Her success was not to last. Billy Wilder and Lemmon's lifelong comic foil Walter Matthau (nine collaborations with Lemmon in 32 years, including their most popular film, The Odd Couple, 1968) brought some of the comedian's finest funny moments to the screen. Wyler for Ben-Hur (1959). Editing: Milton Carruth Best Drama. Troy Donahue 1936-2001 Lemmon waived his salary to act in Save the Tiger (1973), the 'great American tragedy' of a businessman at the end of his rope. picture and a dark commentary on ambition, motherhood, Quinn divorced DeMille's daughter and married the costumer. He returned to the U.S. for his Broadway debut in 1958 and shortly after started to appear on numerous TV shows like The Untouchables and Naked City. As Lambert points out, she had reached the age when iconic actresses stop being stars. For a brief, quicksilver period of the early '60s, Sandra Dee was the quintessential sweet, perky, All-American girl, and films such as Gidget and Tammy Tell Me True only reinforced the image that young audiences identified with on the screen. Lemmon was truly a one-of-a-kind actor and his track record for acclaimed performances is truly remarkable: 8 Oscar nominations (he won Best Supporting Actor for Mister Roberts (1955) and Best Actor for Save the Tiger (1973), a Life Achievement Award from the American Film Institute, 8 British Academy Award nominations, 4 Emmy Award nominations, numerous Golden Globe nominations, a two-time Best Actor winner at the Cannes Film Festival, the list goes on and on. After frantically searching for her lost daughter Susie at Coney Island, an attractive widow named Lora Meredith finds her playing with Sarah Jane, a light-skinned black girl. The funeral scene hit a little too close to home for Turner. This was followed by major attention in academic film journals and retrospectives at film festivals. Lana Turner was back on top, and a rich woman as well. saucy, and incisive, this is irresistible reading for They lost to Shelley Winters in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). He had already played the lead in Douglas Sirk's A Time to Love, and a Time to Die (1958). Writer Nolbert Brown Jr. See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist Photos Add photo More like this 7.5 Imitation of Life Watch options 7.8 Imitation of Life Imitation of Life (1959) - YouTube Both Susan Kohner and Juanita Moore were nominated for Golden Globes for Best Susan Kohner - Wikipedia She even arranged a special advance screening for the girl so she could get her tears out of the way with the first screening and look her best for the critics at the premiere. As Steve looks on, the three women join hands in a gesture of comfort and love. Her mother's appearance gets Sarah Jane fired, and she again runs from her, causing Annie to faint. Geoff Andrew, TimeOut Movie Guide (Penguin). He continued the same mix of classics and best-forgotten quickies throughout the 1960s and '70s. It was Wright in fact who suggested the possibility of acting to Quinn and even paid for an operation to cure a speech impediment. Natalie Wood would have been 75 today. (1972), The Front Page (1974) and Buddy Buddy (1981). It was appraised at $1 million. Lora and Susie gently lead her into the hearse, where they reassure her that she did not cause her mother's death. Quinn's acting debut was in 1936 initially in a handful of barely noticable spots as an extra until he landed a speaking role in Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman, supposedly on the recommendation of the film's star, Gary Cooper. Quinn was born April 21, 1915 in Mexico. Imitation of Life (1959) - User Reviews - IMDb by Michael T. Toole, PAULINE KAEL 1919-2001 That's when she started to develop a serious interest in movies. - Halliwell's Film & Video Guide (HarperPerennial). quite credible and moving." Lora then meets Sarah Jane's single black mother, Annie Johnson, and a white photographer named Steve Archer, who takes some photographs of the girls. Not many actors can boast that they've inspired a Bob Dylan song but Anthony Quinn - who passed away June 3rd at the age of 86 - was one of the select few. Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc. Hollywood, California, United States; Los Angeles--Moulin Rouge nightclub, California, United States, SYNOPSIS Lana Turner was back on top, and a rich woman as well. with surviving cast members, and superb storytelling one of the most popular films of the '50s--a split But both women suffer heartbreak caused by their daughters. Natalie Wood | Biography, Movies, Death, & Facts | Britannica Universal bought the screen rights to Imitation of Life and produced a faithful screen adaptation in 1934 under John Stahl's direction (he had previously directed the very successful first version of Hurst's Back Street in 1932). The Apartment (1960) focused on a working stiff who lends his home to his supervisors for their extramarital affairs. Then she panicked and tried to return the $5,000 advance Harper & Bros. had paid for the book rights. In the background of her public rise to fame, Wood survived some of the worst situations life could throw at someone, just to mysteriously drown in a still-unsolved incident at only 43 years old. A year after the film came out, Brazilian television presented a telenovella based on the book. It features Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers, and Freddie Wa. Lana Turner's Imitations of Life - New York Social Diary In Missing (1982), directed by the uncompromising Costa-Gavras, Lemmon played a patriotic father searching for his kidnapped son in Latin America. (The idea for the book was born when Hurst traveled with black author Zora Neale Hurston and encountered racism, although the story was not remotely based on either of their lives.) Even though she was currently the subject of a major scandal after daughter Cheryl Crane killed Turner's lover, mobster Johnny Stompanato, Hunter insisted on offering her the role. Email Subscription. CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme in der Deutschen Bibliothek. During filming, he sent flowers and gifts to Turner's dressing room regularly. Cinematography: Russell Metty The plot formula would not have stood up in today's era of integration when a Negro who owned half a successful corporation could buy her own home in any area that pleased her." She continued to make a name for herself in. Quinn also appeared on stage in 1936 playing opposite Mae West. Although the killing was ruled justifiable homicide because Cheryl was defending her mother, the scandal rocked Hollywood, and many people thought Lana's film career was over. Note: This Imitation of Life trivia and all movie trivia on notstarring.com is submitted and reviewed by movie fans from around the world. performances. It's a film that will benefit from word-of-mouth, particularly of lipsticked Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind (2020) | Official Trailer | HBO The Apartment (1960) focused on a working stiff who lends his home to his supervisors for their extramarital affairs. The two mothers are now alone in the house. Closed captioning. Missing was inspired by a true story - the production was condemned by the Reagan administration and awarded the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival. In the early Sixties she engaged in an infamous and surprisingly bitter debate with critic Andrew Sarris among others about the merits of auteurism, the French-born philosophy that believes the director is the chief creative person behind any film. If a novelist had invented a character like Quinn, she would be accused of unbelievable invention. (A branch of the Los Angeles County Public Library now occupies the site of Quinn's childhood home; in 1981 it was renamed in his honor.) It was in Ireland that O'Connor started acting in several local productions. From sexual antics to social critique, Lemmon and Wilder sharpened their comic knives on the hypocrisies they saw in American culture. Illicit love and the corruption of big business might not seem to be the stuff of hit comedies, but Wilder and Lemmon found humor in the most unlikeliest of places. Douglas Sirk was nominated for the Directors Guild Award but lost to William initial U.S. release, placing number five on the year's list of top box-office Director Douglas Sirk suggested changing the leading lady from a businesswoman to an actress. The film was a major box office success. Carroll O'Connor - who died June 21st at the age of 76 - will be best remembered for portraying Archie Bunker on TV's All in the Family but his career actually was much more extensive. The '70s actually saw Dee improve as an actress. Directors Michael Anderson Vincente Minnelli Writers Rosamond Marshall Robert Thom Stars Robert Wagner Natalie Wood Susan Kohner The playwright wants to marry her, but as she admits one day to Annie, who still works for her, she does not really love him. A journal about film, music, literature and any other form of imitation of life. The gritty crime drama Across 110th Street (1972) is one of the best American movies of its decade, enhanced by Quinn's turn as an embattled police captain. Imitation of Life Brief Synopsis Two mothers, one white, one black, face problems with their rebellious daughters. Helping boost the success of Imitation of Life was the studio's unprecedented decision to release it simultaneously to both white and black theatres in the South. Cast: Lana Turner (Lora Meredith), John Gavin (Steve Archer), Sandra Dee (Susie), Dan O'Herlihy (David Edwards), Susan Kohner (Sarah Jane), Robert Alda (Allen Loomis), Juanita Moore (Annie Johnson), Mahalia Jackson (Herself), Troy Donahue (Frankie), Sandra Gould (Receptionist), Jack Weston (Stage Manager), Bess Flowers (Geraldine Moore), Myrna Fahey (Actress) Remake of "Imitation of Life" directed by John Stahl in 1934. To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: Two mothers, one white, one black, face problems with their rebellious daughters. Cast & Crew Read More Douglas Sirk Director Lana Turner Lora Meredith John Gavin Steve Archer Sandra Dee Susie Meredith, age sixteen Susan Kohner Sarah Jane [Johnson], age eighteen Robert Alda Allen Loomis Photos & Videos View All by Margarita Landazuri & Frank Miller, In conjunction with the film version, a new paperback edition of Imitation of Life hit bookstores, selling half a million copies. Kael's anti-intellectual streak came forward but since auteurism wasn't meant to be a genuinely rigorous theory (such attempts came later in the 70s) this was a sort of Brer Rabbit vs. tar baby fight that Kael could never win. It was made into a film in 1934, starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, directed by John Stahl. But it was the 1950s when Quinn broke out. Whether playing a cross-dressing jazz bassist or a bickering roommate, Lemmon has kept his fans in stitches for fifty years. Letterboxed. Finally, Hunter and Turner's agent, Paul Kohner, convinced her that making the film was the only way to lay the rumors to rest. He always used real flowers on the sets, and the jewelry was the real thing, too, supplied by Laykin et Cie. Imitation of Life. "Oh, Mama, stop acting. There she majored in philosophy at University of California at Berkeley though she didn't graduate (the school later gave her an honorary degree). Quinn continued in film parts that gathered acclaim: Crazy Horse in They Died With Their Boots On (1941), a gambler in The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), a soldier in Guadalcanal Diary (1943). (Plume). by Frank Miller, Because of the heavy public interest in Turner's first film after the Stompanato scandal, producer Ross Hunter threw the set open to the press on the first day of shooting. degeneration of family bondsForget those who decry the '50s Hollywood The film's treatment of race, considered daring in its day, provides a powerful view of liberal sentiments at the birth of the civil rights movement. But there was a serious side too. Variety. Closed captioning. Imitation of Life - Trivia - notstarring.com Compiled by Frank Miller, Popular novelist Fannie Hurst got the idea for Imitation of Life during a road trip to Canada with African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston during which she saw first-hand the depth of racial prejudice. Rather than dictating the way a scene should be played, he would take each actor aside, suggest what he wanted and ask how he or she felt about it. Yet despite her competency as actress, her career never regained its footing, and she appeared in only a few television movies later on: The Daughters of Joshua Cabe (1972), Fantasy Island (1977). While Lora is filming in Italy, Steve looks after Susie, and the eager teenager soon falls in love with him. Imitation of Life (1959 film) - Wikipedia Imitation Of Life (1959) - (Movie Clip) A Maid To Live In