What was imitation of life about

The story follows widow and aspiring actress Lora Lana Turner , whose daughter Susie goes missing at the beach, and is found by an African-American divorcee, Annie Johnson Juanita Moore , there with her own light-skinned daughter, Sarah Jane. Torn apart by critics on release, it became a huge box office hit, and after Sirk became a favorite of the auteurist movement, became a film beloved by cinephiles too.

Directed by John M. Despite testing a number of actresses, Sirk neglected to cast an African-American actress as Sarah Jane, the light-skinned daughter of housekeeper Annie. She, too, earned an Oscar nomination.

Contributor: Daniel Itzkovitz. The author of numerous bestselling novels, a masterful short story writer, and an outspoken social activist, Fannie Hurst was a major celebrity in the first half of the twentieth century.

This edition brings a classic of popular American literature back into print. The male directors who specialized in this lowly genre have been elevated to the movie canon and their movies are widely accessible through theatrical screenings, video rentals, and DVD sales, but the female authors have been forgotten and their works have been long out of print. Finally, after 50 years of neglect, the tide appears to be turning. Hurst should be remembered as a Great American Storyteller, and one who did extraordinary things with the form.

Now this new edition of the novel brings this richly layered story back into public view, where it will, I hope, remain. Fannie Hurst — was a popular writer of many novels and short stories. Among her best-known works are Back Street and Lummox He is a coeditor of Queer Theory and the Jewish Question.

Bk Cover Image Full. Sign In. Search Cart. Search for:. Imitation of Life. 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. 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. 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.