Connection
Imitation of Life is a american film of genre Drama directed by John M. Stahl released in USA on 26 november 1934 with Claudette Colbert
Imitation of Life (1934)
If you like this film, let us know!
- Infos
- Casting
- Technical infos
- Photos
- Videos
- Film quotes
- Characters
- Music
- Awards
Add to a movie listImitation of Life is a 1934 American drama film directed by John M. Stahl. The screenplay by William Hurlbut, based on Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel of the same name, was augmented by eight additional uncredited writers, including Preston Sturges and Finley Peter Dunne. The film stars Claudette Colbert, Warren William and Rochelle Hudson and features Louise Beavers and Fredi Washington.
The film was originally released by Universal Pictures on November 26, 1934, and later re-issued in 1936. A 1959 remake with the same title stars Lana Turner.
In 2005, Imitation of Life was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. It was named by Time in 2007 as one of "The 25 Most Important Films on Race".
Synopsis
White widow Bea Pullman (Claudette Colbert) and her daughter Jessie (Juanita Quigley as a toddler, Marilyn Knowlden as an eight-year-old) take in black housekeeper Delilah Johnson (Louise Beavers) and her daughter Peola (Sebie Hendricks), whose fair complexion reveals her mixed-race ancestry. Bea exchanges room and board for work, although struggling to make ends meet. Delilah and Peola quickly become like family to Jessie and Bea. They particularly enjoy Delilah's pancakes, made from a special family recipe. Five years later, Jessie and Peola prove to be challenging children to raise: Jessie is demanding, not particularly studious, relying instead on her charm. She is the first person to call Peola "black" in a hurtful way, making it clear that their childhood idyll is doomed. Peola does not tell her classmates at school that she is "colored" and is humiliated when her mother shows up one day, revealing her secret.Actors
Claudette Colbert
(Beatrice 'Bea' Pullman)
Warren William
(Stephen 'Steve' Archer)
Rochelle Hudson
(Jessie Pullman, Age 18)
Ned Sparks
(Elmer Smith)
Louise Beavers
(Delilah Johnson)
Comments
Leave comment :
Suggestions of similar film to Imitation of Life
There are 258 films with the same actors, 32 films with the same director, 66996 with the same cinematographic genres (including 124 with exactly the same 3 genres than Imitation of Life), to have finally 70 suggestions of similar films.If you liked Imitation of Life, you will probably like those similar films :
Back Street (1932)
, 1h33Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Melodrama, Romance
Actors Irene Dunne, John Boles, June Clyde, George Meeker, Zasu Pitts, Shirley Grey
Rating69%
Based on a best-selling novel by Fannie Hurst, Back Street concerns an ill-starred couple, Rae (Irene Dunne) and Walter (John Boles). This was the first of three film versions of Hurst's story; remakes were released in 1941 and 1961.
Forever Amber (1947)
, 2h18Directed by Otto Preminger, John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Historical, Melodrama, Romance
Themes Children's films
Actors Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Richard Haydn, Glenn Langan
Rating64%
The film begins in 1644 during the English Civil War, as we see a group of Roundheads pursuing a Cavalier's carriage. The carriage drives into the country where its passengers abandon a baby, named Amber, on the doorstep of a farming cottage. The roundheads soon catch up with the carriage and kill all the passengers while the farmers discover and decide to adopt Amber.
Magnificent Obsession (1935)
, 1h52Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Melodrama, Romance
Actors Irene Dunne, Robert Taylor, Charles Butterworth, Sara Haden, Ralph Morgan, Henry Armetta
Rating67%
The life of spoiled Robert Merrick (Robert Taylor) is saved through the use of a hospital's only pulmotor, but because the medical device cannot be in two places at once, it results in the death of Dr. Hudson, a selfless, brilliant surgeon and generous philanthropist. Merrick falls in love with Hudson's widow, Helen (Irene Dunne), though she holds him responsible for her husband's demise. One day, he insists on driving her home and makes a pass at her. She gets out and is struck by another car, losing her sight. Merrick confronts a friend of Helen's husband, wanting to know why a beautiful young woman would marry a middle-aged man. The doctor's friend tells him that her husband had a philosophy—to help people, but never let it be known that you are the one helping them. Only then, he believed, could there be true reward in life.
Leave Her to Heaven (1946)
, 1h50Directed by Otto Brower, John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Melodrama, Romance
Themes Films about suicide, Children's films
Actors Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Mary Philips, Ray Collins
Rating75%
Novelist Richard Harland (Cornel Wilde) returns to his remote island home, called Back of the Moon, after two years in prison. His friend and attorney, (Ray Collins), narrates how Richard meets beautiful socialite Ellen Berent (Gene Tierney) on a train. She falls in love with him based mainly on his close resemblance to her recently deceased father, to whom she was obsessively attached.
Parnell (1937)
, 1h58Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Historical, Romance
Actors Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, Edna May Oliver, Edmund Gwenn, Donald Crisp, Billie Burke
Rating54%
Un épisode de la vie de Charles Stewart Parnell, le roi sans couronne, depuis sa lutte, dès 1880, pour soustraire l'Irlande au joug anglais, jusqu'à sa mort. Le scénario met l'accent sur sa relation avec Katie O'Shea, femme mariée, qui va provoquer un scandale.
A Lady Surrenders (1930)
, 1h35Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Conrad Nagel, Rose Hobart, Genevieve Tobin, Basil Rathbone, Edgar Norton, Carmel Myers
Rating67%
A man is left by his wife and assuming her to be gone forever, he remarries. Complications ensue when his original wife returns home.
Only Yesterday (1933)
, 1h45Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Margaret Sullavan, John Boles, Edna May Oliver, Billie Burke, Benita Hume, Reginald Denny
Rating72%
, 1h45Directed by Ernst Lubitsch, John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Monde imaginaire, Political films, Films about royalty
Actors Ramón Novarro, Norma Shearer, Philippe De Lacy, Jean Hersholt, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Edward Connelly
Rating75%
Young Crown Prince Karl Heinrich (Philippe De Lacy), heir to the kingdom of Karlsburg, is brought to live with his stern uncle, King Karl VII (Gustav von Seyffertitz). The king immediately dismisses the boy's nanny (Edythe Chapman) without telling the youngster to avoid an emotional farewell. Fortunately, Dr. Friedrich Jüttner (Jean Hersholt), his new tutor, proves to be sympathetic, and they become lifelong friends. Nonetheless, despite the commoners' belief that it must be wonderful to be him, the boy grows up lonely, without playmates his own age.
The Gay Deceiver (1927)
, 1h10Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Romance
Actors Lew Cody, Carmel Myers, Malcolm McGregor, Marceline Day, Roy D'Arcy, Dorothy Phillips
A deceiver leads the fast set in Paris and is involved in love affairs and blackmail until he mends his way for his daughter's sake.
Strictly Dishonorable (1931)
, 1h31Directed by John M. Stahl
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Romantic comedy, Romance
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Paul Lukas, Sidney Fox, Lewis Stone, George Meeker, Sidney Toler, Joseph W. Girard
Rating59%
Snubbish, quick-tempered Henry Greene (George Meeker) and his fiancee Isabelle Perry (Sidney Fox) stop into a New York speakeasy owned by Tomasso Antiovi (William Ricciardi) for a drink. There, they meet retired Judge Dempsey (Lewis Stone), an amiable man who befriends the Southern belle, much to Henry's dismay. Famous opera singer "Tino Caraffa", a charming but notorious playboy whose real name is "Gus" Di Ruvo, (Paul Lukas) is there as well, and while Henry is gone to move his illegally parked car, Gus and Isabelle, an opera fan, get acquainted. When Henry returns he's incensed to learn that the two of them have been dancing together. He wants Isabelle to leave with him, but she refuses and breaks off their engagement, returning his ring. Henry tries to get the police to help him force Isabelle to leave, by telling them that she has been "kidnapped by villains", but Judge Dempsey sets them straight, getting Henry arrested and taken away.