Director: Douglas Sirk

Writers: Eleanore Griffin; Allan Scott

From novel: Imitation of Life by Fannie Hurst

Music: Frank Skinner

Producer: Ross Hunter

Keywords: Romantic Drama

After a chance encounter, widowed actress Lora Meredith hires a black woman, Annie Johnson, to be her maid and help raise her daughter. Over the next ten years, the women are close friends and have daughter trouble: Lora's daughter suffering from inattention and Annie's daughter repudiating her race by passing for white. Weepy melodrama is Douglas Sirk's finest film. Both of the leads, Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore, received Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominations.

[watch trailer]

Name	Occupation	Birth	Death	Known for
Robert Alda	Actor	26-Nov-1914	3-May-1986	Cloak and Dagger
Sandra Dee	Actor	23-Apr-1942	20-Feb-2005	Gidget
Troy Donahue	Actor	27-Jan-1936	2-Sep-2001	A Summer Place
John Gavin	Actor	8-Apr-1928	9-Feb-2018	Julius Caesar in Spartacus
Mahalia Jackson	Singer	26-Oct-1911	27-Jan-1972	Queen of Gospel Music
Susan Kohner	Actor	11-Nov-1936		Imitation of Life
Juanita Moore	Actor	19-Oct-1922	31-Dec-2013	Imitation of Life
Dan O'Herlihy	Actor	1-May-1919	17-Feb-2005	The Adventures of Robinson Crusoe
Ann Robinson	Actor	1-May-1935		The War of the Worlds
Lana Turner	Actor	8-Feb-1920	29-Jun-1995	The Postman Always Rings Twice
John Vivyan	Actor	31-May-1915	20-Dec-1983	Mr. Lucky
Jack Weston	Actor	21-Aug-1924	3-May-1996	Wait Until Dark

CAST

Lana Turner	...   Lora Meredith (hopeful actress)
John Gavin	...   Steve Archer (photographer)
Co-Starring
Sandra Dee	...   Susie (age 16, Lora's daughter)
Susan Kohner	...   Sarah Jane (age 18, passing for white)
Robert Alda	...   Allen Loomis
Dan O'Herlihy	...   David Edwards
and presenting
Juanita Moore	...   Annie Johnson (housekeeper)
with
Karin Dicker	...   Sarah Jane (age 8)
Terry Burnham	...   Susie (age 6)
John Vivyan	...   Young Man
Lee Goodman	...   Photographer
Ann Robinson	...   Show Girl
Troy Donahue	...   Frankie
Sandra Gould	...   Receptionist
David Tomack	...   Burly Man
Joel Fluellen	...   Minister
Jack Weston	...   Tom (Stage Manager)
Billy House	...   Fat Man
Maida Severn	...   Teacher
Than Wyenn	...   Romano
Peg Shirley	...   Fay
and
Mahalia Jackson	...   Choir Soloist

REVIEWS

Review by Elisabeth (posted on 22-Feb-2005)

This movie is a true work of art. The cast is masterfully assembled and believable in their characters.

For 1959, the theme of the movie took on some very sensitive racial and inter-racial themes and presented them with sensitivity and conviction. The friendship portrayed between "Miss Lora" (Turner) and "Annie" (Moore) will not leave a dry eye among viewers. The pathos between Annie and her daughter, Sarah Jane (Kohner), will tug at every mother's heartstrings. As well, Susie's (Dee) struggle to come to terms with a famous and driven mother will ignite memories with parents of their own children's realizations that parents are very real people with human foibles.

John Gavin, who plays heart-throb Steve, is as handsome as ever!

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