Movies
Imitation of Life
Douglas Sirk's unsettlingly slick and glossy treatment of race relations in America: the old Fannie Hurst chestnut about a lifelong friendship between a white and a black woman. The cast is worse than usual (John Gavin worse than Rock Hudson, Lana Turner worse than practically anyone), and the passage of time makes hilariously (but intentionally?) little impact on the glamorous principals -- excepting the ones we first meet in childhood. (Gavin's rendering of the line, "And not little anymore," with reference to all-grown-up Sandra Dee, is the biggest scream in the movie.) Splendid start and finish: a swooningly materialistic credits sequence and a climactic funeral parade at which Mahalia Jackson firmly silences all impulse to snicker. With Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner. 1959.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: NR
