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This glamorized remake of the 1934 film Imitation of Life bears only a passing resemblance to its source, the best-selling novel by Fannie Hurst. Originally, the heroine was a widowed mother who kept the wolf from the door by setting up a successful pancake business with her black housemaid. In the remake, Lana Turner stars as a would-be actress who is raising her daughter on her own. She chances to meet another single mother at the beach: African-American Juanita Moore. Moore goes to work as Turner's housekeeper, bringing her light-skinned daughter along. As Turner's stage career goes into high gear, Moore is saddled with the responsibility of raising both Turner's daughter and her own. Exposed to the advantages of the white world, Moore's grown-up daughter (Susan Kohner) passes for white, causing her mother a great deal of heartache. Meanwhile, Turner's grown daughter (Sandra Dee), neglected by her mother, seeks comfort in the arms of handsome photographer John Gavin. When Moore dies, her daughter realizes how selfish she's been; simultaneously, Turner awakens to the fact that she hasn't been much of a mother for her own daughter, whose romance has gone down the tubes.
NOTE: A fair amount of this Blu-ray is sourced from poor quality prints/transfers, so quality can vary from scene to scene.
Code:
STARS...........: Lana Turner, John Gavin, Sandra Dee, Susan Kohner
DIRECTOR........: Douglas Sirk
WRITERS.........: Eleanore Griffin, Allan Scott
GENRE...........: Drama
IMDB............: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000052918
RUNTIME.........: 2h 04mn
SIZE............: 6.77 GB
VIDEO CODEC.....: HEVC ( [email protected])
BITRATE.........: 7500 Kbps (2-pass)
RESOLUTION......: 1920x960
ASPECT RATIO....: 2.0:1
FRAMERATE.......: 23.976 fps
AUDIO1..........: English AAC 1.0 192kbps
AUDIO2..........: Commentary with film historian Foster Hirsch
SUBTITLES.......: ENG, FRE, SPA
SOURCE..........: Universal Blu-ray
ENCODE DATE.....: 2021-01-23
Extras
• Lasting Legacy: An Imitation of Life - This 2008 documentary covers both versions of Imitation of Life. The only interviewee involved in making the films is Juanita Moore. The others are scholars and historians, including Foster Hirsch, Avery Clayton (who recorded the commentary for the 1935 version), Drew Casper, Donald Bogle and Jessica Funches.
• Theatrical Trailer
• Commentary with Film Historian Foster Hirsch - Hirsch is an unabashed admirer of the film, which he considers Sirk's masterpiece. He has shown it at various festivals that include appearance by Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner, and his commentary is informed by his own conversations with the actresses about their participation in the project. If you can overlook the gushing, Hirsch's knowledge of the film is deep and extensive, and he notes many technical details about the visual design that register at a subliminal level but are carefully crafted. He also discusses Sirk's approach to working with the cast (which differed for each actor) and notes several lines that were ad libbed.
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