Imitation of Life (1959)
Director:
Douglas Sirk
Tagline:
« “I’ll get the things I want out of life, one way or another…from one man to another!” »
Actors:
Lora Meredith
Steve Archer
Susie (16)
Sarah Jane (18)
Allen Loomis
Genre:
Drama
Rating:
(19’990 votes)
(19’990 votes)
Quotes:
« Annie: How do you tell a child that she was born to be hurt?
»
« Lora Meredith: Now, just a moment, young lady! It's only because of my ambition that you've had the best of everything. And that's a solid achievement that any mother can be proud of!
»
« Susie, age 16: [tearfully] And how about a mother's love?
»
« Lora Meredith: LOVE? But you've always had that!
»
« Susie, age 16: Yes, by telephone, by postcard, by magazine interviews… you've given me everything… but yourself!
»
« Lora: It never occurred to me that you had many friends. You never have any visit you.
»
« Annie: I know lots of people. Oh, hundreds.
»
« Lora: Really?
»
« Annie: I belong to the Baptist church. And I belong to several lodges too.
»
« Lora: I didn't know.
»
« Annie: Miss Lora, you never asked.
»
Trailer:
Imitation of Life
Runtime:125 minutes
Plots:
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
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. However, Annie’s little girl Sarah Jane is by far the worst. 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 trying to pass as white, much to her mother’s heartache and shame. Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter in a single-minded quest for stardom.
In Coney Island, the widow and aspiring actress Lora Meredith finds her 6-year-old daughter Susie playing with 8-year-old Sarah Jane, the daughter of homeless Annie Johnson. Lora brings Annie and her daughter to live in her small apartment in New York and they become close friends. Lora has a love affair with photographer Steve Archer and soon he proposes. But the ambitious Lora dreams on becoming a star on Broadway and prioritizes her career and also neglects Susie. The light-skinned Sarah Jones rejects her Black mother and tries to pass as white for her friends. Lora succeeds in her career and reaches stardom. Ten years later, she meets Steve by chance and he pays attention to Susie while Lora is shooting a film in Italy. When she returns, she decides to get married with Steve, but Susie has fallen in love with Steve. Meanwhile Sarah Jane runs away from home to work in fleshpots.
