Imitation of Life(1959)

Plot Summary

• Lola Meredith (Lana Turner), a widow with a six-year-old daughter, named Susie, has come to New York City in hopes of becoming a famous actress. But after several weeks, she has found no work and lives in a cold-water flat. One summer day, Lora loses Susie on the Coney Island beach but finds her safe with Annie Johnson (Juanita Moore), a young black woman who is also a widow, and Annie's mixed-race light-skinned eight-year-old daughter Sarah Jane. Susie and Sarah Jane become quick friends, as do Lora and Annie. Since Annie has no place to live, she offers to become Lora's servant and nanny. Lora cannot afford to pay her, but allows Annie and the delighted Sarah Jane to move in. On the beach, Lora also meets Steve Archer (John Gavin), an aspiring photographer who takes a picture of the two girls. He attracted to Lora and courts her. Meanhile, Lora looks for jobs while Annie takes care of the kids, does the housework, and takes on menial jobs to help pay their rent. But Annie worries about Sarah Jane who tries to pass as white because she is embarrassed about having a black mother.Lora lies her way into the office of agent Allen Loomis (Robert Alda) to try to hire him to land acting jobs. He realizes that she is a fraud, but promises to make her a star if she will do everything he tells her, no mater how low. Lora doesn't want to be cheapened and walks out on him. When she tells Steve what went on, he tells Lora to hold onto her dreams. However, when Steve sells the photo of the girls, he takes a job with a magazine and asks Lora to marry him and give up acting. She accepts his proposal, but changes her mind when Loomis gets her a job with famous director David Edwards (Dan O'Herlihy). As a result, Steve and Lora break up.When Lora tells Edwards what is wrong with her small scene, he is impressed and gives her the lead role. Lora is a success and she soon becomes Edwards's lover.Ten years later, Lora has become a big acting star by appearing in all of Edwards's Broadway plays. Lorna, Annie and their two daughters now teenagers 16-year-old Susie (Sandra Dee) and 18-year-old Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) all move in together in a large, lovely house in Manhattan. But, surprisingly, Lora is unfulfilled with her life. She breaks away from Edwards and starts in a working-class play with low-income.Steve comes to visit Lora to her celebration party after her latest play, Annie, Sarah Jane and Susie are all happy to see him. Lora hints to Steve that she would like to get back together with him, but her work obsession drive them apart. Susie is also becoming disenchanted with her mother for not spending more time with her. She goes to Annie with her problems. When Lora goes abroad to Europe to star in a movie, Steve takes care of Susie, who falls in love with him. When Lora returns and it becomes evident to Susie that Steve loves Lora and they'll marry, she and her mother have a falling out.Meanwhile Annie's health deteriorates as Sarah Jane draws away from her. Sarah Jane tries to pass herself off as white by dating a local high school boy, but when the white boyfriend finds out that he is actually mixed-race, he physically beats her up and dumps her. Sarah Jane goes into a deep depression and takes a job as a dancer in a sleazy nightclub until Annie informs the manager that she's black to get her fired. Afterwords, Sarah Jane tells Annie that she doesn't want to see her ever again and flees town. Steve tracks Sarah Jane to Las Vegas where she is working as a local showgirl. Now extremely ill (presumbably from cancer) Annie travels to Las Vegas to visit Sarah Jane. She promises to stay out of Sarah Jane's life, but tells her daughter to come back to New York to visit her or Lora if she ever needs help. Sarah Jane hugs her mother goodbye and appears sad to see her go.A few weeks later, Annie dies and Lora is heartbroken that her best friend has passed away. Just as Annie wanted, there is a glorious funeral, attended by thousands of mourners. A tearful and guilty Sarah Jane appears and runs up to her coffin, admitting to everyone that she is Annie's daughter and that she is black. Sarah Jane rides off with Lora, Susie and Steve back to their home.

Storyline

• Aspiring actress Lora Meredith meets Annie Johnson, a homeless Black woman at Coney Island, and soon they share a tiny apartment. Each woman has an intolerable daughter. However, Annie's little girl Sarah Jane is by far the worst. Neurotic and obnoxious, Sarah Jane doesn't like being Black; since she's light-skinned (her father was practically white), she spends the rest of the film trying to pass as white, much to her mother's heartache and shame. Lora, meanwhile, virtually ignores her own daughter in a single-minded quest for stardom. — alfiehitchie In Coney Island, the widow and aspiring actress Lora Meredith finds her 6-year-old daughter Susie playing with 8-year-old Sarah Jane, the daughter of homeless Annie Johnson. Lora brings Annie and her daughter to live in her small apartment in New York and they become close friends. Lora has a love affair with photographer Steve Archer and soon he proposes. But the ambitious Lora dreams on becoming a star on Broadway and prioritizes her career and also neglects Susie. The light-skinned Sarah Jones rejects her Black mother and tries to pass as white for her friends. Lora succeeds in her career and reaches stardom. Ten years later, she meets Steve by chance and he pays attention to Susie while Lora is shooting a film in Italy. When she returns, she decides to get married with Steve, but Susie has fallen in love with Steve. Meanwhile Sarah Jane runs away from home to work in fleshpots. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Lora Meredith is a struggling actress with a 6-year-old daughter, Susie. She hires an African American woman, Annie Johnson, as a maid. Annie has an 8-year-old daughter, Sarah Jane, who instantly befriends Susie. Sarah Jane is light-skinned and does her best to pass herself as white at school and in social circles. This is to her advantage because of the racist laws and social mores of the time. However, her mother is always quick to point out that Sarah Jane is her daughter, and this hinders her. Fast forward 10 years, and Lora is now a Broadway star. An old flame, Steve Archer, has reappeared in her life, and daughter Susie is smitten with him. Meanwhile, Sarah Jane is trying to make her way in the world, socially and career-wise, but her idealistic, hard-headed, clingy mother is still embarrassing and hindering her. — grantss In 1947 at Coney Island, down-on-her-luck actress Lora Meredith and her young daughter Susie meet African American Annie Johnson and her daughter Sarah Jane. Annie is desperate for a place to live and offers to work as Lora's maid for food and lodging. Lora's luck begins to change as a result of their meeting, and their two stories unfold across the years. However, Annie's problems start when Sarah Jane tries to pass as white. — Col Needham <col@imdb.com> 1 more See all