During the publicity tour for the film, one reporter asked Susan Kohner if she had "minded" playing a black character. The same year Imitation of Life hit movie theatres and became a best seller all over again, the book's inspiration, Zora Neale Hurston, died forgotten and penniless in Florida. The other, St. Louis Blues (1958), actually gave her a character name. -- Moore's deathbed confession. Maria seemed to be very . Principal Cast: Lana Turner (Lora Meredith), John Gavin (Steve Archer), Sandra Dee (Susie, age 16), Juanita Moore (Annie Johnson), Susan Kohner (Sara Jane, age 18), Dan O'Herlihy (David Edwards), Robert Alda (Allen Loomis). But both women suffer heartbreak caused by their daughters. into a masterpiece of film writing. Cast: Lana Turner (Lora Meredith), John Gavin (Steve Archer), Sandra Dee (Susie), Dan O'Herlihy (David Edwards), Susan Kohner (Sarah Jane), Robert Alda (Allen Loomis), Juanita Moore (Annie Johnson), Mahalia Jackson (Herself), Troy Donahue (Frankie), Sandra Gould (Receptionist), Jack Weston (Stage Manager), Bess Flowers (Geraldine Moore), Myrna Fahey (Actress) Thanks to its provocative themes, the novel was a huge success. Susie (Sandra Dee) and Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) are now teens, Lora (Lana Turner) now a Broadway star and Annie (Juanita Moore) still her backup, when old flame Steve (John Gavin) shows up at a premiere party ten years later, in producer Ross Hunter's, Imitation Of Life (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Foolish Together, Single mom and aspiring actress Lora (Lana Turner), embarrassed by Christmas attention from Steve (John Gavin), as housekeeper/roommate Annie (Juanita Moore) takes a call from agent Loomis (Robert Alda), representing Edwards (Dan O'Herlihy), in Douglas Sirk's hit, Imitation Of Life (1959) -- (Movie Clip) Title Song, Credits, Earl Grant's vocal, Sammy Fain and Paul Thomas Webster's song, the especially evocative title sequence, from producer Ross Hunter and director Douglas Sirk's hit melodrama, Imitation of Life (1959) - (Original Trailer), Two mothers, one white, one black, face problems with their rebellious daughters in Douglas Sirk's, Michael Phillips Intro -- Imitation Of Life (1959). It's a film that will benefit from word-of-mouth, particularly of lipsticked It has "Imitation of Life may be the most important movie ever made. Dr. Joseph Choi, a deputy medical examiner at . Universal borrowed costume designer Jean Louis from Columbia for the film. lamentable soap opera/"women's picture"/"problem" picture.The most honest This picture, Douglas Sirk's last feature, was a remake of the 1934 Universal film of the same title directed by John M. Stahl and starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40). Quinn again won Best Supporting Actor playing painter Paul Gauguin Lust for Life (1956) which at the time was the shortest on-screen time to win an acting Oscar. Produced - inevitably - by Ross Hunter. Problems arise when Lemmon falls for his boss's paramour - it gets even more complicated when she tries to kill herself in his pad! His parents were involved in Pancho Villa's revolutionary struggle and must have made a striking couple since the father was half Irish and mother Mexican Indian. Fannie Hurst's novel, Imitation of Life (1933), was the story of two single mothers, one white and one black, who join forces and become successful businesswomen. Steve, now a company vice-president, learns that Sarah Jane is working as a chorus girl in Los Angeles, and Annie, convinced she is dying, flies to California for one last look at her daughter. Viva Zapata! (It also produced one of TV's oddest spinoffs in1994's 704 Hauser about a multi-racial family living in Archie Bunker's old house. After wide shots establishing the real Coney Island, director Douglas Sirk switches to location shooting in Long Beach, CA, introducing principals Lana Turner, John Gavin and Juanita Moore, opening producer Ross Hunter's hit re-make, Out of work model and/or actress and single mom Lora (Lana Turner) has schemed her way into an after-hours meeting at the office of theatrical agent Loomis (Robert Alda) who, it turns out, lacks certain scruples, early in Douglas Sirk's. An aspiring white actress takes in an African-American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white. -- Gavin, as Steve, meeting Turner after she's become a star. Lora and David argue when she decides to appear in another writer's drama, but her performance is brilliant, and this play, too, becomes an instant hit. In the background of her public rise to fame, Wood survived some of the worst situations life could throw at someone, just to mysteriously drown in a still-unsolved incident at only 43 years old. Lemmon brought a new comic persona to Hollywood films. Archie became such an icon that his chair is now preserved in the Smithsonian. Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven (2002), starring Julianne Moore, is a pastiche of scenes and themes from Sirk's films. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. When the young man learns that Sarah Jane's mother is black, however, he beats her. She had been hospitalized for the last two weeks for treatment of kidney disease, and had developed pneumonia. Music: Frank Skinner It was a trip to Italy that brought Quinn one of his most acclaimed roles: a simple-minded circus strongman in Federico Fellini's La Strada (1954). But it was the 1950s when Quinn broke out. Natalie Wood was 42 when she died. by Frank Miller, Imitation of Life is one of only two dramatic films to feature gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. When Sarah Jane runs from Annie, her distressed mother turns to Lora and asks, "How do you explain to your child that she was born to be hurt?" Imitation of Life (St. Martin's Press). Drama Music Romance In rural Texas, Salome, pregnant with Chad's baby, runs away from home and marries wealthy Yale student Tony but, years later, runs into Chad, now a successful musician in New York. -- John Gavin, as Steve Archer, coming on to Turner, as Lora Meredith. Screenplay: Eleanor Griffin, Allan Scott She was abandoned by her father by age five, and her mother, Mary Douvan, lied about Sandra's age so that she could put her in school and get a job. gowns by Jean Louis, garish Technicolor, irony, Oscar®-nominated Ross Hunter wanted to update the story, making the leading character an actress instead of a businesswoman, but keeping the race issue and the conflicts between mothers and daughters. She went back to The New Yorker, eventually retiring in 1991 partly as a result of Parkinson's Syndrome. In addition to the usual writer's assortment of jobs (seamstress, cook, retail clerk) she started writing about film in 1953; her first review was of Charlie Chaplin's Limelight which she disliked. Lemmon entered the world in a completely novel fashion; he was born prematurely in an elevator in Boston in 1925. African-American actress Juanita Moore Imitation of Life hit number nine on the New York Times best seller list and went through nine printings in its initial release. Their success is tainted by problems with their daughters. Lemmon was truly a one-of-a-kind actor and his track record for acclaimed performances is truly remarkable: 8 Oscar nominations (he won Best Supporting Actor for Mister Roberts (1955) and Best Actor for Save the Tiger (1973), a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, 8 British Academy Award nominations, 4 Emmy Award nominations, numerous Golden Globe nominations, a two-time Best Actor winner at the Cannes Film Festival, the list goes on and on. During her audition, Lora suggests that David rewrite portions of his play, and though angry at first, he soon realizes she is right. -- Lypsinka, "My Favorite Lora then meets Sarah Jane's single black mother, Annie Johnson, and a white photographer named Steve Archer, who takes some photographs of the girls. During filming, he sent flowers and gifts to Turner's dressing room regularly. Letterboxed. In 1988, O'Connor took the role of a Southern sheriff in a TV series based on the movie In the Heat of the Night and found himself in another hit, this one lasting until 1995. As he did throughout his career, Quinn rarely hesitated to take work whereever he found it, which resulted in dozens of potboilers like Seven Cities of Gold (1955) but also a few cult favorites like Budd Boetticher's The Magnificent Matador (1955). His romantic visions of the West are soon changed by the hard-living, hard-drinking reality. Towards the end of that decade he appeared in Nicholas Ray's The Savage Innocents (1959) as an Eskimo, inspiring Bob Dylan to write "Quinn the Eskimo" (a Top Ten hit for Manfred Mann in 1968). Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Richard H. Riedel Those issues also brought Hurst an impressive amount of fan mail thanking her for her depiction of the African-American characters. Two other popular releases in 1959, Gidget and A Summer Place, would make her a star and contribute to Imitation of Life's box office success. ( ) ( : ampas) . Als Faktoren ihres globalen Erfolgs werden unter anderem diskursive Offenheit und Adaptionsfhigkeit genannt: Nicht-christliche Traditionen werden, beispielsweise in vielen Regionen Asiens, als Ressourcen behandelt, die in der christlichen Perspektive eine . Stop trying to shift people around as though they were pawns on a stage." (A branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library now occupies the site of Quinn's childhood home; in 1981 it was renamed in his honor.) -- Karin Dicker, as the young Sarah Jane Johnson, beginning to question her position as an African-American. TCM REMEMBERS JACK LEMMON 1925-2001 Although by no means a classic, her role as woman falling pray to a warlock (Dean Stockwell) who sexually and psychologically dominates her in the The Dunwich Horror (1970), was nothing short of startling. The closer he gets to his goal, the clearer it becomes that a government conspiracy is behind his son's disappearance. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane tells Susie that she secretly has been seeing her white boyfriend, and that she would rather die than be considered black. picture and a dark commentary on ambition, motherhood, A year after the film came out, Brazilian television presented a telenovella based on the book. Viva Zapata! This was followed by major attention in academic film journals and retrospectives at film festivals. She claimed to never see a movie more than once or to change her mind about it later. By the late `60s, as "youth culture" movies became more confrontational and less frivolous with references to open sexuality and drugs in the American landscape, Dee's career began to peter out. While developing the re-make, Hunter took Fannie Hurst to lunch and asked for her ideas about updating the story. The film was a major box office success. In a passionate and witty behind-the-scenes expose, Sam She then returned to the set and completed the scene perfectly. For Lana Turner, that hit a little too close to home, and she hesitated. Before graduating, he followed his brother to another college in Ireland (he would later get a Masters in speech from Montana). Douglas Sirk was nominated for the Directors Guild Award but lost to William As recently as 1995, readers of the New York Daily News voted Imitation of Life a place among their ten favorite films. daughter in the 1950s. The book's reviews were mixed, with the best notices going to the depiction of Delilah and the story's racial issues. Not many actors can boast that they've inspired a Bob Dylan song but Anthony Quinn - who passed away June 3rd at the age of 86 - was one of the select few. Katalog Catalogue. The Apartment (1960) focused on a working stiff who lends his home to his supervisors for their extramarital affairs. Hunter insisted on maintaining a lavish production, despite a tight budget. At the mortuary,. When Susie accuses Lora of loving her career more than her, Lora offers to give Steve up, but Susie has decided to go away to college. Cinematography: Russell Metty He continued the same mix of classics and best-forgotten quickies throughout the 1960s and '70s. The series lasted until 1979 and brought O'Connor four Emmys, even leading to a four-year spinoff Archie Bunker's Place starring O'Connor. Her mother's appearance gets Sarah Jane fired, and she again runs from her, causing Annie to faint. Troy Donahue died September 2nd at the age of 65. Donahue's career declined as the Sixties became more turbulent but he still made notable appearances in The Godfather Part II (1974), playing a character with Donahue's own real name, and Monte Hellman's Cockfighter (1974). . The gritty crime drama Across 110th Street (1972) is one of the best American movies of its decade, enhanced by Quinn's turn as an embattled police captain. By all accounts, O'Connor was nothing like Archie Bunker; in fact, O'Connor was an active anti-drug crusader, partly the result of his son's drug-related suicide. Imitation of Life became Universal's top-grossing film to that time, and Turner's most successful film ever. All in the Family was an American version of the British sitcom Till Death Do Us Part that met some initial resistance (ABC rejected the first two pilots) but quickly captivated American audiences and became the country's top-rated TV show. Just then, Loomis offers her a role in a new comedy by well-known writer David Edwards, but Steve forbids her to visit Loomis, prompting her to accuse him of settling for less in his own career. Imitation of Life Premiere 1959 historycomestolife 55.3K subscribers Subscribe 128 Share Save 16K views 9 years ago Gala Opening with John Gavin, John Saxon, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Lana. Imitation of Life Brief Synopsis Two mothers, one white, one black, face problems with their rebellious daughters. Later, Lemmon claimed that he learned more about comic technique by watching these Chaplin, Keaton and Harold Lloyd two-reelers than acting school could have ever taught him. mouth." Missing was inspired by a true story - the production was condemned by the Reagan administration and awarded the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival. Executives particularly valued his ability to deliver glamorous productions on relatively small budgets. SAM STAGGS is the author of four books, including three No fun." The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Quinn was a pope in The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968), an Islamic leader in The Message (1976), a thinly disguised Aristotle Onassis in The Greek Tycoon (1978) and an assortment of gangsters, con men, military leaders and what have you. Born to be Hurt is the first in-depth account of Based on the novel by Fannie Hurst (It also produced one of TV's oddest spinoffs in1994's 704 Hauser about a multi-racial family living in Archie Bunker's old house. Most of Donahue's later films were direct-to-video efforts like Nudity Required and Omega Cop but trash aesthete John Waters, a huge fan, used him for Cry-Baby (1990). . 2023 Turner Classic Movies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. By Lang Thompson (The idea for the book was born when Hurst traveled with black author Zora Neale Hurston and encountered racism, although the story was not remotely based on either of their lives.) Between theatrical gigs, he played piano accompaniment to silent films shown at the Knickerbocker Music Hall in New York. A demographic study of the film audience in 1960 surprised executives by revealing that 30 percent of the audience for movies was African-American. He returned to the U.S. for his Broadway debut in 1958 and shortly after started to appear on numerous TV shows like The Untouchables and Naked City. Actor who got the part: Sandra Dee. Billy Wilder and Lemmon's lifelong comic foil Walter Matthau (nine collaborations with Lemmon in 32 years, including their most popular film, The Odd Couple, 1968) brought some of the comedian's finest funny moments to the screen. It Should Happen to You, directed by George Cukor, was a popular success and Lemmon and Holliday were quickly teamed again in Phffft! - Danny Peary, Guide For the Film Fanatic (Fireside). If we should ever pass on the street, please don't recognize me." But it was the 1950s when Quinn broke out. Strmungen zu ermglichen: So werden pfingstliche Strmungen hufig als Paradebeispiel eines globalisierten Christentums angefhrt. films. When no arguments could convince her to return to the church and shoot the scene, her makeup woman slapped her in the face, breaking her out of her hysterics. Screenplay: Eleanore Griffin, Allan Scott, based on the novel by Fannie Hurst Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner both received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and Kohner won a Golden Globe in the same category. Meanwhile, Lora and Susie argue over Steve. Back home, Annie tells Lora, who has just returned from Europe, that she will no longer interfere in her daughter's life, adding that she does hope to help her wayward daughter somehow. Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars for their searing portrayals of the African-American mother and daughter. During this period she was also managing and programming Berkeley Cinema Guild Theatres (one of the country's earliest repertoire cinemas despite being basically small rooms above a laundry), and was briefly married to avant-garde filmmaker James Broughton. The Mirror Crack'd. . In It Should Happen to You, Holliday plays a struggling actress who soon wins fast fame as the product of promotion. Imitation of Life became Universal's biggest moneymaker to date, and a 1995 poll by the New York Daily News still ranked it as one of the top-ten all-time favorite films. Actress Karen Dicker's name is misspelled as "Karin" in the onscreen credits. He combined elements of screwball and slapstick comedy with his own self-deprecating humor to create satiric portraits of the contemporary American male. Quinn worked with Marlon Brando who he had replaced in the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire. He eventually returned to his native Germany, where he taught film and made a few experimental pictures. -- Robert Alda, as Allen Loomis, explaining the business to Turner, as Lora. In 1988, O'Connor took the role of a Southern sheriff in a TV series based on the movie In the Heat of the Night and found himself in another hit, this one lasting until 1995. Oddly enough, in Viva Zapata! Together they made seven films, but it was their first, Some Like It Hot (1959), that captured the sheer comic genius of their collaborations together. Hunter offered a first-class production, with Jean Louis gowns and Laykin et Cie jewels, the leading women's director, Douglas Sirk, and a chance to make a lot of money, if Lana would work for a small salary plus half the net profits. producer Music by Cinematography by Russell Metty . "Fine performances and direction overcome possible soapiness to make this insincere." It also reshaped her image to reflect the public's perception of her as a glamorous sex symbol who was a victim of her own success. Producer: Ross Hunter While Lora is filming in Italy, Steve looks after Susie, and the eager teenager soon falls in love with him. In the early Sixties she engaged in an infamous and surprisingly bitter debate with critic Andrew Sarris among others about the merits of auteurism, the French-born philosophy that believes the director is the chief creative person behind any film. Before graduating, he followed his brother to another college in Ireland (he would later get a Masters in speech from Montana). Lana Turner, on the brink Lora breaks down, but sees to it that Annie has the elaborate funeral she had requested. Mama, I love you. Quinn was born April 21, 1915 in Mexico. She had her named changed to Sandra Dee (a stage name combining her shortened first name and using her stepfather's surname initial D to sign That's when she started to develop a serious interest in movies. "Why do we always have to sleep in the back?" Cast & Crew Read More Douglas Sirk Director Lana Turner Lora Meredith John Gavin Steve Archer Sandra Dee Susie Meredith, age sixteen Susan Kohner Sarah Jane [Johnson], age eighteen Robert Alda Allen Loomis Photos & Videos View All (Director Elia Kazan tried to start a rivalry between the two actors but they were great admirers of each other.) The characters lived together, loved one another and faced tragedy through their respective daughters. We strive to provide reliability in our movie trivia database, and we . melodrama: it is through the conventions of that hyper-emotional genre that Lemmon waived his salary to act in Save the Tiger (1973), the 'great American tragedy' of a businessman at the end of his rope. Blanche Met Brando. Are you black?" (Director Elia Kazan tried to start a rivalry between the two actors but they were great admirers of each other.) But both women suffer heartbreak caused by their daughters. Waters featured references to the film in both Female Trouble (1974) and Desperate Living (1977). Agent Henry Willson had hoped that new client Troy Donahue would fare as well working with Sirk as had his most famous client, Rock Hudson. Not only was there a music system in her dressing room, but Hunter even hired somebody to operate it for her. Was considered to play the role of the young daughter of Lana Turner in the classic melodrama directed by Douglas Sirk. Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020) | Official Trailer | HBO HBO 2.7M subscribers Subscribe 2.1K Share 298K views 2 years ago The greatest roles of her life were behind the scenes.. Director: Douglas Sirk "Imitation Of Life" was released 53 years ago today, on April 17th, 1959 and below, you'll find five pieces of information that even the biggest Sirk fans might not be aware of. If some producer with a hand as cold as a toad wants to do a painting of you in the nude, you'll accommodate him for a very small part." By all accounts, O'Connor was nothing like Archie Bunker; in fact, O'Connor was an active anti-drug crusader, partly the result of his son's drug-related suicide. He died in Lugano, Switzerland January 14, 1987. Imitation of Life movie images: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library. When no arguments could convince her to return to the church and shoot the scene, her makeup woman slapped her in the face, breaking her out of her hysterics. (A branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library now occupies the site of Quinn's childhood home; in 1981 it was renamed in his honor.) Later, Lora invents a lie that gets her into the office of Allen Loomis, a well-known theatrical agent, but when he tries to make love to her, arguing that a successful actress must be willing to satisfy such requests, she angrily leaves. vouchers) and made her film debut in Until They Sail (1957), starring Joan Fontaine, John Gavin. In Missing (1982), directed by the uncompromising Costa-Gavras, Lemmon played a patriotic father searching for his kidnapped son in Latin America. Email Address: Sign me up! From Broadway and early TV appearances to Hollywood, Lemmon moved West to make his screen debut in It Should Happen to You (1954), opposite Judy Holliday in a variation of her 'dumb blonde' persona that had won her an Oscar for Born Yesterday (1952). Producer: Ross Hunter White! It was in Ireland that O'Connor started acting in several local productions. C-125m. "It's drama. Her sons, Chris and Paul Weitz, are film producers/directors best known for the American Pie films and About a Boy (2002). It had no cast members from the earlier series and only lasted six episodes.) It was made into a film in 1934, starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, directed by John Stahl. In Cowboy (1958), Lemmon plays a city slicker venturing out on the wild frontier. By Lang Thompson Whether playing a cross-dressing jazz bassist or a bickering roommate, Lemmon has kept his fans in stitches for fifty years. previous biographies of movies: All About All About "Imitation of Life" is Douglas Sirk's last melodrama with an engaging and emotional story with romance, ambition, friendship, love and rejection. Onscreen, Lemmon's characters often found that they were the wrong men for their jobs. Her personal life took a surprising turn when she hooked up with singer Bobby Darin. The drama of Annie that is rejected by her daughter, in a time when color of people was a watershed, is heartbreaking and the best subplot. Editor: Milton Carruth She is survived by her son Dodd; and two granddaughters -Alexa and Olivia. Finally, Hunter and Turner's agent, Paul Kohner, convinced her that making the film was the only way to lay the rumors to rest. One day, Annie tells Lora to make certain all her possessions are left to Sarah Jane and then, after reassuring her old friend that she is "going to glory," dies. In 1979, Kael made a detour to Hollywood by the urging of Warren Beatty. The following year came was a Best Actor nomination for George Cukor's Wild Is the Wind (1957). C-125m. Turner Classic Movies cherishes the memory of this remarkable talent. She met Darin in 1960 in Portofino, Italy, where they were both cast in Come September with Rock Hudson and Gina Lollobrigida as the older romantic couple. TCM REMEMBERS JACK LEMMON 1925-2001 One cold day, Annie brings Sarah Jane's galoshes to school, where she discovers that her daughter has been trying to conceal her race from her classmates. "When passed before the moviegoer's eyes, it may force theatre owners to It had no cast members from the earlier series and only lasted six episodes.) Though The Apartment was a comic success, with each passing year the film's serious side seems even more dark and derisive. The other notorious controversy occured in 1971 with her essay "Raising Kane" which was intended to show that screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz deserved as much if not more credit for Citizen Kane (1941) than Orson Welles.
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