“Imitation of Life” (1959)
As Douglas Sirk’s last Hollywood picture, “Imitation of Life” sure packs a whammy. A remake of the 1934 Claudette Colbert-starring version based on the Fannie Hurst novel, the film certainly has a history with regards to production and reception, particularly with regard to how it dealt with race and gender issues. As a typical “woman’s film,” the plot is full of melodrama as Lora Meredith (Lana Turner) and her daughter Susie (child – Terry Bunham, teenage – Sandra Dee) take Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore) and her daughter Sarah Jane (child – Karin Dicker, teenage – Susan Kohner) under their wing by hiring Annie as a housekeeper and providing them all with a place to live. Lora goes from being a struggling actress to a Broadway star, bringing prosperity to their makeshift family, though not much peace. While Lora is away shooting a film, Susie develops a crush on her mother’s would-be boyfriend (John Archer) and Sarah Jane struggles with her pale skin in a segregated world, in which she tries to pass as white until her race is ultimately uncovered – including some nasty business with Troy Donahue. Suffice it to say, there isn’t a happy ending, but there is hope and potential for growth in the characters who survive to the film’s climax. Sirk specifically had the film focus more on Annie and Sarah Jane than previous versions (its borderline experimental narrative takes an early subplot and eventually makes that the main focus — a trick that still feels fresh and innovative today) thereby creating one of the most compelling racial commentaries up until that point. By operating with this soap operatic quality, “Imitation of Life” was able to bring the issue of race further into a more traditionally feminine, domestic sphere — and Sirk’s lush visuals and setting therefore become the spoonful of sugar that helps the “medicine” of racial commentary go down.
Let’s not forget that many of Sirk’s best movies were remakes — and all remakes of 1930s John M. Stahl films, including “Magnificent Obsession,” “Imitation of Life” and “When Tomorrow Comes” which Sirk made into the now the hard-to-find “Interlude ” (which has been called an unsung masterpiece by Richard Brody.) Three other key films in Sirk’s oeuvre, aside from “Interlude” are “All I Desire” starring Barbara Stanwyck, which feels like more of a test run for the sumptuous female-led melodramas he became famous for and “A Time to Love and A Time to Die” which blended his extravagant style with his penchant for war dramas. Also of note is 1949’s “Shockproof” written by Samuel Fuller and starring actor and sometime director Cornel Wilde.
Sirk’s body of work was reevaluated by the Cahiers Du Cinema crowd, but there’ve been many others who have helped. Rainer Werner Fassbender was a huge proponent of Sirk’s work and remade “All That Heaven Allows” as “Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.” In fact, many of his pictures were heavily indebted to Sirk’s style including the sumptuously colorful “Lola.” The echoed influence was then carried down to Todd Haynes, indebted to both filmmakers, who made a homagistic pastiche of their work with “Far From Heaven.” Quentin Tarantino was also a fan and there’s an iconic line in “Pulp Fiction” when Vincent Vega (John Travolta) orders the Douglas Sirk steak, which he makes sure is prepared “Bloody as hell.”
Sirk retired early at the height of his commercial success, leaving some to believe he wanted to go out on top. But the filmmaker was already 62, in poor health, and looking to slow down and engage his mind in quieter, less stressful ways. — Drew Taylor, Erik McClanahan, Diana Drumm, Rodrigo Perez and Sam Chater.