Resist "Imitation of Life" though you may, it gets you in the end. It EARNS your tears.
Ross Hunter, Glamor Queen Producer of All Time, and Douglas Sirk, Glamor Queen Director of All Time, collaborate to present the tear-jerker of All Time.
Glorious costumes (Jean Louis), amazing cinematography (Russel Metty), Bud Westmore's makeup . . . on and on with the behind-the-scenes credits.
Glossy? "Imitation of Life" is BEYOND glossy! It sucks you in with its eye-popping production values until, before you know it, you're helplessly dumbstruck with the emotional undertow of the story.
Nearly 50 years later, whom do you remember? Not the glorious Lana Turner, nor the cutesy Sandra Dee, nor impossibly handsome and impossibly wooden John Gavin.
You remember Juanita Moore's heartbreaking mother and Susan Kohner as her daughter.
Watch the careful emotional builds in this brilliantly constructed film, from shallow soap opera to shattering climax.
By the time we reach Mahalia Jackson rendering "Trouble of the World" for the glamorous cast, at Juanita Moore's funeral . . . and Susan Kohner running after the hearse, hysterically yelling, "That's my Mama!," the film obliterates all reservations and reduces audiences to jelly.
This is powerful -- if perhaps hokey -- stuff.
Call "Imitation of Life" what you like.
It's the epitome of its genre and belongs in everybody's cinematic collection.
Along with a carton of Kleenex.
Ross Hunter, Glamor Queen Producer of All Time, and Douglas Sirk, Glamor Queen Director of All Time, collaborate to present the tear-jerker of All Time.
Glorious costumes (Jean Louis), amazing cinematography (Russel Metty), Bud Westmore's makeup . . . on and on with the behind-the-scenes credits.
Glossy? "Imitation of Life" is BEYOND glossy! It sucks you in with its eye-popping production values until, before you know it, you're helplessly dumbstruck with the emotional undertow of the story.
Nearly 50 years later, whom do you remember? Not the glorious Lana Turner, nor the cutesy Sandra Dee, nor impossibly handsome and impossibly wooden John Gavin.
You remember Juanita Moore's heartbreaking mother and Susan Kohner as her daughter.
Watch the careful emotional builds in this brilliantly constructed film, from shallow soap opera to shattering climax.
By the time we reach Mahalia Jackson rendering "Trouble of the World" for the glamorous cast, at Juanita Moore's funeral . . . and Susan Kohner running after the hearse, hysterically yelling, "That's my Mama!," the film obliterates all reservations and reduces audiences to jelly.
This is powerful -- if perhaps hokey -- stuff.
Call "Imitation of Life" what you like.
It's the epitome of its genre and belongs in everybody's cinematic collection.
Along with a carton of Kleenex.