Imitation of Life | |
---|---|
Directed by | Douglas Sirk |
Screenplay by | Eleanore Griffin Allan Scott |
Based on | Imitation of Life 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst |
Produced by | Ross Hunter |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Russell Metty |
Edited by | Milton Carruth |
Music by | |
Color process | Eastmancolor |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 125 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $1.2 million [3] |
Box office | $6.4 million (est. US/ Canada rentals) [4] |
Imitation of Life is a 1959 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk, produced by Ross Hunter and released by Universal International. It was Sirk's final Hollywood film and dealt with issues of race, class and gender. Imitation of Life is the second film adaptation of Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel of the same name; the first, directed by John M. Stahl, was released in 1934.
The film's top-billed stars are Lana Turner and John Gavin, and the cast also features Sandra Dee, Dan O'Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda and Juanita Moore. Kohner and Moore received Academy Award nominations for their performances. Gospel music star Mahalia Jackson appears as a church choir soloist.
In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected Imitation of Life for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The original 1934 version of Imitation of Life was added to the National Film Registry in 2005. [5] [6]
In 1947, single mother Lora Meredith dreams of becoming a famous Broadway actress. Losing track of her young daughter Susie at a crowded Coney Island beach, she asks a stranger, Steve Archer, to help her find the girl. Meanwhile, Susie has been found and looked after by Annie Johnson, who is also a single mother with a daughter, Sarah Jane, who is about Susie's age. With the help of Steve and a police officer, Lora is reunited with Susie. The Merediths are white and the Johnsons are black, but Lora initially assumes Sarah Jane is white and not Annie's daughter. Sarah Jane's fair skin allows her to pass as white and she fervently rejects being identified as black.
In return for Annie's kindness, Lora temporarily takes in Annie and her daughter. Annie persuades Lora to let her stay and look after the household so that she can pursue an acting career. Lora becomes a star of stage comedies, with Allen Loomis as her agent and David Edwards as her chief playwright (and lover). Although Lora had begun a relationship with Steve, their courtship falls apart because he does not want her to be a star. Lora's concentration on her career prevents her from spending time with Susie, who sees more of Annie. Annie and Sarah Jane have their own problems, as Sarah Jane is struggling with her identity.
Eleven years later, Lora is a highly regarded Broadway star living in a luxurious home near New York City. Annie continues to live with her, serving as nanny, housekeeper, confidante and best friend. After rejecting David's latest script (and his marriage proposal), Lora takes a role in a dramatic play. At the show's after-party, she encounters Steve, whom she has not seen in a decade. The two slowly begin rekindling their relationship, and Steve is reintroduced to Annie and the now-teenaged Susie and Sarah Jane. When Lora is signed to star in an Italian movie, she leaves Steve to watch after Susie. The teenager develops an unrequited crush on her mother's boyfriend.
Sarah Jane begins dating a white teenager, but he beats her in an alleyway after learning she is black. Sometime later, she again passes for white to get a job performing at a seedy nightclub but tells her mother she is working at the library. When Annie learns the truth, she goes to the club to claim her daughter; Sarah Jane is subsequently fired. Sarah Jane's rejection of her mother takes a physical and mental toll on Annie. When Lora returns from Italy, Sarah Jane has run away from home, leaving Annie a note that says if she truly does care about her, she will leave her alone and let her live her life.
Lora asks Steve to hire a private detective to find Sarah Jane. The detective finds her living and working in California as a white woman under an assumed name. Annie, becoming weaker and more depressed by the day, flies out to see her daughter one last time and say goodbye. Upon meeting with Sarah Jane, Annie apologizes for being selfish by loving her too much and wishes her the best. She pleads to Sarah Jane that if she ever needs help and she cannot reach Annie, she will contact Lora. They then share an embrace. Sarah Jane's roommate interrupts them and presumes Annie is a maid. Annie tells the roommate that she is a former nanny of "Miss Linda," Sarah Jane's new name.
Annie is bedridden upon her return to New York and Lora and Susie look after her. The issue of Susie's crush on Steve becomes serious when she learns that Steve and Lora are to be married. Annie tells Lora of the girl's crush. After a confrontation with her mother, Susie decides to go away to school in Denver to forget about Steve. Soon after their argument, Annie dies with Lora crying hysterically by her side. As she wished, Annie is given a lavish funeral in a large church, complete with a gospel choir, followed by an elaborate traditional funeral procession with a band and four white horses drawing the hearse. Just before the procession sets off, a bereaved and guilt-ridden Sarah Jane pushes through the crowd of mourners to throw herself upon her mother's casket apologizing and begging forgiveness, proclaiming, "I killed my own mother!" Lora takes Sarah Jane to their limousine to join her, Susie, and Steve as the procession slowly travels through a city street. A large African American crowd silently watches.
The plot of the 1959 version of Imitation of Life has numerous major changes from those of the original book and the 1934 film version. [7] In the original story, the "Lora" character, Bea Pullman, became successful by commercial production of her maid Delilah's family waffle recipe (a pancake recipe in the 1934 film version). As a result, Bea, the white businesswoman, becomes rich. Delilah is offered 20% of the profits, but declines and chooses to remain Bea's dutiful assistant. Like the previous film, in this one the Peola (Sarah Jane) character returns, going to her mother's funeral and showing remorse, a scene described by Molly Hiro as "virtually identical" to the previous one, while in the novel she leaves the area for good. [7]
Director Douglas Sirk and screenwriters Eleanore Griffin and Allan Scott felt that such a story would not be accepted during the Civil Rights Movement, amid milestones such as the Brown v. Board of Education case and the Montgomery bus boycott, but racial discrimination and inequities were still part of it.[ citation needed ] The story was altered so that Lora becomes a Broadway star with her own talents, with Annie assisting her by serving as a nanny for Lora's child. Producer Ross Hunter was cannily aware that these plot changes would enable Lana Turner to model an array of glamorous costumes and real jewels, something that would appeal to the female audience at that time. Lana Turner's wardrobe for Imitation of Life cost over $1.078 million, making it one of the most expensive in cinema history at that time. [8]
Although many actresses, most of them white, [9] were screen-tested for the Sarah Jane role in the 1959 remake, Susan Kohner, daughter of actress Lupita Tovar, born in Mexico, and Paul Kohner, a Czech-Jewish immigrant, won the role. [9] Karin Dicker made her debut in this film as the young Sarah Jane. Noted gospel singer Mahalia Jackson received "presenting" billing for her one scene, performing a version of "Trouble of the World" at Annie's funeral service.
Sirk's Imitation of Life premiered in Chicago on March 17, 1959, followed by Los Angeles on March 20 and New York City on April 17. [2] Following its New York opening, it became number one in the US for two weeks [10] before Universal put the film into general release on April 30. Though it was not well-reviewed upon its original release and was viewed as inferior to the original 1934 film version – many critics derided the film as a "soap opera" [11] – Imitation of Life was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1959, grossing $6.4 million, [12] and was Universal-International's top-grossing film that year. Hiro wrote that in contrast to the novel, this film and the previous film received "far more critical attention", with the second film being "more famous" than the first. [7]
Both Moore and Kohner were nominated for the 1959 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the 1959 Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actress. While neither actress won the Oscar, Kohner won the Golden Globe for her performance. Moore won second place in the category of Top Female Supporting Performance at the 1959 Laurel Awards, and the film won Top Drama. Douglas Sirk was nominated for the 1959 Directors Guild of America Award. [13]
Since the late 20th century, Imitation of Life has been re-evaluated by critics. It has been considered a masterpiece of Sirk's American career. Emanuel Levy has written "One of the four masterpieces directed in the 1950s, the visually lush, meticulously designed and powerfully acted Imitation of Life was the jewel in Sirk's crown, ending his Hollywood's career before he returned to his native Germany." [14] Sirk provided the Annie–Sarah Jane relationship in his version with more screen time and more intensity than the original versions of the story. Critics later commented that Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner stole the film from Turner. [8] Sirk said that he had deliberately and subversively undercut Turner to draw focus toward the problems of the two black characters.
Sirk's treatment of racial and class issues is also admired for what he caught of the times. Writing in 1997, Rob Nelson said,
Basically, we're left to intuit that the black characters (and the movie) are themselves products of '50s-era racism – which explains the film's perspective, but hardly makes it less dizzying. Possibly thinking of W.E.B. Du Bois's notion of black American double-consciousness, critic Molly Haskell once described Imitation's double-vision: "The mixed-race girl's agonizing quest for her identity is not seen from her point of view as much as it is mockingly reflected in the fun house mirrors of the culture from which she is hopelessly alienated." [15]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 31 reviews are positive, and the average rating is 7.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "Douglas Sirk enriches this lush remake of Imitation of Life with racial commentary and a sharp edge, yielding a challenging melodrama with the power to devastate." [16] On Metacritic — which assigns a weighted mean score — the film has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". [17]
In 2015, BBC Online named the film the 37th greatest American movie ever made, based on a survey of film critics. [18]
Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Susan Kohner | Nominated | [19] |
Juanita Moore | Nominated | |||
Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures | Douglas Sirk | Nominated | [20] |
Golden Globe Awards | Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture | Susan Kohner | Won | [21] |
Juanita Moore | Nominated | |||
Laurel Awards | Top Drama | Won | ||
Top Female Supporting Performance | Juanita Moore | Nominated | ||
Top Cinematography – Color | Russell Metty | Nominated | ||
National Film Preservation Board | National Film Registry | Inducted | [22] |
Both the 1934 and 1959 films were issued in 2003 on a double-sided DVD from Universal Studios. A two-disc set of the films was issued by Universal in 2008. A Blu-ray with both films was released in April 2015; [23] this edition has been re-mastered, and is not identical with earlier DVD releases. [24]
Madman Entertainment in Australia released a three-disc DVD set, including the 1934 film version as well as a video essay on the 1959 film by Sam Staggs. [25]
Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven (2002) is an homage to Sirk's work, in particular All That Heaven Allows (1955) and Imitation of Life.
The 1969 Diana Ross & the Supremes song "I'm Livin' in Shame" is based upon this film. [26]
The 2001 R.E.M. song "Imitation of Life" took its title from the film, though none of the band members had ever watched it. [27]
Imitation of Life is a popular 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst that was adapted into two successful films for Universal Pictures: a 1934 film, and a 1959 remake. The novel, which deals with issues of race, class and gender, was originally serialized in 1932 in the magazine Pictorial Review under the title "Sugar House".
All That Heaven Allows is a 1955 American drama romance film directed by Douglas Sirk, produced by Ross Hunter, and adapted by Peg Fenwick from a novel by Edna L. Lee and Harry Lee. It stars Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson in a tale about the social complications that arise following the development of a romance between a well-to-do widow and a younger man, who owns a tree nursery.
Douglas Sirk was a German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas of the 1950s. However, he also directed comedies, westerns, and war films. Sirk started his career in Germany as a stage and screen director, but he left for Hollywood in 1937 after his Jewish wife was persecuted by the Nazis.
Julia Jean "Lana" Turner was an American actress. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, she achieved fame as both a pin-up model and a film actress, as well as for her highly publicized personal life. In the mid-1940s, she was one of the highest-paid American actresses and one of MGM's biggest stars, with her films earning more than $50 million for the studio during her 18-year contract with them. Turner is frequently cited as a popular culture icon of Hollywood glamour and a screen legend of classical Hollywood cinema. She was nominated for numerous awards.
Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a child model, working first in commercials and then film in her teenage years. Best known for her portrayal of ingénues, Dee earned a Golden Globe Award as one of the year's most promising newcomers for her performance in Robert Wise's Until They Sail (1958). She became a teenage star for her performances in Imitation of Life and Gidget, which made her a household name.
Far from Heaven is a 2002 historical romantic drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes, and starring Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, and Patricia Clarkson. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where Moore won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and cinematographer Edward Lachman won a prize for Outstanding Individual Contribution.
High Heels is a 1991 melodrama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Victoria Abril, Marisa Paredes and Miguel Bosé. The plot follows the fractured relationship between a self-involved mother, a famous torch singer, and her grown daughter she had abandoned as a child. The daughter, who works as a television newscaster, has married her mother's ex-lover and has befriended a female impersonator. A murder further complicates this web of relationships.
John Gavin was an American actor and diplomat who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86). Among the films he appeared in were A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958), Imitation of Life (1959), Spartacus (1960), Psycho (1960), Midnight Lace (1960) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), playing leading roles for producer Ross Hunter.
Juanita Moore was an American film, television, and stage actress.
Susanna "Susan" Kohner is an American retired actress who worked in film and television. She played Sarah Jane in Imitation of Life (1959), for which she was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe award.
Guadalupe Natalia Tovar Sullivan, known professionally as Lupita Tovar, was a Mexican-American actress best known for her starring role in the 1931 Spanish-language version of Drácula, filmed in Los Angeles by Universal Pictures at night using the same sets as the Bela Lugosi version, but with a different cast and director. She also starred in the 1932 film Santa, one of the first Mexican sound films, and one of the first commercial Spanish-language sound films. At the time of her death, she was the oldest living actress and one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Sandra Gould was an American actress, known for her role as Gladys Kravitz on the sitcom Bewitched. Gould was the second actress to portray the role, debuting at the start of the third season.
Ross Hunter was an American film and television producer and actor. He is best known for producing light comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959), and the glamorous melodramas Magnificent Obsession (1954), Imitation of Life (1959), and Back Street (1961).
Magnificent Obsession is a 1954 American romantic drama film directed by Douglas Sirk starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. It is a remake of the 1935 film by the same name, starring Irene Dunne and Robert Taylor. Both are based on the 1929 novel Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas.
Magnificent Obsession is a 1935 drama film based on the 1929 novel of the same name by Lloyd C. Douglas. The film was adapted by Sarah Y. Mason, Victor Heerman, and George O'Neil, directed by John M. Stahl, and stars Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, Charles Butterworth, and Betty Furness.
Imitation of Life is a 1934 American drama film directed by John M. Stahl. The screenplay by William Hurlbut, based on Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel of the same name, was augmented by eight additional uncredited writers, including Preston Sturges and Finley Peter Dunne. The film stars Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers, Warren William, Rochelle Hudson, and Fredi Washington.
Paul Kohner was an Austrian-American talent agent and producer who managed the careers of many stars and others—like Ingrid Bergman, Maurice Chevalier, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, John Huston, Liv Ullmann and Billy Wilder—of the golden age of Hollywood, especially those who came from Europe before World War II. He was married to the Mexican-American actress, Lupita Tovar. His brother was Frederick Kohner, a novelist and screenwriter, his daughter was the actress Susan Kohner. His grandsons are the filmmakers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz.
Madame X is a 1966 American drama film directed by David Lowell Rich and starring Lana Turner. It is based on the 1908 play Madame X by French playwright Alexandre Bisson.
Lana Turner (1921–1995) was an American actress who appeared in over fifty films during her career, which spanned four decades. Discovered in 1937 at age 16, she signed a contract with Warner Bros. but soon transferred to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The studio's co-founder, Louis B. Mayer, helped further her career by casting her in several youth-oriented comedies and musicals, including Dancing Co-Ed (1939) and Ziegfeld Girl (1941), the latter of which was a commercial success and helped establish her as one of the studio's leading performers. Turner subsequently co-starred with Clark Gable in the drama Somewhere I'll Find You (1943), the first of four films she would appear in with him.
Milton Carruth was an American film editor and, for a period in the 1930s, film director. Among the 129 films he edited are All Quiet on the Western Front, Shadow of a Doubt, Pillow Talk, and Imitation of Life. His career as an editor spanned from 1929 through 1966 (The Pad and How to Use It.
Turner wears $1,000,000 worth of jewels in the film and a $78,000 Jean Louis wardrobe — 34 costume changes at an average cost of $2,214.13 each. [referring to the cost of the wardrobe]
The critics had barfed all over the film, hating it as "a soap opera" for the same reasons Sirk and we loved it.
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