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Imitation of Life (1959)
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Lana Turner was beautiful back then, and that much is evident in the 1959 film version of
Imitation of Life.
What she also had was considerable acting talent. Lana Turner had a comeback role after what happened with her 14-year-old
daughter's fatal stabbing of Johnny Stompanato (rumors still persist that it was Lana Turner who did it). Be sure to observe how
much effort she put into her mannerisms.
Douglas Sirk's films, even the remakes, rarely turn out well. His best and most crowning work is
All That Heaven Allows starring Jane Wyman and Rock Hudson. Other films in his
oeuvre are nothing but melodramatic soap operas, and I count Imitation of Life, the final film of Douglas Sirk's career,
to be among them. Regardless, his cinematographers sure knew how to shoot color like no one could.
Sadly, this one doesn't hold a candle to the 1934 version. It tries too hard to show race relations which keep sticking out
like a sore thumb. The various changes are significant and therefore distracting because the original had everything perfect
except for the mishandling of a subplot that dealt with the white daughter who's ashamed of her black mother and preferred
to pass for a white person.
All in all, because of Douglas Sirk's predilection for sappy melodramatic themes, his version of Imitation of Life
doesn't work, but Lana Turner's performance is superb.