Imitation of Life (1959)

An aspiring actress befriends a black widow, but trouble arises when the latter is rejected by her daughter, who tries to pass for white.

Director:

Douglas Sirk

Writers:

Eleanore Griffin (screenplay), Allan Scott (screenplay)

Stars:

Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lana Turner	...	Lora Meredith
John Gavin	...	Steve Archer
Sandra Dee	...	Susie - 16
Susan Kohner	...	Sarah Jane - 18
Robert Alda	...	Allen Loomis
Dan O'Herlihy	...	David Edwards
Juanita Moore	...	Annie Johnson
Karin Dicker	...	Sarah Jane - 8
Terry Burnham	...	Susie - 6
John Vivyan	...	Young Man
Lee Goodman	...	Photographer
Ann Robinson	...	Showgirl
Troy Donahue	...	Frankie
Sandra Gould	...	Annette
David Tomack	...	Mr. McKenney

Storyline

Aspiring actress Lora Meredith meets Annie Johnson, a homeless black woman at Coney Island and soon they share a tiny apartment. Each woman has an intolerable daughter, though, Annie's little girl Sarah Jane, is by far the worse. Neurotic and obnoxious, Sarah Jane doesn't like being black; since she's light-skinned (her father was practically white), she spends the rest of the film passing as white, much to her mother's heartache and shame. Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter in a single-minded quest for stardom.

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Plot Keywords:

african american | housekeeper | light skinned black | race relations | melodrama | 

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Taglines:

"I'll get the things I want out of life, one way or another...from one man to another!"

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 March 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mirage de la vie

Filming Locations:

Aquarius Theater - 6230 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$13,990,819

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$25,000,000, 1 January 1970

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ross Hunter insisted on maintaining a lavish production, despite a tight budget. He always used real flowers on the sets, and the jewelry was the real thing, too, supplied by Laykin et Cie. It was appraised at $1 million.

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Goofs

When Lora is posing for the flea powder ad in 1947, several New York City Transit Authority R16 subway cars built in 1954 can be seen passing outside.

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Quotes

Annie: Miss Lora, we just come from a place where... where my color deviled my baby. Now, anything here has gotta be better.

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Crazy Credits

Juanita Moore, who plays Annie, is billed with the credit "And Presenting Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson", even though she had already appeared in many films.

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Connections

Referenced in Smash: The Tonys (2013)

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Soundtracks

Empty Arms
(uncredited)
Written by Arnold Schwarzwald & Frederick Herbert
Performed by Susan Kohner dubbed by Jo Ann Greer

User Reviews

A Real Tear Jerker

I have seen this movie a countless number of times and know the dialogue by heart. Each time I watch it, I say, "I'm not going to cry this time". Sometimes I almost make it, but then Mahalia Jackson starts to sing and I lose it. My children don't understand why Sarah Jane wanted to pass for white. I tried to explain to them that in that day and age, it was sometimes necessary. The beautiful Susan Kohner steals the film. It's a shame that she only made a handful of movies. To me the most heart-wrenching scene is where Annie visits Sarah Jane in her hotel room. She says' "I want to hold you my arms one more time. Just like you were my baby." I puddle up just writing about it.

In Lana Turner's biography, she writes about the making of this movie. It was made shortly after her daughter stabbed Lana's gangster boyfriend to death. She said that when you see her crying in the funeral scene, those tears were real. When Mahalia started to sing "Troubles of the World", all of her troubles started to come back to her and she got up and ran out of the church. They had to run after her and bring her back to complete the scene.