prompted studio head Jack L. Warner to approve the purchase rights to the novel in early 1944.
Eight different screenplays from a succession of writers were written before Ranald MacDougall`s version was accepted.
The film`s release was deliberately held back until September 1945 in the hopes that it would find a more sympathetic audience in a post-war atmosphere.
Jack L. Warner originally wanted Vincent Sherman to direct the film but Jerry Wald held out for Michael Curtiz.
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