In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected Imitation of Life (1959) for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The 1934 version of Imitation of Life was added to the National Film Registry in 2005.[5][6]
Plot
From left to right: Sarah Jane (Karin Dicker), Annie (Juanita Moore), Susie (Terry Burnham) and Lora (Lana Turner) in a publicity still representing an early point in the film.
In 1947, widowed 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 taken up and looked after by Annie Johnson, who is also a single mother. Her daughter Sarah Jane is about Susie's age. Lora is reunited with Susie, and the two women talk.
The Merediths are white and the Johnsons are Black, but Lora shows that she has assumed that Sarah Jane is white and not Annie's daughter, but being cared for by her. The girl reflects a multiracial background and has fair skin and features that would allow her to pass as white. Sarah Jane rejects being identified as Black.
In return for Annie's kindness, Lora temporarily takes in the mother and daughter, as Annie is looking for work. Annie persuades Lora to let her stay and look after the household so the other woman 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 earlier begun a relationship with Steve, whom she met at Coney Island, their courtship falls apart because he does not support the demands of her career. Lora's concentration on her career limits her time with her daughter Susie, who turns to Annie for emotional comfort. Annie and Sarah Jane have their own problems, as the girl 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, to great success.
At the show's after-party, she encounters Steve, whom she has not seen in a decade. The two slowly begin rekindling their relationship. Steve is reintroduced to Annie and the girls Susie and Sarah Jane, who are now teenagers. When Lora is signed to star in an Italian movie, she entrusts 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 abuses her 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 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. She left Annie a note saying if her mother truly cares 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 a last time and say goodbye. When they meet, Annie apologizes for loving her daughter too much and wishes her the best. She pleads with Sarah Jane to promise that if she ever needs help and cannot reach Annie, she will contact Lora. They share an embrace.
When Sarah Jane's roommate interrupts them, she assumes Annie is a maid. Annie says that she is a former nanny of "Miss Linda", Sarah Jane's new name, allowing her daughter's new identity to stand.
After returning to New York, Annie becomes bedridden. Lora and Susie look after her. Susie is very upset to learn that Steve and her mother plan to marry. Annie tells Lora of the girl's crush. After a confrontation with her mother, Susie decides to leave New York and go to school in Denver to get away.
Soon Annie dies and Lora weeps by her side. She gives Annie the lavish funeral that her friend had wanted: in a large church, complete with a gospel choir, and followed by an elaborate traditional funeral procession with a band and four white horses drawing the hearse. Just before the procession sets off, Sarah Jane arrives, pushing through the crowd of mourners to throw herself on her mother's casket. She begs her mother's forgiveness, saying, "I killed my own mother!" Lora takes Sarah Jane to her limousine to join her, Susie, and Steve as the procession slowly travels through a city street. A large African-American crowd, dressed in the finery of their lodges and associations, silently watches.
The screenplay was written by Eleanore Griffin and Allan Scott. Together with discussions with director Douglas Sirk, they decided to make changes to the story to reflect the society of 1959. As a result, the plot of the 1959 film differs from the 1933 novel and the 1934 film.[7]
In the novel, 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. She offers Delilah 20% of the profits, but the woman declines and chooses to remain Bea's assistant. In the novel Delilah's daughter Peola leaves the area for good. In both the films, the Black daughter returns for her mother's funeral, showing remorse. Molly Hiro described the 1959 scene as "virtually identical" to that of 1934.[7]
In the 1950s there was increased activism in the Civil Rights Movement, with milestones such as the Brown v. Board of Education US Supreme Court case, and the Montgomery bus boycott gaining national attention. In addition, more women had been working during and after World War II. At the same time, the writers acknowledged that racial discrimination and its inequities were still part of society.[citation needed]
They created a plot line in which Lora becomes a Broadway star by her own talents, with Annie assisting by being paid to serve as a nanny for Lora's child and general household manager. Producer Ross Hunter also 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 a female audience. Lana Turner's wardrobe for Imitation of Life cost over $1.078 million, making it one of the most expensive in cinema history to that time.[8]
Although many actresses, most of them white,[9] were screen-tested for the Sarah Jane 1959 role, Susan Kohner won it. She is of mixed Irish, Mexican, and Czech-Jewish ancestry. Her mother was actress Lupita Tovar, born in Mexico, and her father was Paul Kohner, a Czech-Jewish immigrant.[9]
Karin Dicker made her debut in this film as the young Sarah Jane. Noted Black 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.[11]
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"[12]– Imitation of Life was the sixth highest-grossing film of 1959, grossing $6.4 million.[13] It was Universal-International's top-grossing film that year. Hiro wrote that in contrast to the novel, this film and the previous film had received "far more critical attention". With a wider audience, the second film became "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; she also won a Globe award for Best New Actress. 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.[14]
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."[15] Sirk provided the Annie–Sarah Jane relationship in his version with more screen time and more intensity than the characters were given in the 1930s 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 issues of the two black characters.
Sirk's treatment of racial and class issues is 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."[16]
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 33 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."[11] 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 ranked the film as the 37th greatest American movie ever made, based on a survey of film critics.[18]
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]
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. In 1995, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
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 approximately one billion dollars in 2024 currency for the studio during her 18-year contract with them. Turner is frequently cited as a popular culture icon due to her glamourous persona, and a screen legend of the Golden Age of Hollywood. 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 (1957). She became a teenage star for her performances in Imitation of Life and Gidget, which made her a household name.
Jane Darwell was an American actress of stage, film, and television. With appearances in more than 100 major movies spanning half a century, Darwell is perhaps best remembered for her poignant portrayal of the matriarch and leader of the Joad family in the film adaptation of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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 (1971–1973), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–1986). 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.
Written on the Wind is a 1956 American Southern Gothic melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, and Dorothy Malone. It follows the complicated relationships among dysfunctional family members of a Texas oil dynasty: its alcoholic heir, his wife, his childhood best friend, and his ruthless, self-destructive sister.
Juanita Moore was an American film, television, and stage actress.
Susanna "Susan" Kohner is an American actress who worked in film and television. She played Sarah Jane, a young African-American woman, in Imitation of Life (1959), for which she was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress. She won two Golden Globe awards for her performance.
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).
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.
Bergetta "Dorothy" Peterson was an American actress. She began her acting career on Broadway before appearing in more than eighty Hollywood films.
Since her rise to fame in the 1940s, American film actress Lana Turner (1921–1995) has appeared and been referenced in numerous works across literature, film, art, and music. Her glamorous persona and publicized personal troubles have contributed to her recurring prevalence in popular culture.
On the evening of April 4, 1958, 14-year-old Cheryl Crane fatally stabbed 32-year-old Johnny Stompanato, the boyfriend of her mother, actress Lana Turner, at Turner's rented home in Beverly Hills, California, United States. Stompanato, a former Marine and an associate of the Cohen crime family, had been in a year-long relationship with Turner that had been rocky and marked with physical abuse.
Elizabeth Teresa "Terry" Burnham was an American actress. She had most of her career as a child actress in television series. She is best known for her performance in the Twilight Zone episode "Nightmare as a Child", which originally aired in 1960.
1 2 Handzo, Steven (1977). "Intimations of Lifelessness". Bright Lights Film Journal (6). Retrieved 2013-03-09. 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]
↑ Gallagher, Tag (July 2005). "White Melodrama: Douglas Sirk". Senses of Cinema. Retrieved 2013-03-09. 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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