Imitation of Life

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Leaburn O @RT35452347 Aug 5 A picture with a lot to say. It is melodramatic in places but it’s also well acted and believable. One send in particular is a tear jerker. Charting the lives of two mothers and their two daughters, it is a sad tale in the end but a good steady plot which is well paced. Watched on DVD. See more Bonnie L @RT15712777 09/08/2023 This drama, claimed to be melodramatic, is much more. The racial angst and disparity and Hollywood's use of owning a star is revealed brilliantly by the actors portraying the allegory of imbalanced life. I was caught up in the story. What else could be the goal of a movie? See more Matthew D @OceanSage 08/21/2023 Lana Turner is dreamy and touching as an aspiring actress. German director Douglas Sirk's romance melodrama Imitation of Life (1959) is a beautiful picture. I think that Sirk's lush Technicolor style with gorgeous sets, costumes, hair, and glamour are all dressing to get American audiences comfortable with his cozy directorial style, so that he can guide them into difficult topics like racism, sexism, passing, poverty, romance, parenting, motherhood, and careers for a truly moving tragedy. Douglas Sirk was a phenomenal director with many brilliant films I've loved like Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, Written on the Wind, and Imitation of Life. It's a sincerely romantic film that has very modern and progressive ideas about women, work, and society. Author Fannie Hurst created a complex story with very modern ladies. I found it empathetic towards women's struggles and perspective in a way that still feels fresh today. Hurst actually deals with race, class, and gender with a consideration towards black people, passing people, poor and working class women. Screenwriters Eleanore Griffin and Allan Scott bring a warmth and understanding to race relations and class divides with a very modern script. Lana Turner as a lovely white widow Lora Meredith, who takes on Juanita Moore's kind black mother Annie Johnson as her maid. Lana Turner is gorgeous, glamorous, and unaware of her own daughter's feelings. Turner is quite sympathetic when she's getting harassed by sleazy men in the entertainment industry. I thought her motherhood scenes show Lora's care, but inability to really see others. Juanita Moore is fabulous as the nurturing and hard working mother Annie, who basically raises both girls. John Gavin is excellent as the kind, but often controlling photographer love interest Steve Archer. Sandra Dee is aloof and spoiled as 16 year old Susie. Susan Kohner is chaotic and spiteful as the resentful 18 year old Sarah Jane, who has been passing as white for her entire life out of hatred for her own mother being black. Jo Ann Greer's dubbed singing for her is amazing. Robert Alda is so sinister and creepy as the sleazy agent Allen Loomis. Likewise, Dan O''Herlihy is underhanded and sleazy as playwright David Edwards. Karin Dicker is very frustrating and bitter already as 8 year old Sarah Jane, already trying to pass as white. Terry Burnham is a spoiled little monster as 6 year old Susie. Mahalia Jackson cameos with her powerful vocals as the choir soloist in the end. Editor Milton Carruth's smooth cuts let all the melodrama play out for an engaging dramatic film. I loved cinematographer Russell Metty's sleek and steady camera movements. Art direction from Alexander Golitzen and Richard H. Riedel make lovely and detailed sets with vibrant colorful furniture and walls from set decorators Russell A. Gausman and Julia Heron. Composers Henry Mancini and Frank Skinner craft a gentle film score with a tender sound. Costume designer Jean Louis's gowns for Lana Turner are to die for with lush pinks, blues, whites and ornate detailing. Makeup artists Del Armstrong, Bud Westmore, Lynn F. Reynolds, and Nick Marcellino ensure each actress' skin tones are reflected, but also sparkle. Hairstyling from Larry Germain, LaVaughn Speer, and Pat Westmore do wonderful curls and flowing tresses for the lavish haircuts on Lana Turner and the other actresses. In all, Imitation of Life is a slick 125 minutes with plenty to say and much to feel. See more 05/11/2022 The greatest actors for an amazing drama movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Fong Kok Hoong F @RT29722865 04/17/2022 Douglas Sirk refashions the 1934 black-and-white classic, perking it up not only with colours but also with a meatier story of the two pairs of dysfunctional single mothers and daughters struggling with conflicts and all in the glory of his baroque visual style. See more Kensi B @Kensi 02/26/2022 The times, how they change. What I'm sure was a mind-blowingly racially progressive movie for the time now comes across as rather cringy- the message seeming to be that black people are worth caring about so long as they are unfailingly subservient and take care of your kids and clean your house. My favorite character was the daughter, Sarah Jane, the only one of them who seemed to have any idea how horribly the deck was stacked against her and was determined to take the only way out she could take - "pass" as white. Interestingly, the part that came across as most progressive these days is that Lana Turner, clearly in her 40s, not only has no plastic surgery or Botox (didn't exist then) but is treated as a sex symbol through the entire movie. The 50s might have been problematic in many ways, but at least it didn't worship little girls and allowed middle-aged women to be desirable. See more Read all reviews

Imitation of Life

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