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:

Imitación de la vida

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

Douglas Sirk's last Hollywood film before he retired back to his native Germany.

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Goofs

In the top right corner as David Edwards arrives in Lora's living room after she becomes famous.

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Quotes

Lora Meredith: [to Sarah Jane] You weren't being colored, you were just being childish.

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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 The Curse of Lizzie Borden 2: Prom Night (2008)

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Soundtracks

Trouble of the World
(uncredited)
Words and music by Unknown
Performed by Mahalia Jackson

User Reviews

Ahead of its time

This movie, released in 1959, features topics that would not be discussed in good company for years: blacks and whites sharing an apartment, single mothers raising children on their own, and prejudice against blacks.

I was only 7 when this movie came out, and I remember when the Civil Rights movement started and what trouble it caused. This movie showed the suffering that racism was causing, in a way that helps non-blacks empathize with the tragedy.

The screenwriters cleverly wove all kinds of sub-themes into the plot, including the challenges women had to overcome to land a decent job. The story also addresses the question of what should happen when a working woman gets married: does she quit working and let her husband be the bread-winner, or should the husband support the wife in her work? These were unusual questions in the early years after World War 2, before which almost no women held professional positions.

Given the year this movie came out, it dealt fairly with all of these social challenges.