Eldergays why was Imitation of Life 1959

Because Lana Turner had just gone through the ordeal of her dyke daughter killing her big dicked boyfriend, so the public were quite invested in her.

It's more melodramatic. Also, some argue Sirk's movies are more subversive than they appear.

Both are great, though the '59 one is much soapier and as R2 notes, more melodramatic. Lana always brought the melodrama. I have a two-disc Blu-ray set containing both films. I know Criterion put out the original a couple of years ago, but I haven't bought that release (yet). I wish they'd give the '59 one a standalone release. They have several Sirk films in their catalogue already.

It got more attention because it came out the year after Lana Turner's teenage daughter stabbed to death her mother's gangster boyfriend Johnny Stompanato, which was one of the biggest tabloid sensations of the mid-century that featured Turner's hilariously fake "actressy" testimony of the witness stand, and brought to light that Turner wasn;t a very good other. So the idea of a film about Turner playing onscreen a famous actress who didn't get along with her teenage daughter had a lot of appeal to it.

It's also a Douglas Sirk film, which means it highly upped the glamour quotient. And as r2 says, Sirk is one of the most famous mid-century auteurs, and so because of that it's been given a lot of critical attention. It's also hilariously campy (though it's too long), and has hilarious bits in it like Turner's hilariously over the top performance (from her very first line on the Coney island boardwalk calling for her daughter), the constant discussion of what a great actress Turner's character is, Juanita Moore's visit to the nightclub where her daughter performs as a showgirl (which is staged like a nightmare), and then the daughter's breakdown at her mother's bizarrely over-the-top funeral (which seems to have shut an entire city down).

But the 1930s film is terrific, if less showy. Claudette Colbert was much better at comedy than melodrama, but it features fine performances from Louise Beavers and (especially) Freddie Washington as her tortured daughter.

[quote] and brought to light that Turner wasn;t a very good other.

I of course meant to say "that Turner wasn't a very good mother."

Lana was always pure soap opera, but I respect any gal who likes a big cock.

I know many people love the Sirk movies but I just don't get the appeal unless you REALLY love melodramas. I saw the 1959 version and liked parts of it but, as Pauline Kael noted, you do feel like the emotion is being choked out of you. Maybe I should give the first one a shot.

Or a very god actor.

I just read the book recently. It's quite a bit different from both movies.

There's an interesting new book out from last year called "A Murder in Hollywood" by Casey Sherman about the Turner-Stomnpanato incident that makes a convincing case for what has always been gossip: that Lana Turner stabbed Stompanato in self-defense, and she got her daughter Cheryl to take the rap for her because she knew Cheryl (as a 14 year-old girl acting ostensibly to defend her mother) would only be sent for a while to a reformatory, while in Turner had admitted she had done it it would have been the end of her movie career.

One shouldn't ignore the terrific Oscar-nominated performances of Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore as strengthening the remake.

Ah dun fixed y’all a mess o’ crawdaddies, Miz Lora, fo’ you an yo’ friends.

Showgirls is like a slutty mashup of All About Eve and Imitation of Life. Proof:

Imitation of Life: "I'm white. White!"

Showgirls: "You're a fuckin' stripper, don't you get it!?" "I'm a dancer!".

Interesting that Peola was black and Sarah Jane was white.

Reply 15 and no mention of John Gavin

Juanita Moore’s performance is heartbreaking and brilliant.

R15, I assumed that would be the first comment on this post. He's hot!

{quote]Interesting that Peola was black and Sarah Jane was white.

Both People and Sarah Jane were of mixed-race (white and black) backgrounds, and had black biological mothers.

The actress who played Sarah Jane, Susan Kohner, was of Irish, Mexican, and Hungarian-Jewish descent, and the actress who played Peola, Fredi Washington, was of African and European descent.

I know, r18. The first one cast a black actress who could pass as white and the second cast a white actress who could could pass as mixed race. My point being a commentary.

My point was that you confused the characters with actresses who played them at r14.

I wasn't confusing them, r20. Sorry if I wasn't clear.

Understood!

Both wonderful films and both did well at the box office. The 1959 version has a bit more glitz and glamour and the performances a bit more memorable

Few movies have final scenes as wonderfully overripe as Mahalia Jackson singing and Susan Kohner throwing herself on the hearse.

I adore the 1934 version and went down a rabbit hole learning about the origins of Aunt Jemima and wondered if the Aunt Delilah marketing similarity was deliberate.

Lana had just come off the scandal of her lover's murder and- instead of it ruining her career- she capitalized on it by playing a series of mothers with troubled daughters.

I love the song Sarah Jane sang in the dive bar…

Aunt Delilah's Pancake Flour boxes show up in a warehouse scene in Hitchocks "Saboteur."

Lana Turner led a seedy life.

Lana left $50k to her dyke daughter and bequeathed the rest to her maid. The maid and the dyke daughter ended up in court over that.

Why did Peola go by the name Delilah for the pancake mix? The brand still used her likeness.

I didn't know that about the pancake boxes in Saboteur! Fascinating. Thanks r28.

I'll always think fondly of Lana for The Postman Always Rings Twice. Classic film noir.

Did any of you actually see it in theaters. Was it an “experience”.

Juanita Moore is amazing in the '59 movie and quite different from who she was in real life. In reality Moore was Hollywood through and through, big ego and all.

Rep 34:

i seem to remember seeing the 1934 version (possibly @ the Castro Theater). The audience groaned at the very unfair percentage Delilah was getting on her pancake mix. Also when Claudette Colbert's character asks her doesn't she want her own house, it's unbelievable that she wants to live in the basement and take care of the white folks. But that was Hollywood back then. Blacks were always subservient to white people.

In Mae West films, they were still maids but on a better footing with her. When West had a black man paying J"regular visits" to her Ravenswood apartment, he was refused admission by the management. West bought the building and changed the policy. In the 1950s when Jack Benny had the cast of his show staying at a hotel, Eddie "Rochester" Anderson was refused admission. Benny did something about it. He moved the entire cast to another hotel where Anderson would be welcome.

I love the title.

I think I realized I was officially gay when as a kid I saw the 1959 version and went back the next day with my mother.

R36, Mae really was progressive for her time.

R35, really? In what way did she have a big ego?

And no, it wasn't Nat 'King' Cole singing.

I've always loved the 1934 film. Yes, bowing to the times, Delilah got a small percentage and lived in the basement, but they were still business partners and best friends, which was pretty radical for the times. And Delilah was rich. Not to mention that Peola was played by a light skin black woman. On the other hand, I've always hated the 1959 version. THere's not an honest moment in the whole bloated mess. (Though yes, Juanita Moore is the standout.) I still don't get Susan Kohner.

I always called the '59 version of "Imitation of Life" "Imitation of Lana." Perhaps Lana's greatest comeback. But Juanita and Susan give the movie its real dramatic resonance. I had fun with this one!

R42, your post reminds me that Sandra Dee needed to be shot with a tranquilizer gun. She is way too "enthusiastic" and easily pleased.

I hated Sandra Dee in this movie.

And I loved how Lora became a Broadway sensation by merely suggesting that the playwright switch lines of dialogue to another character in the play.

Douglas Sirk = genius.

Felucci agreed to MY terms!

R42, agreed about the women's relationship. It's much more equal especially for the day. And Delilah's OTT funeral makes a whole lot more sense - it was her face on the pancake mix boxes. In the remake, Annie was a very modest, housekeeper to Lora, not her equal in any way, shape, or form. although they cared for each other very much. That funeral scene was ridiculous for someone like Annie.

It was what Annie wanted, and given with love. The End.

Felucci was no Vittorio Phillipi.

Annie was supposedly very popular in the church community. And Lora paid for a big show.

Annie actually has a line in the film about saving up her entire life for a big funeral.

I like the 1934 version much better. It's much more honest, somehow. It has more real heart and sincerity (and way less soap and glitz).

R48. Not necessarily—the Black Church was one of the only places colored people” could have dignity, honor, and leadership during that time period. Yes, Annie had saved for the funeral (I doubt Lora paid a dime towards it), but Annie was no doubt highly regarded and respected in her church. Her occupation as a housekeeper would not have mattered—that she was a righteous woman of faith (who probably was generous to her church) would have been what counted.

Remember, it's a movie: it needn't make sense.

I’ll also add our r54 that I think is noteworthy that the milk man that Annie bonded with at the beginning of the film that serviced the household was at her funeral. That shot always moves me because it’s one of the things that speaks to Annie’s character and how well she was regarded.

Trivia: the Kohners

Susan and the real Gidget were cousins!

Weird recollection - when Lana was on a talk show promoting her book, probably Donahue, her mouth looked funny when she said "Imitation"