Monday, March 31 at 7 pm in Viking Theater

Our next Classic American Film: "Imitation of Life" (1959)

directed by Douglas Sirk

starring Lana Turner, Sandra Dee, Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner

Aspiring actress Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) meets Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore) a homeless black woman at Coney Island and soon they share a tiny apartment with their two young daughters. Years pass; the daughters grow up; Lora becomes famous; Annie remains her faithful domestic anchor. Neurotic and obnoxious, Annie's daughter Sarah Jane doesn't like being black; since she's light-skinned, she spends the rest of the film passing as white, much to her mother's heartache and shame. Broadway diva Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter Suzie (50's teen heart-throb Sandra Dee) in a single-minded quest for stardom (while Mom's away, Suzie falls in love with Mom's boyfriendl....). Lana Turner's wardrobe (in glorious color) set a record for extravagant studio expenditure, but actresses Moore and Kohner, as the African-American mother and daughter, steal the show. Both were nominated for Academy Awards.

A "masterpiece," a "shameless tearjerker"--or both?

Reviewing Imitation of Life in 1959, Bosley Crowther called it a “shameless tearjerker. . . . the emotional potentialities are strong, and no reluctance, restraint or artful prudence has been exercised in banging them across.” (for his complete review, click here)

Today, director Douglas Sirk is often called "one of cinema's premiere auteurist heroes," the creator of "misunderstood masterpieces" (for the full article in Slant magazine, click here)

German-born Douglas Sirk has influenced filmmakers from Todd Haynes to John Waters and Quentin Tarantino. The fan on this website argues that Sirk's style even had an effect on Alfred Hitchcock.