Product Details

• Actors: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda
• Directors: Douglas Sirk
• Writers: Allan Scott, Eleanore Griffin, Fannie Hurst
• Producers: Ross Hunter
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC, Full Screen
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: January 1, 1998
• Run Time: 125 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (174 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000005XPV
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,325 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

100 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Memorable Guilty Pleasure, March 23, 2003

By 

Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Imitation of Life (DVD)

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.

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poor Quality DVD - Melodrama At It's Finest, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Imitation of Life (DVD)

Imitation of Life is a movie that had perfect timing in the changing world of 1950's Americana.

The oppression of legal segregation had taken its toll and a prime example of this burnout is Susan Kohner's Sara Jane. This character had the perfect mother, but society told Sara Jane at a very young age that her mother would NEVER be good enough because of her black skin color. Sara Jane chafes at the limitations society places on her. She doesn't want to be associated with maids, chauffeurs or going through back doors. She wants more, and as a `white woman' she can get it. Many viewers who watch this film will be angry at Sara Jane, however, one must remember that 'black' was not yet beautiful, and this is the pre-civil rights era.

Lana Turner's Laura Meredith asks Sara Jane, `have I ever treated you differently?' The movie makes this answer abundantly clear although Sara Jane answers `no.' The audience sees Turner's pigeonholing of Sara Jane and Annie. Even after years of living together - she actually says to Annie, `I didn't know that you had any friends.'

Laura Meredith is a character that represents society as a whole in this film. She is the accepted race and therefore, pleasantly clueless about matters that doesn't affect her, while aiming for and achieving her dreams. Through the passage of time Laura becomes rich, successful, and a star - and for Annie, well, she remains the maid.

The DVD of this movie is extremely poor. The transfer is down right dirty in one scene and grainy throughout the film. There is one scene where Sara Jane is running down the stairs and she freezes in action. Universal didn't even care enough about the viewer to put this common play-pause in a point where it would be seamless. This is a classic film that has been given anything but classic attention - extremely sloppy work from Universal.

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Film's great - DVD transfer not worth purchasing...., January 22, 2003

By 

Antony A. Botto (Alexandria, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Imitation of Life (DVD)

Thanks, David Durbin. Your review made me pull this order from my shoppiong cart. "Imitation" is a real "tear-jerkin'" classic in the old mold. I ran it as a Theater Projectionist in it's original 1959 theatrical release. The last reel was about a 12 minute run. I could step out of the Projection Booth after the chnage-over, and regular as clockwork it would happen. I would hear the start of a swell of sniffles, and tears come up like a rising tide in theater in that last reel every night. That was when audiences showed emotion openly. I won't buy any bad DVD transfers. I strongly bad-mouth bad transfers to all my film buff friends to also not buy. With the quality of DVD's, why buy garbage. Most of my DVD purchases have been with Criterion for that reason. Sure hope Criterion get their hands on "Imitation", and a lot more classics!