A Predictable but Beautifully Filmed Remake
SPOILERS
Imitation of Life originally came out in 1934 starring Claudette Colbert (who would win the Oscar that same year for the classic It Happened One Night). Like that film, the story revolves around race relations. Unfortunately unlike the Colbert movie, this one feels really- forced.
The movie stars Lana Turner, who at 39 looks 60 and despite some amazing wardrobe attire, appears to be biting her tongue through her lines and not giving us much to wow at until her final scenes at a funeral. Turner has a daughter who befriends a black girl at a beach one day. The black girl's mother (Jaunita Moore, Best Supporting Actress nominee) asks Turner if she can be her live in maid, free of charge for room and board. Turner agrees, but the little girls don't quite get off the right foot. For one thing, Moore's daughter (Susan Kohner) wants to pass for white. This would work as a plot concept as it did in the original, EXCEPT that the actress Hollywood cast for the 1959 film isn't black. She's white (with a Mexican mother). And not only does she not come off as a black girl - she looks like she could be Elizabeth Taylor's sister. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. She steals many of the scenes she's in, and is a sensational dancer. She's beautiful, for sure, and she acts fine (the scene where the white guy beats her is shockingly brutal, and I believe the jazz musical score was added to soften the intensity. Even after she's battered and bruised, she sizzles this sexuality that is uncanny. But I never bought her unhappiness for her race, or her distain for her mother, because she wasn't really black. Her performance, also an Oscar nominee, is exceptional.
Turner's daughter, who Hollywood DID cast as white, is unfortunately annoying all around. A spoiled princess who thinks her mother doesn't spend enough time with her, even though every scene of the movie involves her and Turner talking and smiling. Turner even post-pones a movie deal she gets to do film in Rome, just to attend her spoiled brat's graduation. The daughter is so horrible she even falls in love with Turner's boyfriend, which is obviously a school girl crush and has Turner appropriately baffled when the daughter gets mad after seeing her mother and the hunk share a kiss.
As the years go by, so do the bonds. And some of them unhinge. Everything is predictable. "I ain't feeling so good these days", says Moore in scene after scene. It's clear she won't make it to the final curtain and that her daughter will miss her funeral because she can't accept the fact that she's black, or her mother in general for being a servant.
With that being said, it's still a highly entertaining movie. The best scenes involve Juanita Moore and Lana Turner, who get to share some very strong chemistry and a friendship I believed. Moore's deathbed scene is heartbreaking, even if Moore sounds like Olivia de Havilland's Melanie on her deathbed with all the heavy, sweet breathing and "let her know for me" lines.
The second best part about the movie are the amazing costumes. I am shocked they weren't nominated, but again we must remember the academy usually prefers period films for that category. Since this was a movie set in the modern 50s, voters probably didn't feel the need to cite them (instead giving an award to Some Like it Hot in the Black and White category; this one is in color). The funeral scene with the singing and emotion is worth the viewing alone.
Imitation of Life is a great "beginner" movie for anyone who wants to show their children a movie about racism and how to "accept people". It's easy to see why the only nominations were in Moore and her daughter's performances. Turner, again, seems too old here. And apparently she was very snooty about what parts she would take in her later career, and was not easy to work with. This is interesting considering she was discovered drinking Coke at a restaurant in LA.
The original Imitation of Life (1934) was more endearing to me (the first 20 minutes with Colbert and the maid getting their pancake business off the ground is greatly paced.) But then it starts to slow down, and it drags. I felt the 1959 had a little more punch, and a little more liberties when it came to Moore's relationship with Kohner. They share a scene in a hotel room after Moore witnesses her daughter doing cabaret stripping, and because Kohner doesn't want her mother to let anyone know they're related, it's played very well. I just wish the predictable screenplay had been a little more enhanced.
The Oscar for best supporting actress went to Shelley Winters in The Diary of Anne Frank.
FINAL GRADE: B-