Watch Imitation of Life For Free

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The acting in this movie is really good.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Representing the struggle that Peola has with a black mother is way ahead of its time but that isn't enough to call it a great film.Beavers was excellent but unbelievable that she wouldn't want a share of the company her recipe created. Elmer Smith was very annoying and Colberts reaction to her daughters infatuation with Stephen Archer was strange to say the least.The scene where Peola begs for forgiveness at her mothers funeral is heartbreaking but other than that a forgettable film

As much as we'd like to think that films exist in a vacuum, that is not the case. Still, despite progress, sometimes it is beneficial to (at least attempt to) evaluate art on its own merit and in its historical context. IMITATION OF LIFE is a film to which this can be applied. In terms of its approach to race and gender issues it was probably quite daring for its time. You have two single mothers, one black and one white, who start a business and climb up the social ladder. And their daughters, even though having a somewhat contentious relationship, were treated as equals. But, treating something academically isn't the only possible critical approach. By today's standards, I think the film still falls a bit short in terms of race and gender issues. Louise Beaver gives an awkward performance as a cheerfully subservient "mammy," even though that's the type of roles that were available to women of color back then. There is also an antiquated view on romantic relationships as marriage or "falling in love" is still seen as the pinnacle of a woman's life. All of this, and I haven't even really broached the style of film this is. I don't really mind melodrama as long as its executed well and has a compelling story. For what it's worth, IMITATION OF LIFE tends toward the positive side of this although it bites off a little more narrative complexity than it can fully chew, in my opinion. The primary plot threads involve Delilah's (Louise Beaver) daughter, Peola, who is mixed race and hates her "blackness," and an ichthyologist who Bea (Claudette Colbert) and her daughter both fall in love with. At least to me, there wasn't enough done to really integrate the various story elements in service of cohesiveness. It's like the story had a checklist of things it wanted to cover instead of letting things flow naturally from scene to scene. The outcome of the story was also kind of predictable. Still, the acting, which seems kind of stagey now, was decent, with Claudette Colbert doing the best out of the cast. She was a goddess who shone in every scene, and looked absolutely gorgeous in soft focus. Also, the toddler actress who played young Jessie, her daughter, was cute as a button. Overall, IMITATION OF LIFE is a product of its time. It might seemed dated today, but it's well produced, acted and directed for what it is.

Fannie Hurst's tear jerking 1933 novel about the sacrifices mothers make for their daughters spawned two popular movies separated by a quarter century of glacially-changing social attitudes - a highly regarded 1934 version that remains faithful to the book's narrative and an elaborate 1959 remake which changes certain plot details to service German-born filmmaker Douglas Sirk's heavily Baroque style of film-making. Both films maintain the same basic time-spanning storyline of two widows - one is a white woman who finds professional success but at a price that causes an unintended estrangement from her daughter, while the other is a black woman whose light-skinned daughter causes nothing but grief for all concerned.Directed by John M. Stahl, the black-and-white 1934 version focuses on Beatrice Pullman, a downtrodden white woman who bonds with Delilah Johnson, a cheery black woman, and opens up a waffle shop to support their daughters Jessie and Peola respectively. Their business becomes such a success that it gets franchised into a chain of coffee shops that market Delilah's waffle recipe and then turns into a major business venture producing the waffle mix en masse. Meantime, Delilah stays devoted to Beatrice as her maid (despite earning twenty percent of the company's profits), and together they raise their daughters. Beatrice eventually finds love with Stephen Archer, an ichthyologist for whom Jessie develops a crush. Far more seriously, Peola runs away to escape her black identity and puts Delilah into an emotional tailspin.In the same year she made "It Happened One Night" and DeMille's "Cleopatra", Claudette Colbert shows her trademark natural élan which allows her to be the emotional gravitational force her character Beatrice requires her to be. Louise Beavers, who made a career of playing sunny-faced maids, gets her one shot at a first-class role and plays Delilah with great poignancy despite the inherent racism behind the conception of the role. The rest of the cast is adequate, though the real standout is Fredi Washington, a seminal black actress who portrays Peola with searing resentment and deepening regret.

One can make a case that this film about the African - American racial realities of the New Deal period is the equivalent of "House Of Rothschild", a contemporary movie regarding Jews and anti-Semitism. Both movies are very well-intentioned for their day, but are somewhat appalling for the present day. "House Of Rothschild" had great performances by George Arliss as Nathan Rothschild, and Boris Karloff as his German foe, the bigoted Baron Ledranz. But it suggested that the key to the emancipation of the Jews (and their acceptance by gentile society) was tied to economic success and power. This ignored the roots of anti-Semitism in economic jealousy by non-Jews. In "Imitation Of Life", we see two poor single mothers, one white and one black, each with a daughter, who form a partnership that enriches them with an "Aunt Jemimah" baking empire. But in the real world, how frequently did white and black people cooperate that closely when millions of dollars were at stake? The ideas, however, of this film are not easy to reject totally. Forgetting the idea of inter-racial economic cooperation and money making, the idea that a white and a black woman could become close is not totally impossible, and the issues of the problems both women have with their daughters are still relevant.Claudette Colbert (Bea Pullman) and her daughter Rochelle Hudson (Jessie) find that they become rivals for Warren Williams (Steve Archer). The rivalry of the pair for the same man is not uncommon, and the sad resolution of the problem seems unfair to Bea. Wisely the script does not settle what the future will prove about this collision of sexual hopes.No such problem faces Louise Beavers (Delilah Johnson) and Freddie Washington (Peola). Beavers is a hard working, decent woman who is fully aware of what the average White person expects of a Black person's "attitudes" in the America (or Western World) of 1934. Subserviance is the key for survival. Beavers, in the story, is luckier than most of her people because she has made a large amount of money as Colbert's business partner. But she can only get so far with that advantage - she can't live in a mansion and hobnob with the social elite. But she doesn't really seem to care to. The old (and infuriating) phrase about "knowing her place" is acceptable to her. But Peola is light skinned, and can pass herself off as white. She desperately wants to do so - to "sneak" (for want of a better term) herself into the majority of the population, with all the attending economic, political, and social advantages. And Bea wants Peola to accept her racial difference.Today, of course, we feel that it is the sin of the society penalizing millions of non-whites that is the terrible wrong, not Peola's desperate attempt to grab at happiness. But in 1934 it was Peola who was found to be wrong. Her selfishness leads to killing the saintly, decent Delilah, and Peola realizes this at the conclusion - at her mother's funeral.Before leaving this I have to point out that Peola's gamble probably would have been difficult in the long run. In the 1920s, New York society was shocked and titillated by the Kip Rhinelander Divorce Scandal. The son of a wealthy old New York family, Rhinelander married a very attractive woman. Then their child turned out to be African-American. The resulting divorce action was very ugly. If Peola married a white man, she would run a similar risk (as would all "white" descendants of the couple) due to genetics. Oddly enough, this particular situation is not a dated story theme. On an episode of LAW AND ORDER about six years ago, the murder of a woman was tied to her trying to regain her son by her ex-husband: the husband (like Peola) could pass himself off as white, and was a high ranking business executive with a new wife, who was white, and also a bigot.Among other things to note in this film is the use of the "Aunt Jemimah" clone in 1934 - a key to the long term success of that brand with the American public (and one that still exists), and the business deal that Ned Sparks and Colbert are negotiation with a clone of General Mills or some other food conglomerate. The funeral of Delilah also is notable, for the appearance of members of the Black Middle class in the scenes, in particular the men in quasi-military uniforms who must belong to some "mason" like club, and who give the deceased a goodbye beneath their outstretched military sabers. The appearance of Preston Sturges as one of the screenplay writers suggests some of the touches - Sturges liked to poke fun at well known brand names. In "Christmas In July", for instance, the coffee company is Maxford's (like Maxwell House).I find this a well acted and thoughtful movie for 1934, and yes, Louise Beavers did give her most tragic performance in this film. But the acceptance of racial inequalities that really are not acceptable anymore (although much improvement is still needed) does stick in one's craw.