Imitation of Life (1959) - Sirk's last film, an oppulent race melodrama

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Fabulously crafted and deliciously colored poster for Douglas Sirk's
Imitation of Life

Lora, a struggling widow and single mother actress in New York, out of compassion takes a black maid and her rebellious daughter into her home. Soon success arrives, but at home revolt brews.

 

Imitation of Life is written by Eleanore Griffin (Good Morning, Miss Dove (1955)) and Allan Scott (The Four Poster (1952)), adapting the same-titled 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst (Anitra's Dance (1934)), and directed by Douglas Sirk (April, April! (1935)).

Emotionally driven drama meant to induce sobbing with excessive pathos. The poshness often encountered in soap operas beleaguer every scene in Sirk's version of the popular story that had already been adapted by John M. Stahl in 1933 with Claudette Colbert. The film is very much a matter of personal taste but for me it is simply too much.

Lana Turner (The Big Cube (1968)) is rock solid in a part that is deliberately over-shadowed by the issues of the dark-skinned characters. Audiences outside of the American context of Imitation of Life could possible view it as propaganda for a 1950s American utopia in which race was treated just. But the truth of Imitation of Life is, of course, that the problem and the very progressive way the film deals with it was bold for its time.

 

Related post:

 

Douglas Sirk: All That Heaven Allows (1955) or, Not The Widow and Her Gardener!

 

 Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.2 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 6.4 mil. $ (North American rentals alone)

= Uncertain but certainly a huge hit (returned 5.33 times its cost in North America alone)

[Imitation of Life premiered 17 March (Chicago) and runs 125 minutes. Turner was reportedly paid 50 % of the film's profits but the final amount is regrettably unmentioned. She reportedly wore jewelry worth 1 mil. $ in the film, besides 34 costumes worth 78k $. Shooting took place from August - October 1958 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film collected 6.4 mil. $ in North-American rentals according to Variety in 1960. If met with a less interested public abroad, - not unlikely due to its highly American race theme, - an 8 mil. $ total gross may be projected, which would still make the film a huge hit. It was twice Oscar nominated - in the same category, Best Supporting Actress: Juanita Moore (Paternity (1981)) and Susan Kohner (The Gene Krupa Story (1959)) both lost to Shelley Winters for The Diary of Anne Frank. It also won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, among other honors. Sirk retired to Switzerland after the film's release and only directed three more short films nearly two decades later. Turner returned in Portrait in Black (1960); John Gavin (Keep It in the Family (1973)) in A Breath of Scandal (1960). Imitation of Life is fresh at 82 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Imitation of Life?

Don't Look Now (1973) or, Grief in Venice

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The exciting, chilling poster for Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now

QUICK REVIEW:

An English couple lose their daughter in a drowning accident. Soon hereafter they venture to Venice, where the woman meets a blind, psychic woman who then disappears.

Based on a short story by Dauphne du Maurier (Jamaica Inn (1936)), Nicholas Roeg's (The Witches (1990)) horror drama Don't Look Now is somewhat similar to Rosemary's Baby (1968)), though substantially less exciting.
It is lovely to be in Venice in the film, and the acting of leads Julie Christie (Troy (2004)) and Donald Sutherland (The Art of War (2000)) is fairly good. But Roeg's visual and editing style is stressful and feels a bit film school-y and tedious and at times involuntarily funny to me, although others find it innovative. Don't Look Now divides people, and I am obviously not among its many fans. I think it could have been a considerably better film.
Allan Scott (Regeneration (1997)) and Chris Bryant (The Awakening (1980)) wrote the screenplay.

Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: Estimated 1.1 - 1.5 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown
[The film was shot in England and Italy December 1972 - February 1973. It became controversial upon release due to a heated if not very stimulating sex scene between the two leads, which led to the film's X rating in Britain, where the scene was cut for the its later TV premiere on BBC. It has been rumored that the scene featured unsimulated sex, which naturally infuriated Warren Beatty, Christie's boyfriend at the time, but the truth remains obscure. In Britain, the film was released on a double bill with the better film The Wicker Man (1973). The film's B.O. numbers are unfortunately not available online to my knowledge. It was well-received by many critics and won a BAFTA for Best Cinematography, (and was nominated for another 6.) Its star has only grown since then, also with many filmmakers praising it. Don't Look Now is certified fresh at 96 % with a 8.9 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Don't Look Now?