Imitation of Life (1959)
Composite Score: 81.37
Starring: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda, Dan O’Herlihy, and Juanita Moore
Director: Douglas Sirk
Writers: Eleanore Griffin, Allan Scott, and Fannie Hurst
Genres: Drama, Romance
MPAA Rating: NR
Box Office: $365 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
Imitation of Life tells the story of Lora Meredith, an aspiring Broadway actress who takes in Annie Johnson, an African American woman, and her daughter Sarah Jane to help take care of her own daughter Susie while she pursues an acting career. The film carries positive, if somewhat problematic, portrayals of female friendship, strong supporting performances, and some decent commentary on racial issues in America during the mid-1900s.
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
First, I want to address the problematic aspects of Lora’s and Annie’s friendship. It is born out of pity and servitude, not necessarily pure selfless friendship. Lora only agrees to take Annie and Sarah Jane in after learning that they have no place to stay. Throughout the film, despite the fact that they two women treat one another as friends, Lora is seen as the head of the house who generously provides a job and lodging for Annie, while Annie is seen – and at times treated – as the servant who is there to make sure chores get taken care of. The two women clearly love each other as good friends, but the presentation of this power dynamic between two women of different races during the 1950s is certainly imperfect.
Annie’s portrayal throughout the film, even outside of her friendship with Lora, often takes on a problematic air. To Lora’s daughter Susie, she is essentially the archetypal “Mammy” of the minstrel shows and other problematic entertainment of the early 1900s, which the film seems to want to condemn. She offers sage advice and takes care of Susie far more than her mother ever does, again a more positive take on the trope, but still within the trope. Steve, Lora’s love interest, played by John Gavin, is the only character who treats Annie as an equal, driving her places and working with her and talking to her, but in the end, he ends up with Lora. Not that such a romance even is hinted at in the film, but it could have added a bit more depth to Annie’s character. Even in her relationship with her own daughter Sarah Jane, Annie’s portrayal is problematic. She is seen as a constant reminder to Sarah Jane and those around her that she is black, which Sarah Jane resents up until her mother’s death. The “reconciliation” of Sarah Jane with her mother feels fairly hollow at the end, after Annie apologizes for the role that she played in Sarah Jane’s struggles to distance herself from her blackness – yes, Sarah Jane does finally accept her mother, but she gives no indication that she intends to change her core values about being anti-black so…
The final major issue with the film is a strange plot complication added toward the start of the third act. While Lora is away shooting a film in Italy, her 16-year-old daughter Susie begins to spend a lot of time with Steve, a grown man, and eventually falls in love with him. This love is presented as “real” by both Susie and Annie, whom she confides in about the feeling. There is no real condemnation of such a relationship, outside of the fact that Steve already loves her mother and just sees Susie as a little girl. Even Lora, while initially outraged that Steve would allow such feelings to happen, is quick to forgive and does little to dismiss or condemn her daughter’s incredibly dangerous feelings. Steve is obviously oblivious to the whole thing and never learns of it, which is problematic in its own right as well.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
There is a need for more portrayals of women supporting women in the sphere of entertainment. Often, female friendships are presented as at least mildly competitive, setting girls at odds with one another from the jump. While this film’s portrayal of Lora’s and Annie’s friendship is not without its flaws, not once are they seen as in competition with one another. Though their daughters often try and pit them against one another, there is never any animosity shown between Lora and Annie. They help each other throughout the film, and Lora seems to be the character most sincerely moved by Annie’s death at the end of the film.
Both Juanita Moore as Annie and Susan Kohner as Sarah Jane received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress for their performances. Both nominations were well-deserved and moving in their own right. Juanita Moore stays strong as the steadfast, ever-positive and proud African American mother, providing support and friendship for Lora, a positive maternal figure for Susie, and a connection to her own heritage for Sarah Jane. Perhaps her strongest scene is her confrontation of Sarah Jane in California. Moore delivers strong lines as the mother who knows that she does not have long left in the world and wants to reconcile with her daughter, even if that means not fully winning her over to self-acceptance. Her performance in the motel room is moving and heart-wrenching, watching the tragedy unfold. Susan Kohner’s Sarah Jane is strong-headed but insecure and gives a powerful portrayal of a girl struggling with her racial heritage in the 1950s – this is not to say the casting was perfect, as Kohner is Latina of Mexican heritage and not African American, but the portrayal is still resonant.
Imitation of Life’s positive notes might not be enough to vault it onto everyone’s must-watch list, but the performances of its supporting actresses keep it in the list of Greatest Films of All Time. If you are at all interested, get yourself a Criterion Collection subscription and check this one out.
