Rotten
While this device lends more scope, it also results in the overdone busy actress/neglected daughter conflict.
Variety Staff, Variety
Imitation of Life
Fannie Hurst's best selling novel of today's tormented generation!
1959 · 2h 5m · Approved
Drama, Romance
Directed by
Douglas Sirk
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
Imitation of Life
Overview
In 1940s New York, a white widow who dreams of being on Broadway has a chance encounter with a black single mother, who becomes her maid.
Director and cast
- Douglas Sirk Director
- Lana Turner as Lora Meredith
- John Gavin as Steve Archer
- Sandra Dee as Susie (16)
- Susan Kohner as Sarah Jane (18)
- Robert Alda as Allen Loomis
- Dan O'Herlihy as David Edwards
- Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson
- Karin Dicker as Sarah Jane (8)
- Terry Burnham as Susie (6)
- John Vivyan as Young Man
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
82%
Tomatometer
Rotten
This modernized remake of Miss Hurst's frankly lachrymose tale is much the same as its soggy predecessor. It is the most shameless tear-jerker in a couple of years.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
Fresh
Forget those who decry the '50s Hollywood melodrama; it is through the conventions of that hyper-emotional genre that Sirk is able to make such a devastatingly embittered and pessimistic movie.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh
Douglas Sirk's 1959 film was the biggest grosser in Universal's history until the release of Airport, yet it's also one of the most intellectually demanding films ever made in Hollywood.
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Fresh
Imitation of Life is still a potent onion. When passed before the moviegoer's eyes, it may force theater owners to install aisle scuppers to drain off the tears.
TIME Magazine
More films
Racing with the Moon (1984)
Drama · Romance · PG
In a small coastal California town, Henry and Nicky are pals from blue collar families with only a short time before they ship off to World War II. Henry begins romancing new-to-town Caddie Winger, believing her to be wealthy. Mischievous and irresponsible, Nicky gets into trouble which forces the other two to become involved, testing ...
- Runtime
- 1h 48m
- Director
- Richard Benjamin
- Cast
- Sean Penn, Nicolas Cage, Elizabeth McGovern
IMDb
6.6
Rotten Tomatoes
67%
Metacritic
66
Not Easily Broken (2009)
Drama · Romance · PG-13
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
- Runtime
- 1h 39m
- Director
- Bill Duke
- Cast
- Morris Chestnut, Taraji P. Henson, Maeve Quinlan
IMDb
6.1
Rotten Tomatoes
31%
Metacritic
43
Purple Hearts (2022)
Drama · Romance · TV-14
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
- Runtime
- 2h 2m
- Director
- Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum
- Cast
- Sofia Carson, Nicholas Galitzine, John Harlan Kim
IMDb
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes
32%
Metacritic
30
Save the Last Dance (2001)
Drama · Family · Music · Romance · PG-13
After the death of her mother, Sara moves to the South Side of Chicago to live with her father and gets transferred to a majority-black school. Her life takes a turn for the better when befriends Chenille and her brother Derek, who helps her with her dancing skills.
- Runtime
- 1h 53m
- Director
- Thomas Carter
- Cast
- Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas, Kerry Washington
IMDb
6.2
Metacritic
53
Moonlight Mile (2002)
Drama · Romance · PG-13
As he copes with the death of his fiancee along with her parents, a young man must figure out what he wants out of life.
- Runtime
- 1h 57m
- Director
- Brad Silberling
- Cast
- Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon, Jake Gyllenhaal
IMDb
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes
63%
Metacritic
59
School of Magical Animals 4 (2025)
Family · Fantasy · N/A
Ida's friend Miriam visits the school for three months, but a secret threatens to tear them apart. Miriam is entrusted with the tarsier Fitzgeraldo, while Max, deeply in love, is given the owl Muriel. Meanwhile, the sale of the school is imminent, and the future of the magical community is in peril.
- Runtime
- 1h 42m
- Director
- Bernhard Jasper, Maggie Peren
- Cast
- Emilia Maier, Loris Sichrovsky, Marleen Lohse
IMDb
5.7
Color of the Ocean (2012)
Drama · N/A
After years working as a border patrolman, José has developed a salty crust of cynicism about his work, which places him in a position to decide the fates of many. José's weary attitude is put to the test when he encounters Nathalie, a German tourist assisting a boatload of refugees she discovered landing on the Canary shores. One of t...
- Runtime
- 1h 35m
- Director
- Maggie Peren
- Cast
- Álex González, Hubert Koundé, Nathalie Poza
IMDb
6.6
Die hellen Tage
Die hellen Tage (2027)
Comedy · Drama · N/A
- Director
- Maggie Peren
- Cast
- Karoline Herfurth, Julia Jentsch, Emilia Maier
Comments
Talk about the film with other members