Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating entertainment
Review: Douglas Sirk's films are enjoying a renaissance of sorts thanks to Todd Haynes and the excellent "Far From Heaven". 1959's "Imitation of Life" was, I believe, Sirk's last film and it certainly is a cracker.The story is ostensibly about Turner, who not only looks radiant throughout but delivers a top-rate performance as a self-centred actress who neglects her loving daughter (Dee), and her relationship with her black housekeeper and friend (Moore, who is fabulous). Moore's troubled and resentful daughter (Kohner, also fabulous) passes for white, and it is this aspect of the story that is most powerful. Visually, the film has all the trappings of a glossy Ross Hunter production from the '50s (trappings which were revitalised so well in the '80s primetime soap operas): beautiful people, beautiful clothes and settings, high levels of drama. What makes this film so special, and prevents it from descending anywhere into the territory of camp, is the grittiness beneath that glossy surface, the very interesting and multi-faceted quartet of female characters, and the great performances by the 4 actresses. Worth watching again and again.
Rating:
Summary: WONDERFUL
Review: I watched this for the first time with my mother years ago. This movie had me crying and still has me crying everytime I watch it. I received it last Christmas to add to my video collection and I love it even more. This is a wonderful, timeless masterpiece. If you have not watched it before, you should.
Rating: 
Summary: Glossy, melodramtic re-make that packs a punch
Review: It's glossy, punchy and melodramatic. The fact that the women are beautiful is an added bonus! This 1959 remake of the original 1934 version probably appeals more to modern day sensibilities. Comparing both versions is inevitable - there are several differences, though the most obvious being the time. Hollywood Diva Lana Turner plays Lora, a struggling widowed actress and mother who, by chance, meets up with a fellow struggling widow, Annie, played by Juanita Moore. By now, the Aunt Jemima image portrayed by Louise Beavers in the original version was deemed racist and inappropriate, but Juanita plays the dutiful housekeeper all the same. The ladies' daughters (played by Sandra Dee and Susan Khoner) hit it off straight away, although there's tension from Annie's pass-for-white daughter from the outset. We advance several years with the girls now in their teens. Lora's now made it as a glittering actress, and can now afford to live in the lap of luxury. Another major difference between this version and the original is that the relationship between the leading ladies is more intertwined. There's an on-screen chemistry that's electric, and it makes for compulsive viewing. Susi and Sarah Jane get like sisters - they practically grew up together. There's a special bond between Susi and Annie. Indeed, Annie knew that Susi was in love long before her mother did. Although Lana Turner's the star of this movie, she was eclipsed by Juanita Moore and Susan Khoner, who both gave career-best acting performances. Sandra Dee packs a punch too, as the wide-eyed, but neglected Susie. There are some scenes that are heartbreaking, and you can feel Annie's anguish. She would've given her right arm to have her daughter's love, but it didn't work. Sarah Jane's confused, restless and downright ungrateful! In the end, the viewer doesn't really care about 'Diva' Lora, and her enormous ego. There's something not quite right about the movie, though and it has nothing to do with the acting. I felt that Sarah Jane's character could have been explored in much more detail. It's 1959, on the verge of the Civil Rights movements. Sarah Jane's a beautiful and intelligent young woman who runs away from home and rejects her mother. And for what? So that she can become a dancer in some sleazy nightclub. Give me a break! This was a cop-out from the producers and directors here. Never mind, what's done is done. I just feel the movie lacks the sincerity of the original in certain parts. The final scenes, like the original, pull out all the stops. Poor Annie - tired, worn and despairing - dies of a broken heart, and has the grandest of funerals, including a majestic, emotionally charged rendition from Gospel legend, Mahalia Jackson. Sarah Jane turns up and throws herself at the casket - just as Peola had done in the original. This is gripping stuff. Juanita Moore and Susan Khoner received Best Supporting Actress nominations for their roles - deservedly so. For years, everyone assumed that the role of Sarah Jane went to a white actress. CORRECTION! In reality, Susan Khoner was mixed-raced - she had a white American father and Mexican mother. Her own racial ambiguity no doubt gave her a valuable insight into Sarah Jane's character. Alas, like Fredi Washington (who was typecast as the Tragic Mulatto), Khoner had no blooming movie career after Imitation of Life. She will always be remembered for her outstanding performance in this movie. If you're undecided as to which version to get, I'd say get both and make up your own minds as to which version is better. A note to UK viewers - you'll need a VCR with NTSC playback to watch this movie.
Rating:
Summary: sniff sniff!!! this was one of the best movies ever
Review: i had heard of this movie and wanted to see it. a friend i play backgammon with told i had to get it.i love old movies at times too and she said it was great but boy i did'nt know how great it was until viewing it last night. the acting was the best by all in it.lana turner was beautiful in this movie. and sandra dee was great also in her part. your heart will break watching this movie for annie what she went through as she tries to raise her daughter, sarah jane youjust want to choke sarah jane for the way she does her mother. i not going to say what happens but you better have the tear buckets at hand because mine was over flowing the last half hour of this great movie, if you love to cry over movies the way i do get this one. it is one of the best.
Rating:
Summary: Amazed
Review: I was flickering through the channels a few years back and dropped the remote when this came on. Being lazy, I decided to watch this show for a few minutes...realizing it was an older show I was impressed immediatley at the Excellent content for a movie of this time! Needless to say, I watched the whole thing and look forward to having this in my DVD Collection!
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous movie, unfortunate DVD
Review: I first saw IMITATION OF LIFE at age 16. At that age the melodrama of the pictures mesmerized me. Decades later, I found myself being pulled back into this dated but nontheless captivating film. Many of the reviews here focus on the story so I will not go into that aspect for this review. Much has been written about Douglas Sirk's film direction so I won't cover that here either. Lets look at the disc. The mono soundtrack is serviceable, if not terribly involving when played on a home theatre system. Its a dated track, but a lot less distorted than one would think. The anamorphic widescreen transfer is not one of the highlights of this presentation. The print used was in need of more extensive restoration. It appears some work was done, but not nearly enough needed to capture the beauty of color and light that Douglas Sirk's films heralded. There are some noticeable scratches and dirt. It didn't, however, distract too much. The colors are inconsistent at times, but never enough to distract terribly. Its definitely would have looked worse if it were not presented anamorphically. Contrary to the package's label, this is a dual layered disc. Unfortunately, whoever authored this disc placed the layer change in a TERRIBLE spot as Susan Kohner runs down the steps at the beginning of Chapter 14. It was very carelessly placed, epspecially when the scene prior faded out. This kind of carelessness is unfortunate for a film of this magnitude. Just be prepared for it. The only extra is a trailer that is in pretty bad shape. No other extras are included which is a complete shame. This is a film that deserves a better DVD presentation. Until that comes along, this will have to do.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: "Imitation of Life" has to be one of the most interesting yet painful movies I have ever watched. On one hand you cheer on Lana Turner as she struggles and finally succeeds at being an actress, then on the other you feel horribly for her maid as she struggles with her daughter denying her identity and her mother by passing for white. "Imitation of Life" is an excellent film that gives those of us not yet born in a time of racial segregation and struggle and glimpse into what that was like. I'm sure all of us are thankful that we were born in a time when things like this aren't as prevalent. I would highly recommend this film to anyone. It's not only entertaining, but also draws you in to the lives, struggles, and triumphs of each of the characters.
Rating:
Summary: A Memorable Guilty Pleasure
Review: Although little known today, in her own era author Fannie Hurst was among America's most famous authors, a writer who frequently challenged the status quo in both her life and her literature. Among her most popular works was the novel IMITATION OF LIFE, which first came to the screen starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers in 1934. Today both the novel and film would be considered somewhat racist--but at the time both were considered social shockers, dealing frankly with single mothers, rebellious daughters, and racial issues in a way that few novels and fewer still films of the era dared. The first film version was as faithful to the novel as it dared be, telling the story of two single mothers--one black, one white--who join forces and hit the big time when the white woman successfully markets the black woman's pancake recipe. But the 1959 film version substituted pancake make-up for pancake batter: the white woman is an actress, and with her black friend behind her she climbs the ladder to Broadway stardom. Director Douglas Sirk was reknowned for his ability with this sort of material, and although he did better films IMITATION OF LIFE is perhaps his most obvious stylistic statement: gallons of gloss, more soap suds than a sink full of dishes, and enough vulgar melodrama to fuel a thousand 1950s schoolgirl dreams. This time around our stars are Lana Turner and Juanita Moore, supported by Sandra Dee and Susan Kohner as the respective and rebellious daughters who make their mothers lives a living hell, with Lana's daughter Sandra falling in love with her mother's beau and Juanita's daughter Susan determined to defeat the racist society in which she lives by passing for white. All four actresses give it everything they've got, which means they all emote to the nth degree as they suffer through every emotional upheaval the screenwriters can devise. Turner and Dee are essentially Turner and Dee. The real surprises here are Moore and Kohner. Saddled with a story that still keeps the black woman in the kitchen while the white woman plays, Moore nonetheless gives an outstanding and ultimately heartbreaking performance, and Kohner matches her every bit of the way as the wayward daughter who makes one bad choice after another in her refusal to knuckle under to a repressive society. It is a tremendous pity that neither actress went on to equally high-profile roles and films, but the times were against them--as the very nature of the film's story should make abundantly clear. The original novel and film were actually advanced for their time, but by the time this version hit the screen the "white lady upstairs and the black lady downstairs" was hardly a rung up the ladder. Even in 1959 many denounced the film as perpetuating racial stereotypes and class-thinking, and by today's standards it is alternately distasteful and absurd. But oddly enough, that fact doesn't undercut the incredible watchablity of the film. We may sneer at some of the values it presents, but it holds our attention all the way, and you'll need at least three hankies for the film's conclusion. If you are torn between purchasing the DVD or a VHS version, you should know that there is actually little difference between the two. The film has not been restored for DVD, and the lack of restoration is quite noticeable; moreover, the only bonus material on the DVD is the theatrical trailer. You might prefer to go with a low cost VHS until a really good DVD is released.
Rating:
Summary: Powerful and Captivating...A Mahalia Jackson Vehicle!
Review: This rather unique story of two mother and two daughters, as they face life in the Pre-civil rights era of the 1950s. This movie is a must for all men and women who love a good ol' fashioned tear-jerker. It is the proverbial chick-flick ( Some men will love this movie for the beautiful girls)I loved it because it had a powerful cameo appearance of the great, Legendary gospel Queen Mahalia Jackson singing a very haunting "Trouble of the world" this is an excellent movie.
Rating:
Summary: a true classic
Review: One of the great Hollywood melodramas, IMITATION OF LIFE is based on the book by Fannie Hurst and is directed with style and emotion by Douglas Sirk. A chance meeting throws together Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) and Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), two struggling widows who both have troubled relationships with their daughters. Lora is a Broadway starlet intent on hitting the big time, which will come at the cost of her daughter Susie (Sandra Dee), while Annie's daughter Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) is a black girl with a pale complexion, who chooses to pass as white in order to avoid the hatred of a prejudiced world. As years of denial and unawareness pass, the two girls slowly revolt from their mothers, and the story moves to its emotional and tearful conclusion. Still compelling over 50 years later, IMITATION OF LIFE still has a message for modern audiences, and preserves the tour-de-force performances of Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner. Both were Oscar-nominated for their work here. The performances of Sandra Dee and Lana Turner (and Troy Donahue as Sarah Jane's violent boyfriend) are just as impressive. The supporting cast includes John Gavin, Dan O'Herlihy, Robert Alda and Mahalia Jackson. The DVD includes the trailer. (Single-sided, dual-layer disc).
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