I never did assess the location for this film, NOLA? A Funeral March to beat the band for a woman who never seemed to have any kind of social life let alone supportive of her "Lodges". However, "Six Feet Under" had nothing on this spectacular display with the syncopated slow march, impressive!!Perhaps DayCare was free in those days? If not, why does she balk at a paycheck for someone who will take over that role plus cook, clean, and give awesome foot rubs after a long day. It just seems every movie made during the 30's and 40's always manages to afford a maid or housekeeper who is slavishly devoted to their employer. I never even trusted one to come in for a few hours a month!I prefer this original version to the remake because Lana Turner just could never match the talent of Colbert. I thought she would go insane wearing the same outfit 24/7 in "It Happened One Night" but they made up for it with the many beautiful costumes she wore in this film. Colbert was a beauty and a natural to boot!High recommend for Colbert fans, racial issues dealt with beyond the era, and the final two lines of simplicity: I Want My Quack Quack!

This is a powerful film, despite its reflecting the naivety of the times. Like A Star is Born, the story of Imitation of Life is inherently moving: a white woman befriends a black woman, who has a pale-skinned daughter that unbeknown to her mother has been passing for white. But there is only so much that loving friendship and motherhood can accomplish.This is the original version, more homely than the fifties one. Bea(Claudette Colbert) is a single mother who fortuitously bumps into good-hearted Delilah (Louise Beavers), who is willing to forgo a salary in order to simply have a loving home. The two start up a pancake business together which rapidly becomes a success. Delilah's pale daughter Peola (teenage version played by Fredi Washington) refuses to accept her racial identity and the low social status that Delilah willingly takes.The race question is not explored as deeply in the original because of the constraints of the era in which it was made, so unfortunately Fredi Washington does not have enough screen time. She is a strong actress but she seems quite uncomfortable with the character's desire to be white. Some, including the actress herself, have argued that Peola merely wants the rights of a white woman rather than a black one. Whilst Peola clearly does want those privileges, she still does not want to accept her racial identity, which is why she becomes so unhappy and lives an "imitation of life". Whatever motivation you attribute to Peola, Fredi Washington still does a very good job and looks spot on. All that was needed was a bit more focus on the race issue, although perhaps it was too sensitive a topic for 1934.The film is all about the women, and is a perfect example of a woman's picture. The friendship between Bea and Delilah is the heart of the film, although the characterisation of Delilah as a "mammy" type is a bit too patronising and Bea is on the whole condescending towards Delilah. The bond of motherhood is also a very significant theme: Peola's heartbreaking rejection of Delilah is contrasted with the relative lightness of Jessie (Bea's daughter) crush on her mother's boyfriend Stephen (Warren William). Rochelle Hudson's portrayal of Jessie is much better than Sandra Dee's, but then the Jessie of this film is written better and is more interesting. Her exchanges with Stephen are particularly comic.Louise Beavers' portrayal of Delilah (renamed Annie in the later film) is the mammy stereotype but with a soulful edge. She takes the subservient role because of her spiritual beliefs rather than because she believes that black people ought to be inferior. The difference between this and the Douglas Sirk film is that this film is saying that there are differences between black people and white people whereas the latter film isn't. I couldn't say which is a more accurate portrayal of the African-American experience: in a post-civil rights world, many would be inclined to prefer the latter choice. However, there is a powerful soulfulness about Delilah that for the most part overcomes the racial stereotypes.This film offers a lot of interesting themes: business; society's attitude to race; friendship; motherhood, and many others. Do not let the moments of naivety spoil what is a very good woman's picture.

Imitation of Life (1934)A beautiful and beautifully felt movie. Claudette Colbert, in the same year as her legendary role in "It Happened One Night," shows the really sincere charm and natural presence on screen even better here. She's a wonder, as an actress, and her role as a young struggling single mom, idealized for sure, and her success as a mature woman, is terrific stuff. A great movie, with a great performance.The director, John Stahl, who gets maligned in the bio on this site (go to Wikipedia for a more balanced and fair view), was indeed a man of mixed talents, but he pulled off several really first rate movies. This version of "Imitation of Life" is remarkably clear and forceful and subtle. It's not quite a formula movie even if it has some standard Hollywood tricks (of the passing of time, of handling the filming and the back projection, all very convincingly). And it has a story at its core that is really rather forward thinking for a mainstream movie. There are those (I've heard them) who find the approach to race too cloying and timid, but I say, show me a better film that people actually watched about the subject from this year. Just to find a way to deal with the idea of "passing," which means a black person passing as white in order to avoid prejudice, is terrific and necessary for the times. (By the way, for an insider look on this, read the extraordinary 1929 short novel, "Passing," by Nella Larsen.) The story for "Imitation of Life" is written by a white (Jewish) woman (Fanny Hurst) and is clearly taking up the broad themes of the depression. Written in 1933, it nailed themes that probably echoed some of the bigotry against Jews of the time, as both blacks and Jews were largely assimilating into mainstream America.Inevitably the remake of this movie will come to mind, and luckily they are very different movies. I love Douglas Sirk for his stylizing excesses, and his willingness to identify clichés and make them the substance of his 1959 movie (including the cliché known as a tearjerker!). I watched them both together this week (back and forth between them), and you can check out that review, too, if you want. Stahl's version, closer to the book in time and feeling than Sirk's, is in many ways a better movie, once you remove pure style from the equation. There is less to love, but much more to really like here, in the sincerity of the characters, the sweeping defiance against a Great Depression (that is mostly invisible), and in sheer personality. Terrific stuff!

First, I have a question: What's with IMDb listing Dorothy Black playing Peola at age 35? This version I saw ends with her at 19 crying at her mother's funeral and still played by Fredi Washington. Was there an extra scene missing? Anyway with that out of the way, I found this movie interesting with the relationship between Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers being nearly equal as being more friends as opposed to boss/employee even though Delilah kept calling Bea, Miss Bea, to the end of her days. Those scenes were so interesting and that of Beavers and Washington more so especially their last confrontation when Delilah still wants to be called Mammy and not some white woman's parent title (no offense to Bea, of course), that Bea's scenes with her potential husband (Warren William) and grown daughter (Rochelle Hudson) are sappy and a little melodramatic by comparison. I'd also like to praise the child, Sebie Handricks, that played Peola at age 4. She was really good. Ned Sparks as Bea's business partner is amusing with his sour disposition though a little of him goes a long way. I do wonder how many of the people at Delilah's funeral were her friends and how many were simply Bea's that simply came at her request because of Delilah's request of wanting a big one. I also wonder about the trailer that played on the VHS tape before the movie that emphasized Beavers and Washington in still frames with critical notices of them that probably played in segregated black theatres and how the intended audience reacted when their parts were small compared to the white actors. Despite those mixed reactions, I still recommend Imitation of Life.