Imitation of Life (1959)

Directed by

Douglas Sirk

Genre

drama film, romance film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 04m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.5 of 10 from 321 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A widowed actress and her black housekeeper raise their daughters together. The housekeeper's daughter passes for white and rejects her mother, causing deep family pain.

melancholicemotionally intensevisually lushsoapyheartbreakingdramaticpoignantsocially charged

What happens

Imitation of Life is a 1959 American melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk and produced by Ross Hunter. It stars Lana Turner and John Gavin, with Sandra Dee, Dan O'Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda, and Juanita Moore in supporting roles. Gospel music singer Mahalia Jackson appears as a church choir soloist. It is the second film adaptation of the 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst, following the 1934 film directed by John M. Stahl. Released by Universal Pictures, Imitation of Life was Sirk's final Hollywood film and dealt with issues of race, class and gender. Kohner and Moore each received Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for their performances, with Kohner winning the Golden Globe Award. 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 had previously been added to the National Film Registry in 2005. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Middle of the Night (1959)
• Imitation of Life (1934)
• Night of the Quarter Moon (1959)
• Woman Obsessed (1959)
• The Black Orchid (1959)
• I Passed for White (1960)
• The Fugitive Kind (1959)
• Mildred Pierce (1945)