Both versions are on TCM this month: 1959 remake with Lana Turner, Juanita Moore and John Gavin is on Thu, September 7 at 5:45PM whilst the1934 original with Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers is on Saturday the 9th at 10:PM and Wednesday, the13th at 6:00PM (all times Eastern.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 65 | February 13, 2024 2:25 PM |
I'm going to hold out for the Netflix remake with Viola Davis and Julianne Moore (seriously).
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | September 2, 2023 11:18 PM |
I really like both - but I like the original because it is UNcampy, while I like the remake because it IS campy.
So the original is more satisfying in a way. But why is that Warren William guy in EVERY early 30's movie?? Yuck.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | September 2, 2023 11:19 PM |
I'm still waiting for them to name Lora Meredith as their star of the month.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | September 2, 2023 11:22 PM |
the 1959 version is one of those films you need to be watching while high on acid.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | September 2, 2023 11:33 PM |
It seems like the 1959 version is played on TCM every month.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | September 3, 2023 12:18 AM |
I've seen the Lana Turner version several times and I love it - Lana really lays the drama on thick. Is the Colbert version as good?
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | September 3, 2023 12:19 AM |
I think they should remake but it should be white/Asian instead of white/black. Too many landmines, to do black/white correctly.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | September 3, 2023 12:20 AM |
'Imitation of Life' Alert alert! Today (9/7) at 5:45 Eastern. Who knows if it will be on demand later?
PS Juanita Moore has an uncredited part in 'Cabin in the Sky' which is On Demand on TCM until October 6.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 8 | September 7, 2023 6:59 PM |
R7 which is why it works. Being Eurasian was/is not as confining as being part black.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | September 7, 2023 7:15 PM |
Oh, God! Idk if three boxes of tissues will be enough. 😭
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | September 7, 2023 7:23 PM |
Can someone please explain what THIS is all about?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 11 | September 7, 2023 7:58 PM |
Fun fact: In the Hitchcock movie "Saboteur," there's a scene in a warehouse that houses a number of boxes of Aunt Delilah's Pancake Mix.
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | September 7, 2023 8:01 PM |
'Imitation o' Life' (1959) is on TCM again (shocking, I know) Saturday, December 2 @ 8:00PM with hosted introduction. The 1934 version is on Wednesday, November 1 @ 8:00PM with hosted introduction.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 13 | October 28, 2023 8:02 PM |
As mentioned above, the 1934 is not campy. The chapters are less broad. It's moving. The director John M. Stahl was a 1st generation Russian Jew. He also shot Magnificent Obsession. Both movies so strong that Sirk remade them. Stahl later made a technicolor hybrid noir (noir/thriller/melodrama), Leave Her to Heaven, a magnificent film with a malignant tone, and highly recommended.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | October 28, 2023 8:18 PM |
Ah don' fixed y'all a mess o' crawdaddies, Miss Lora, fo' you and yo' friends!!
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | October 28, 2023 10:27 PM |
You bought an imitation life alert? Good luck getting first responders to your house.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | October 28, 2023 10:44 PM |
This was my Mum’s favourite film. I miss her.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | October 28, 2023 10:46 PM |
Terry Burnham is one of my favorite child actors. We were born 3 weeks apart but she' s been dead for10 years. I try not to miss her shows when they are on TV.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 18 | October 29, 2023 2:02 AM |
Douglas Sirk was a cinematic genius, seriously.
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | October 29, 2023 5:46 PM |
[quote]Can someone please explain what THIS is all about?
r11, I believe that's called...wishful thinking.
| by Anonymous | reply 20 | October 29, 2023 5:56 PM |
Life Alert is what keeps me out of assisted living
-Old lady
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | October 29, 2023 6:01 PM |
As campy as the Lana version is, the ending still gets me every time
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | October 29, 2023 6:44 PM |
I love the scene where Sarah Jane embarrasses Miss Lora by entering the room with a serving dish on her head and announcing she'd just cooked up "a whole mess of crawdads" like her mammy taught her. When Miss Lora confronts Sarah Jane you know it takes every biological cell of restraint and rigorous dramatic training to keep from calling her a "whorish, ungrateful n-word."
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | October 29, 2023 7:39 PM |
[quote] As campy as the Lana version is, the ending still gets me every time
I was always very neutral at the end. Once Annie dies, Sarah Jane is taken into the funeral carriage of Annie's white "family." By killing her mother with worry, Sarah Jane breaks her last tie to being Black and she spends the rest of her years passing. The woman that gave her life has to die so she can live the imitation of life she desires. Sarah Jane is a villain.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | October 29, 2023 7:45 PM |
[Quote] [R24] see [R15].
Aahhh...
I missed r15. That's my favorite scene.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | October 29, 2023 9:37 PM |
I wonder if they could remake this for today’s audiences…
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | October 29, 2023 10:24 PM |
Why hasn't this been made into a musical?
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | October 29, 2023 10:29 PM |
I love Sandra Dee in this movie - "Oh mother, stop acting!" is a great line, a terrific scene.
Too bad Dee didn't continue to grow into an actual actress... she was really good in her roles as a teen, young adult.
| by Anonymous | reply 31 | October 29, 2023 10:49 PM |
We got an imitation Life Alert. Our father ended up almost dying.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | October 29, 2023 11:01 PM |
The 1959 version has an epic feel to it. The production values were great, and you do get involved in the characters' lives.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 33 | October 30, 2023 12:09 AM |
"Fellucci has agreed to my TERMS!!"
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | October 30, 2023 12:26 AM |
R34- That's so GAY of you to quote that particular line
and
I approve.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | October 30, 2023 12:34 AM |
Robert Alda and Dan O’Herlihy were incredibly handsome.
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | October 30, 2023 12:35 AM |
“Why, give them to Amy!”
And a star is born…
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | October 30, 2023 12:57 AM |
Sandra Dee was marvelous. I always liked her, especially so because she’s Jersey Girl.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | October 30, 2023 1:03 AM |
"Marjorie, oh Marjorie...!???"
| by Anonymous | reply 39 | October 30, 2023 1:06 AM |
"Now, there's Kissin'...and then there's...KISSIN'....!!
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | October 30, 2023 1:08 AM |
Our wedding day…and the day we die…de great ceremonies of life…
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | October 30, 2023 1:29 AM |
It seems that the film's reputation has grown over time.
Fifty-six years after it opened, Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life remains the apotheosis of Hollywood melodrama — as Sirk’s final film, it could hardly be anything else — and the toughest-minded, most irresolvable movie ever made about race in this country.-VILLAGE VOICE
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | October 30, 2023 2:32 AM |
*Miss Turner's Jewels by Laykin et Cie*
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 43 | October 30, 2023 2:44 AM |
Dee was awful. She always was.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | October 30, 2023 2:47 AM |
Nice original 1959 trailer.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 46 | October 30, 2023 3:22 AM |
Dee was definitely the weak link in this film
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | October 30, 2023 3:29 AM |
Susan Kohner quit acting and lived the good life in Manhattan with a wealthy husband. Too bad because she was a pretty good actress. I enjoyed Sandra Dee's movies but I won't delude myself into believing she is an actress. She was never any good. My favorite Sandra Dee movie was always The Reluctant Debutante. Damn John Saxon was hot.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | October 30, 2023 3:35 AM |
Among my black grandmother’s favorite films. My sister and I watched it every summer with her. We’re both 80s millenials but somehow captivated us even with being such an old film with a tragic storyline. Great acting.
| by Anonymous | reply 49 | October 30, 2023 4:02 AM |
[quote]We’re both 80s millenials
Oh, dear.
| by Anonymous | reply 50 | October 30, 2023 4:34 AM |
I saw this film at a neighborhood movie house (now sadly, long gone - RIP, Granada!!) along with my mom and my younger sister. I was 10 and my poor little sister was about 8. It was a packed house - 100% women, of course - and from Mahalia Jackson's number on, you could hear loud audible SOBBING all over the theater!! I had never seen anyone cry at a movie before, and certainly not as loudly as this!! My poor little sister was pretty freaked out.
And in the car, driving home, my mother uttered the immortal line that neither of us have ever forgotten: "See what happens when you're mean to your mother?"
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | October 30, 2023 5:30 PM |
My late grandmother used to weep at the end of the movie when Mahalia sang that song, r52.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | October 30, 2023 6:34 PM |
THis movie and Terms of Endearment. Damn. we called them "crying movies" when they were on.
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | October 30, 2023 6:56 PM |
There is an essay somewhere (in Danny Peary's Cult Movies, maybe) about how the set decoration in the 1959 version is so meticulous and reflective of the characters in each set. The example I remember the most is that all of the books in Turner's book case are all matching sets. There aren't any single, uncoordinated volumes. Lora (the character) values things looking copacetic and tidy more than actually getting any value from the books themselves.
Sirk was amazing.
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | October 30, 2023 7:16 PM |
Todd Hayne's was inspired by the melodramas of Douglas Sirk when he made Far From Heaven
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 56 | October 31, 2023 4:18 AM |
R56 yes, and he even used the theme music from A Place in the Sun. I love Far From Heaven. I always try to watch it when it's on. Dennis Quaid did a good job as the husband with a secret.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | November 1, 2023 3:40 AM |
[quote]Todd Hayne's was inspired by the melodramas of Douglas Sirk when he made Far From Heaven
Oh, dear.
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | November 1, 2023 2:19 PM |
R56, what I also loved about FFH was the use of such vivid colors. And Julianne Moore. Seriously.
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | November 1, 2023 2:28 PM |
I love the titles of Lora Meredith's series of Broadway hits: "Happiness," "Always Laughter," and "Born to Laugh." But then her breakthrough serious role for the great Fellucci is in a film called "No More Laughter."
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | November 1, 2023 2:32 PM |
Both versions were on TCM TODAY: the original was on this morning, but the Lana Turner 1959 remake is currently On Demand (by mistake?). Pretty sure you need a cable service provider to access.
Fun Fact: Both Sarah Jane actors (Susan Kohner, Karin Dicker) are still alive while both Susies (Sandra Dee, Terry Burnham) are long dead.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 61 | February 4, 2024 8:57 PM |
I saw this in a revival house about 10 years ago with (duh) a mostly gay audience. Lots of laughs for Lana's theatrics but very quiet and a little teary for the Kohner/Moore scenes which are pretty powerful. Kohner was an excellent actress and quite stunning.
| by Anonymous | reply 62 | February 4, 2024 9:28 PM |
Life Alert is a lifesaver!
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | February 4, 2024 9:48 PM |
