Imitation of Life (1959)
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Videos & Photos
- Trailer for this classic drama (02:19)
Movie Info & Cast
Synopsis
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
Cast
- Lana Turner
- John Gavin
- Sandra Dee
- Susan Kohner
- Robert Alda
- Dan O'Herlihy
- Juanita Moore
- Karin Dicker
- Terry Burnham
- John Vivyan
Letterboxd User Reviews
4.0
48.7K
29.2K
14.0K
- Feb 3, 2022
There's something a little icky in the experience of watching Douglas Sirk's Imitation of Life. Part of it, I think, is how difficult it is to escape the sneaking suspicion of exploitation that comes with a major Hollywood studio centering a Black actor purely to celebrate…
sakana1Aug 25, 201593/100 Douglas Sirk is a master of feeling, and Imitation of Life is no exception. Viewing a Sirk film is like knowingly diving into a kiddie pool, embracing its mush and melodrama, but as soon as you hit the water, its depths are unexpected and gorgeously profound.…
SilentDawnMay 22, 2014''How do you tell a child that she was born to be hurt?'' Well with this, my second Douglas Sirk film after All That Heaven Allows, I can recognise the intuitive gaze of a man of European descent, and how he saw American society and dutifully applied bitter critique and…
Rod Sedgwick - Dec 21, 2017
i just wanna throw myself against the wall and sob in technicolor while wearing a housedress
noraOct 7, 2022sirk spends so much time allowing his characters to articulate their hopes and dreams, their contradictions and flaws; it's an act of pure artistic generosity. there's a genuine love for all of these people that takes the story beyond stereotypes and into a heightened…
comrade_yuiJul 2, 2021Imitation of Life is both a tragedy and a celebration of our differences as human beings and the challenges that come with age and maturity. Sirk understands how to combine the chic, bubblegum, eye-popping style with citations of suburbia and racism, ensuring that the…
Sam - Apr 25, 2022
"How do you explain to your child that she was born to be hurt?" It's instructive to see this and the 1934 versions as reflecting the same core themes through the radically different prisms of their eras. The '34 film, truer to the book, is bound to Depression-era…
Jake ColeJun 3, 2026After being enthralled by All That Heaven Allows, I was expecting Imitation of Life’s tale of an aspiring actress rising from struggling single motherhood to Broadway stardom to be another glossy Douglas Sirk melodrama, but it is so much more. As much as I enjoyed the…
RichardAug 27, 2017"oh mother, stop acting. stop trying to shift people around as if they were pawns on a stage". routine as performance. something like an aegis of formal control, sirk orchestrates a circus of appearances and illusions just to show us how fragile everything actually is, in…
Diogo Serafim
Queue Community Reviews
92%
Community 336
Top Reviews
- 10000BCman likedImitation of Life
when you think about it, the deeper message is: black people are okay so long as they care for your kids
kalina likedImitation of LifeImitation of Life is one of those films that I fully understand the cultural reverence for, while also knowing that it just doesn't work for me on a personal level. It's undeniably influential, emotionally ambitious, and well-acted, but my frustration with its character dynamics ultimately…
MovieDaddy likedImitation of LifeVery solid classic drama. The best version of this story put forth. Amazing performances all around s. The golden age of cinema is well represented here.
- Murph likedImitation of Life
Rating: rating: 6.5/10 Cheesy and definitely made in the 1950s but still worth a watch. Overall a good story that’s sad and at times hard to watch.
DeeLinds lovedImitation of LifeI first saw this movie as a child. It left a lasting impression on me
hanne likedImitation of Liferating: 🎥🎥.5 steve when i catch you…
- SHARAGIM ESHKEVARIAN lovedImitation of Life
Worth to watch it, u won’t regret
Husume lovedImitation of LifeIt’s really good — just watch it
Moviewatcher47 lovedImitation of LifeOne of my favorite movies
Atom Users Reviews
Metacritic
The secret of Sirk's double appeal is a broadly melodramatic plotline, played with perfect conviction yet constantly criticized and challenged by the film's mise-en-scene, which adds levels of irony and analysis through a purely visual inflection.
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
This modernized remake of Miss Hurst's frankly lachrymose tale is much the same as its soggy predecessor. It is the most shameless tear-jerker in a couple of years.
Bosley Crowther
The New York Times
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is Imitation of Life (1959) (1959)?
The movie is 2hr 5min long.
What's Imitation of Life (1959) (1959) about?
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
Who's the cast of Imitation of Life (1959) (1959)?
- Lana Turner as Lora Meredith
- John Gavin as Steve Archer
- Sandra Dee as Susie (16)
- Susan Kohner as Sarah Jane (18)
- Robert Alda as Allen Loomis
- Dan O'Herlihy as David Edwards
- Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson
- Karin Dicker as Sarah Jane (8)
- Terry Burnham as Susie (6)
- John Vivyan as Young Man
Who's the director behind Imitation of Life (1959) (1959)?
Douglas Sirk directed Imitation of Life (1959) (1959).
Who produced Imitation of Life (1959) (1959)?
Ross Hunter produced Imitation of Life (1959) (1959).
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