Sirk and producer Ross Hunter chose another 30's Universal property to re-make with "Imitation of Life" and they struck gold here again. This is cream of the crop melodrama, beautifully made and emotional. This is probably Lana Turner's best performance because she is such a perfect fit for her character, who is constantly acting, blind to her own emotional needs and those around her. And of course Juanita Moore and Susan Koehner are excellent in the crux of the story, the loving black mother, housekeeper for Turner, whose more light-skinned daughter chooses to try to pass for white. Sirk is not judgmental on Koehner's rejection of her mother because we are shown just how bad the treatment of African-Americans was. The Cinemascope used here is positively breathtaking.
Review of Imitation of Life
