Imitation of Life

E731417

Imitation of Life is a 1959 American melodrama film directed by Douglas Sirk that explores race, class, and motherhood through the intertwined lives of a white actress and her Black housekeeper and their daughters.

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All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Imitation of Life canonical 8
Imitation of Life (1959 film) 2

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf film
aspectOf Hollywood melodrama cycle of the 1950s
authorOfSourceWork Fannie Hurst NERFINISHED
basedOn Imitation of Life (1934 film) NERFINISHED
Imitation of Life (novel) NERFINISHED
character Sarah Jane NERFINISHED
Susie NERFINISHED
cinematographer Russell Metty NERFINISHED
colorProcess Technicolor
composer Frank Skinner NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
director Douglas Sirk NERFINISHED
distributedBy Universal Pictures
distributor Universal-International NERFINISHED
editor Milton Carruth NERFINISHED
genre drama film
melodrama
hasTheme mother–daughter conflict
racial identity
social mobility
language English
leadCharacter Annie Johnson NERFINISHED
Lora Meredith NERFINISHED
mainSubject class
motherhood
race
narrativeFocus intertwined lives of a white actress and her Black housekeeper
relationships between mothers and daughters
notableFor critique of American racism
depiction of women’s ambition and sacrifice
exploration of racial passing
originalLanguage English
partOf Douglas Sirk filmography
producer Ross Hunter NERFINISHED
productionCompany Universal-International NERFINISHED
releaseDate 1959-04-17
releaseYear 1959
remakeOf Imitation of Life (1934 film) NERFINISHED
runtimeMinutes 125
screenwriter Allan Scott NERFINISHED
Eleanore Griffin NERFINISHED
setInPeriod mid-20th century
starring John Gavin NERFINISHED
Juanita Moore NERFINISHED
Lana Turner NERFINISHED
Mahalia Jackson NERFINISHED
Sandra Dee NERFINISHED
Susan Kohner NERFINISHED

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Russell Metty notableWork Imitation of Life
Russell Metty workedOn Imitation of Life
Douglas Sirk notableWork Imitation of Life
John Gavin notableWork Imitation of Life
Louise Beavers notableWork Imitation of Life
Sandra Dee notableWork Imitation of Life
Ross Hunter notableWork Imitation of Life
this entity surface form: Imitation of Life (1959 film)
Fannie Hurst notableAdaptationOfWork Imitation of Life
this entity surface form: Imitation of Life (1959 film)
Be Good hasTrack Imitation of Life
Susan Kohner notableWork Imitation of Life