I bought this recently at a thrift shop and I'm finally (in my 47 years,) going watch this classic. Aramis, I've seen you mention Lana Turner around here a bit, so now I'm going to see the great lady in action myself! I'll report back after I view it...

Any thoughts from those of you that have already seen this flick?

rasputin knows and loves this Douglas Sirk, vehicle. I do, too . . . but for me, Miss Turner's best performance, was in PEYTON PLACE, where she portrayed prissy, Constance MacKenzie. I loved her in The Bad and the Beautiful, too . . . btw: MADAME X, will air, later this month, on TCM. Don't miss it!!

p.s. 'Don't be fresh! Just leave, immediately . . . '

Imitation of Life was a movie I loved when I was younger. I haven't seen it in so long, I'd like to revisit.

There are two versions, that I know of . . . Claudette Colbert, starred in the original. Lana Turner, in the re-make. My sister likes the original, much more. I haven't seen that one . . . only Lana's.

I like the original better too, it feels more realistic. i think it's more 'raw' than the lana version. both as sad movies that always bring me down so i don't watch them often.

I didn't know there was another one before the Sirk production with Lana Turner. Must see it and compare. The one with Lana is wonderful, however it makes you think about what's really important in life & how we should appreciate our loved ones while they are here.

The 1959 Douglas Sirk is very special. The final moments of the film have me wracking with sobs every time.

I agree . . . although, I didn't like Lana's 'bubble' coiffe, during the second half of the picture. It did a disservice, to her beauty.

Back "in the day" that was a GREAT movie.

Yes, Glo . . . the biggest money maker in Universal's history. 'Imitation' was Lana's 'comeback,' after the Stompanato murder . . . people were eager to see this woman onscreen, again! Although Lana feared that her career was over . . . Imitation of Life, became a stupendous hit. btw: later this month: MADAME X, will air on TCM!! Another, camp classic!!

Love it! Don't want to give anything away, but let's just say there are two scenes that make me cry every time. Great fashions too.

I don't think Lana Turner was the greatest actress in the world, but she's so over the top in this one that you will be mesmerized.

Another Lana Turner camp classic from the same era (also Sirk, I believe) is Portrait in Black. Sandra Dee is in this one too, along with Jose Ferrer. If you like Imitation, you'll like this one too.

Click to view attachmentOh, yes!! Portrait in Black, is just . . . too much!! Remember the scene where Lana 'learns to drive,' during a driving rainstorm, on a treacherous, mountain road?? LOL. How about the way Lana meets her lover, inconspicuosly, wandering in and out of high end, department stores, dripping in sables, diamonds, and stiletto heels . . . btw: I do think Lana was superb, in PEYTON PLACE. 'Don't be fresh. Just leave, immediately!'

FYI, my husband wrote a wonderful book about Douglas Sirk (it was his Phd thesis) we went to Lugano and spent quite a long time with the Sirks. If you google the film magazine Bright Lights I think a number of articles written by both of us about Sirk are available to read.

Oh, thanks piegan! I cannot get enough, of the 'Sirk' movies . . . btw: another Sirk virtuosity, ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS, airs this week: TCM . . . check your listings . . .

Wow!!!!!!! Jane!!! One of my heroes... I'll be sure to read the online stories. Sirk's movies just keep "reading" better and better, in both sense and sensibility, IMHO.... Not every director can say this. [For example, I find most 1980's teen comedies, especially those of John Hughes, next-to-unwatchable by now].

Click to view attachmentThat's true, David . . . just about anything starring Pamela Tiffin, I can't seem to endure, these days . . . not sure if John Hughes ever directed Miss Tiffin, though.

http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/48/sirkinterview.htm


rasputin, saved you the trouble of googling it..

Oh lord, Jane! What a monstrously fabulous, valuable interview and story. You and Michael really knew your stuff before you interviewed the old man, and that is half the genius of this story. Bravo to you both.

Two ideas of his inflame me here: the idea of guilt and morality as a necessity in drama-- Yes.

This is why, say, Yasujiro Ozu's TOKYO STORY (1953) eviscerates me every time I see it... And of course, Sirk's IMITATION OF LIFE (1959). Without Socrates's purgation of hubris, there cannot really be a deeply affecting and edifying story... No modern movie viewer should ever imagine he is too modern for this kind of purgation, IMHO.

And the way Sirk says: There has to be an element of artifice... a dialectic at work. Absolutely. Every young filmmaker should learn this. Todd Haynes's 2002 homage to Sirk, FAR FROM HEAVEN received mixed reviews (The San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle openly ridiculed it)-- but it thoroughly grasped the idea that a motion picture is intrinsically artificial, and the best auteurs can and should exploit this... Hitchcock knew this, too. So does David Lynch, and in their own curious way, the Coen Brothers.

Part of the modern problem stems from the fact that we-- in the USA at least-- are oversaturated by entertainments. I think, in Sirk's day, you went to the movies literally expecting a gift from the filmmakers to you. This was your 50¢, your date and your Saturday night. Now, I really don't think modern youngsters demand that a film look or feel like a gift at all. [Watch BAD SANTA if you doubt me.]



Thanks for a brilliant view into a great filmic mind.

thank you so much rasputin, I was nervous rereading it as it was written so many decades ago, but I think it does hold up.

[quote name='pieganjane' date='Jun 18 2006, 05:45 PM' post='115198']
FYI, my husband wrote a wonderful book about Douglas Sirk (it was his Phd thesis) we went to Lugano and spent quite a long time with the Sirks. If you google the film magazine Bright Lights I think a number of articles written by both of us about Sirk are available to read.
[/qu

I wish that either you or your husband would research and write a book about the Claudine Longet/Spider Sabitch shooting and trial...

Also, we need a really good, objective bio about the ABT self-distructive ballerina Gelsey Kirkland.
Oh well. I can always hope can't I...?? LOL !!

Nubka, it has been my experience that ballet dancers are all nutty. Did you read the book The Surrender that came out a year or two ago. I can't recall the authors name at the moment but she was a principal dancer with Balenchines company. The book is all about how she achieved nirvina by engaging in endless rectal intercourse. Quite jaw dropping. You can order it on Amazon.

rasputin, can't resist telling you the Sirkian end to the story. Michael and his friend John Halliday (author of Sirk on Sirk) got the Museum of Modern Art to launch a Sirk retrospective. This was a huge deal. Douglas and Hilde were to be flown in from Switzerland for opening night. Getting on the plane Douglas went blind. It was hysterical blindness, but never went away. Hilde always blamed Michael for "kiling Douglas", as they say "let no good deed go unpunished".

Oh yes, I've heard about her (not my cup of tea.) How about Claudine & Spider???)

Anyone named Spider deserves a book...wasn't that the name of the love interest in the book Scruples?

Bizarre.

I thought for sure this was made up, but no!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006073246...glance&n=283155

SCRUPLES . . . OH, MY GOD!!!!

Well, I finally sat down today and watched Imitation of Life. I liked it better than I thought I would and will probably watch it again in the future (which is more than I can say for a lot of movies!)

Lana Turner looked great, although I thought she looked a little too old for her love interest (John Gavin.) Sandra Dee was well matched as Turner's daughter. Boy, that funeral at the end was really something else...

Glad you liked it, nubs.

You know, casting Gavin against Turner was not an accident, methinks.... Both Sirk's MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION and ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS featured a young, hunky Rock Hudson against a somewhat matronly Jane Wyman. From what film historians claim, these three Sirks were smash box-office hits... and primarily among audiences of middle-aged women. I'm sure each of these matinee customers, clutching her handkerchief, was thinking, "Well, I can dream, can't I?" Sirk had found a box-office formula that worked...

That's an interesting observation, Rasputin! It's been such a long time since I've seen Magnifcent Obsession. What was the name of the movie where Rock Hudson is Jane Wyman's gardener?

I really don't anything about John Gavin, but he certainly was good looking in Imitation of Life. Do you know any of his other movies? Did he mostly play the "romantic interest" type roles to various leading ladies?

nubka, the 'handsome gardener' movie, was ALL THAT HEAVEN, ALLOWS.

Lana was a little older than Sean Connery, in ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE . . . and I think she beat Lee Philips by a few years, during PEYTON PLACE.

What did you think of Lana's 'bubble coiffe,' in 'Life?? I didnt' like that hairstyle on her, at all . . .

What did you think of Lana's 'bubble coiffe,' in 'Life?? I didnt' like that hairstyle on her, at all . . .
[/quote]

Honestly, Turner reminded me of my first Barbie doll in the early 60's, who had that same bubble hair-do! I didn't like the bubble on Lana very well. I thought it made her look older (but maybe that's what they were aiming for?)

TOTALLY agree. Not flattering, to her . . . I much preferred the tight French Twist, in Peyton Place. She looked gorgeous, in that movie. As to whether or not they wanted LT, to look older? Who knows?? I'm sure SHE didn't want to look older, but directors and producers do things on their own . . .

How many years lapse in that movie? Maybe a more 'matronly' type hairstyle was the only way to show that she had matured. I noticed at the end of the movie, John Gavin had a few silver streaks (which looked ridiculous, because he still looked as young as he did the beginning of the movie!)