Imitation of Life - 1959
Cats: Set Your Recorders, Drama, Tawdry|This is a remake of an earlier picture that starred Claudette Colbert but now it gets the Douglas Sirk treatment. Coney Island, 1947, war widow and actress Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) meets up with a homeless African American single mother Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore). Both woman have daughters close to the same age and both are lonely and broke. Annie offers, in exchange for place to sleep, her services as a housekeeper. The two women become close, taking care of each other. As Lora’s career takes off, bringing a huge amount of fame and fortune, Annie goes right along taking care of Lora. Annie’s daughter is very light skinned and passes for white, something that she wants to be even though this breaks Annie’s heart. Ultimately the daughter denies her mother. If you have not seen this picture, be prepared. Susan Kohner is marvelous as the daughter who breaks her mother’s heart. Lora’s neglected daughter is played by the forever young Sandra Dee. So what we have here is one daughter neglected and one mother cast out. A lesson in what it means to care and take care of someone is learned but is it too late? I have always said that life lessons can be learned from Lana Turner pictures.
