1167 Imitation of Life

[swo17]

Imitation of Life



Melodrama master John M. Stahl brings his exquisite restraint and almost spiritually pure visual style to this devastating, enduringly relevant story of mothers and daughters. Imitation of Life explores the friendship between two struggling single mothers: one (Claudette Colbert) a working-class white woman who ascends to the top of the business world, the other (Louise Beavers) her Black housekeeper, whose life is shattered by the rejection of her rebellious, white-passing daughter (Fredi Washington). It is this latter relationship—attuned to America's bitter racial realities and heartbreakingly enacted by trailblazing Black performers Beavers and Washington—that lends the film its transcendent emotional power. This first adaptation of Fannie Hurst's best-selling novel boldly confronts the complexities and contradictions of racial identity, economic exploitation, and the limits of the American dream.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New interview with Miriam J. Petty, author of Stealing the Show: African American Performers and Audiences in 1930s Hollywood, about the resonance of Louise Beavers's and Fredi Washington's performances
• New interview with Imogen Sara Smith, contributor to The Call of the Heart: John M. Stahl and Hollywood Melodrama, about director John M. Stahl and his work with actor Claudette Colbert and others
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by Petty

[soundchaser]

Releasing this one but not the 1959 Sirk is certainly a choice. (Not that either really needed the upgrade.)

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Releasing this one but not the 1959 Sirk is certainly a choice. (Not that either really needed the upgrade.)

I would say John M. Stahl is due for some appreciation, but seeing as his Magnificent Obsession was already just a special feature on a Sirk film, it strikes me as odd that this gets its own release.

[HinkyDinkyTruesmith]

One day a boutique label will be brave enough to launch a D-Day scale reclaiming of his 1937 Parnell, or at least put out the almost inaccessible Seed. (Or, even better, Only Yesterday.)

[paulm]

Releasing this one but not the 1959 Sirk is certainly a choice. (Not that either really needed the upgrade.)

I know the usual "licensing is hard" is probably the reason, but since they've been paired on the last couple generations of Universal releases, it does seem like an odd omission to not be included as a supplement or a separate spine release at the same time.

[therewillbeblus]

Criterion isn’t a stranger to sitting on a release until the optimal package is attainable. This would be an appropriate ‘bonus film’ on the Sirk release with extras comparing them (and ironically, likely revolved around how the Sirk bests this in every conceivable way). So yeah, what a weird solo announcement

[domino harvey]

This is a very bad movie. Knew before clicking that the extras would be about Louise Beavers

[Drucker]

This is a very bad movie. Knew before clicking that the extras would be about Louise Beavers

Can you expand on this? I've never watched any of the Stahl extras on the Sirk releases, but Sirk's Imitation is one of my all time favorites and I got to see a magnificent screening of it with a great audience a few years ago. Curious about this one being worse.

[domino harvey]

Here is my colorful writeup from the Oscars List Project

Imitation of Life Oh dearie me, there's quite a pile-up on the ideological movie pastiche highway. In the liberal lane, the Black Christ has jacknifed with My Dear Mammy coming from the conservative lane. This literal Crash Moment has congested the right wing lane, which was already busy dealing with its own Bratty Daughter/Martyred Mom collision. From my vantage up here in the Oscarcopter, this self-satisfied cinematic disaster will take at least a couple hours to resolve and will leave no one stuck watching the chaos with anything but impatient annoyance. Back to you

tl;dr this movie is ideologically annoying and obvious. While I’m no Sirk disciple, his take is far better than the original

[Feego]

Not to go down the rabbit hole of Criterion appealing to the “woke” crowd, because I genuinely don’t think that’s what they’re doing, but it seems there has been an effort over the last few years to boost this film’s reputation due to the casting of an actual black actress in the passing role while the Sirk features a white/Hispanic actress. As domino mentioned, it’s not surprising that the supplements focus on the performances. The casting of Fredi Washington was certainly groundbreaking, but I do think the racial politics of this version are more problematic than the remake’s.

[Red Screamer]

Stahl also had a recent retrospective in New York which got him some press. He can be a very good director, but this one isn’t so hot, including his contributions. The structure is heavy and sloppy, and more than that, it’s based on an equivalence between the problems of the two mother-daughter pairs which is pretty hard to swallow 90 years on. It has some interest, though more for its place in history than for its pleasures. Even if it’s somewhat unintentional, I remember getting chills from the stark shot that comes after the two mothers say good night after sharing a tender moment together—Colbert going upstairs, Beavers going downstairs.

[Finch]

Okay, if this one isn't the best Stahl to start with, what would people recommend instead? Genuine question.

[swo17]

Leave Her to Heaven obviously

[Finch]

I totally blanked that one out! D'oh! As a noir fan, I really, really ought to have remembered that one (I still haven't gotten the TT or the Criterion BD).

[Red Screamer]

When Tomorrow Comes and Back Street are the best I’ve seen so far. Leave Her to Heaven is an outlier in his career from what I understand but yes, it’s pretty incredible.

[Finch]

I'll try tracking these films down, thanks Red!

[swo17]

The former just got a Blu-ray from Kino

[Fred Holywell]

Appreciated this the first time around, many years ago, but it hasn't held up for me on subsequent viewings. Very disappointing that the, in my opinion, superior Sirk remake isn't a co-feature here.

That said, here's an interesting teaser for the film, focusing exclusively on Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington. There's some speculation it was made to be primarily shown in black-only theaters, though I haven't seen anything definitive on that: Imitation of Life Official Trailer #1

And film historian Donald Bogle goes into some detail on the movie in a nice piece he did for TCM's Race & Hollywood series: TCM Race & Hollywood "Imitation of Life"