. If a novelist had invented a character like Quinn, she would be accused of unbelievable invention. Bea's daughter, Jessie, becomes her romantic rival, while Delilah's light-skinned daughter, Peola, rejects her mother and attempts to pass for white. Fannie Hurst's novel, Imitation of Life (1933), was the story of two single mothers, one white and one black, who join forces and become successful businesswomen. Quinn was born April 21, 1915 in Mexico. -- Kohner, as Sarah Jane, rejecting her mother, Moore, as Annie Johnson. Note: This Imitation of Life trivia and all movie trivia on notstarring.com is submitted and reviewed by movie fans from around the world. For the next ten years, Lora stars in one hit David Edwards play after another. Her two sons, Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz, have both become . He continued the same mix of classics and best-forgotten quickies throughout the 1960s and '70s. She was meant to be an "executive consultant" at Paramount but actually making movies is quite a different matter than writing about them so Kael lasted only five months. 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. Two years later legendary editor William Shawn hired Kael as film critic for The New Yorker, completing her jump into the limelight. Her deal for half the profits kept her financially comfortable for the rest of her life, particularly after fifth husband Fred May invested much of the money in real estate. Two mothers discover that success is not necessarily the key to happiness, particularly when it comes between mother and child. -- Turner refusing a marriage proposal from Gavin, as Steve Archer. Are you black?" The same year Imitation of Life hit movie theatres and became a best seller all over again, the book's inspiration, Zora Neale Hurston, died forgotten and penniless in Florida. insincere." Viva Zapata! mouth." Donahue's career declined as the Sixties became more turbulent but he still made notable appearances in The Godfather Part II (1974), playing a character with Donahue's own real name, and Monte Hellman's Cockfighter (1974). -- Lana Turner, as Lora Meredith, expressing surprise that the light-skinned little girl is the daughter of African-American Juanita Moore, as Annie Johnson. Lana Turner was back on top, and a rich woman as well. As he did throughout his career, Quinn rarely hesitated to take work whereever he found it, which resulted in dozens of potboilers like Seven Cities of Gold (1955) but also a few cult favorites like Budd Boetticher's The Magnificent Matador (1955). Together they made seven films, but it was their first, Some Like It Hot (1959), that captured the sheer comic genius of their collaborations together. This picture, Douglas Sirk's last feature, was a remake of the 1934 Universal film of the same title directed by John M. Stahl and starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers (see AFI Catalog of Feature Films, 1931-40). degree of emotion that virtually dissolved the audience watching the film with Lana Turner was back on top, and a rich woman as well. It was made into a film in 1934, starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, directed by John Stahl. Editor: Milton Carruth Sarah Jane is furious, exclaiming, "I'm somebody else, I'm white." "All the kids talking behind my back! Very few actors today can match Lemmon's range on the screen. Two other popular releases in 1959, Gidget and A Summer Place, would make her a star and contribute to Imitation of Life's box office success. The Douglas Sirk revival started in 1968 when film critic Andrew Sarris placed him in his second ranking of directors, just behind such geniuses as Orson Welles and Charles Chaplin, in The American Cinema. He has acted in everything from lightweight sex farces (How to Murder Your Wife, 1965) to musicals (My Sister Eileen, 1955) to social dramas (Days of Wine and Roses, 1962) to political thrillers (The China Syndrome, 1979). Email Address: Sign me up! He has acted in everything from lightweight sex farces (How to Murder Your Wife, 1965) to musicals (My Sister Eileen, 1955) to social dramas (Days of Wine and Roses, 1962) to political thrillers (The China Syndrome, 1979). His parents were involved in Pancho Villa's revolutionary struggle and must have made a striking couple since the father was half Irish and mother Mexican Indian. Leading man John Gavin was being groomed for stardom at Universal, where he was seen as a younger version of Rock Hudson. She was born Alexandra Cymboliak Zuck on April 23, In Missing (1982), directed by the uncompromising Costa-Gavras, Lemmon played a patriotic father searching for his kidnapped son in Latin America. Quinn also appeared on stage in 1936 playing opposite Mae West. 1. Imitation of Life (1959) - IMDb She was 60. It was a trip to Italy that brought Quinn one of his most acclaimed roles: a simple-minded circus strongman in Federico Fellini's La Strada (1954). 5 Things You May Not Know About Douglas Sirk's 'Imitation Of Life' When no arguments could convince her to return to the church and shoot the scene, her makeup woman slapped her in the face, breaking her out of her hysterics. 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. Cinematography: Russell Metty Actress. An aspiring white actress takes in an African-American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white. "Imitation of Life may be the most important movie ever made. Lora discovers that Annie and Sarah Jane have no place to go, and although she is poor herself, having come to New York in search of an acting career, she invites the two to stay the night in her small apartment. Not only could she not risk another flop, but she wasn't sure she was ready to go back to work. He lives in Dallas, Texas. The film's top-billed stars are Lana Turner and John Gavin, and the cast also features Sandra Dee, Dan O'Herlihy, Susan Kohner, Robert Alda and Juanita Moore. But she was deeply in debt, and she needed to work. 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. vouchers) and made her film debut in Until They Sail (1957), starring Joan Fontaine, John Gavin. Juanita Moore's Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress was such a surprise the studio didn't even have a biography on hand to distribute to the press. Why Natalie Wood's Daughter Is Confronting Robert Wagner About Wood's Authorities classified her death as an accident, concluding the 43-year-old star of "West Side Story," who. Imitation of Life became Universal's biggest moneymaker to date, and a 1995 poll by the New York Daily News still ranked it as one of the top-ten all-time favorite films. All the while, Dee still plugged away with a series of hit films over the next few years: Romanoff and Juliet a charming satirical comedy directed by Peter Ustinoff; Tammy Tell Me True with John Gavin (both 1961; If a Man Answers (1962) a surprisingly sharp comedy of manners with husband Bobby Darin; Tammy and the Doctor, another corn-fed entry that was her leading man's Peter Fonda's big break; and Take Her, She's Mine (1963), a rather strained generation-gap comedy with James Stewart. No clothes, no sex. Natalie Wood - Death, Movies & Husband - Biography Two mothers, one white, one black, face problems with their rebellious daughters in Douglas Sirk's Imitation Of Life (1959) starring Lana Turner. The film is. Between theatrical gigs, he played piano accompaniment to silent films shown at the Knickerbocker Music Hall in New York. Kael was born June 19, 1919 in Petaluma, California but moved with her family to San Francisco during her teens. Producer: Ross Hunter tale of two intertwined families, in which the materialist optimism is Along the way, Quinn also dabbled in professional boxing (he quit after his 17th match, the first he lost) and street-corner preaching. At the studio's suggestion, Turner took her daughter to the premiere. Imitation of Life. Art Direction: Alexander Golitzen, Richard H. Riedel Screenplay: Eleanore Griffin, Allan Scott, based on the novel by Fannie Hurst Although Imitation of Life put Kohner on the fast track to stardom (she had three other features that year), she retired from acting in 1964 when she wed fashion designer John Weitz. But both women suffer heartbreak caused by their daughters. He also occasionally played Helen Hunt's father on Mad About You. The 36-year-old actress was barely old enough to play 22-year-old Susan Kohner's mother. "Imitation of Life" is Douglas Sirk's last melodrama with an engaging and emotional story with romance, ambition, friendship, love and rejection. She then returned to the set and completed the scene perfectly. lamentable soap opera/"women's picture"/"problem" picture.The most honest Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress Oscars for their searing portrayals of the African-American mother and daughter. It also reshaped her image to reflect the public's perception of her as a glamorous sex symbol who was a victim of her own success. "Oh, Mama, stop acting. Her sons, Chris and Paul Weitz, are film producers/directors best known for the American Pie films and About a Boy (2002). 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). Very few actors today can match Lemmon's range on the screen. From Broadway and early TV appearances to Hollywood, Lemmon moved West to make his screen debut in It Should Happen to You (1954), opposite Judy Holliday in a variation of her 'dumb blonde' persona that had won her an Oscar for Born Yesterday (1952). TIL that everyone wears Crocs in the 2006 movie Idiocracy - Reddit is black." "Miss Turner and the others act unreally and elaborately[They] do not 60+ Hot Pictures Of Natalie Wood Which Are Just Too Hot To Handle 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. Born to be Hurt will be available from most major bookstores and online book retailers on February 17th. Imitation of Life hit number nine on the New York Times best seller list and went through nine printings in its initial release. They give an imitation of movie acting at its less 1944 (conflicting sources give 1942, but the actual birth year has been verified by the family) in Bayonne, New Jersey. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org. Thanks to its provocative themes, the novel was a huge success. "You know I still have you in my blood, don't you?" Editing: Milton Carruth Born to be Hurt is the first in-depth account of By all accounts, O'Connor was nothing like Archie Bunker; in fact, O'Connor was an active anti-drug crusader, partly the result of his son's drug-related suicide. Whether playing a cross-dressing jazz bassist or a bickering roommate, Lemmon has kept his fans in stitches for fifty years. Katalog Catalogue. Cowboy is based on the autobiography of Frank Harris, and, like the author, Lemmon found himself adapting to the rough and tumble lifestyle on the trail. During her audition, Lora suggests that David rewrite portions of his play, and though angry at first, he soon realizes she is right. 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. TCM REMEMBERS JACK LEMMON 1925-2001 At a suburban theatre in the Philadelphia area, the manager stood in the lobby at the film's end with a box of Kleenex for sobbing patrons. Music: Frank Skinner Hurst wasn't happy with the book, but after a year of writing, she couldn't afford to turn down an offer of $45,000 for the rights to serialize it in Pictorial Review under the title Sugar House. Soon afterward, Steve, who has just been hired to promote a brand of beer, proposes to Lora, but she turns him down, saying that even though she loves him, marriage would prevent her from steadfastly pursuing a life in the theater. Susie (Sandra Dee) and Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) are now teens, Lora (Lana Turner) now a Broadway star and Annie (Juanita Moore) still her . One evening, Steve comes by with the photographs, and the next day, he takes Lora to lunch, obviously smitten with her. 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). Shown at London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival March 13-27, 1997. Her next film, The Reluctant Debutante, a bubbly romantic comedy with Rex Harrison, Kay Kendall and John Saxon, proved Dee to be adept in light comedy. 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. Hunter offered a first-class production, with Jean Louis gowns and Laykin et Cie jewels, the leading women's director, Douglas Sirk, and a chance to make a lot of money, if Lana would work for a small salary plus half the net profits. During filming, he sent flowers and gifts to Turner's dressing room regularly. All seating is unreserved. Imitation of Life (St. Martin's Press). 8. Few films inspire the devotion of Imitation of Life, Back home, Annie tells Lora, who has just returned from Europe, that she will no longer interfere in her daughter's life, adding that she does hope to help her wayward daughter somehow. In addition to the usual writer's assortment of jobs (seamstress, cook, retail clerk) she started writing about film in 1953; her first review was of Charlie Chaplin's Limelight which she disliked. Viva Zapata! 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. Executives particularly valued his ability to deliver glamorous productions on relatively small budgets. Imitation of Life movie images: Courtesy of the Margaret Herrick Library. A key role in Lawrence of Arabia (1962) only confirmed his talents while he again earned a Best Actor nomination for the unforgettable lead role in Zorba the Greek (1964). The film was a major box office success. Towards the end of that decade he appeared in Nicholas Ray's The Savage Innocents (1959) as an Eskimo, inspiring Bob Dylan to write "Quinn the Eskimo" (a Top Ten hit for Manfred Mann in 1968). Sirk had given Donahue a small role in The Tarnished Angels (1958), but when he offered him the role of the fraternity boy who discovers girlfriend Kohner is black and beats her up, Willson almost turned down the role. But in Quinn's case, it's all true. Natalie Wood's Life in Photos - Pictures of Natalie Wood - Harper's BAZAAR initial U.S. release, placing number five on the year's list of top box-office Kael never shied away from controversy as two other events proved. When the young man learns that Sarah Jane's mother is black, however, he beats her. According to a July 19, 1956 Hollywood Reporter news item, producer Ross Hunter originally planned to make a musical version of the story starring Shirley Booth and Ethel Waters. Despite the film's success with black audiences, there also were African-Americans who resented the sympathetic depiction of Annie's (Moore) subservient nature and the casting of a white actress as her daughter. 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. For Lana Turner, that hit a little too close to home, and she hesitated. Douglas Sirk was nominated for the Directors Guild Award but lost to William Fiehn, Anne/Lailach, Christian (Redaktion) Katalog der 69. Lemmon waived his salary to act in Save the Tiger (1973), the 'great American tragedy' of a businessman at the end of his rope. Compiled by Frank Miller & Jeff Stafford, In April of 1958, Lana Turner's teenage daughter Cheryl Crane stabbed Lana's mobster lover, Johnny Stompanato to death. At the beginning of the film, directed by Laurent Bouzereau, Wood's older daughter, Natasha Gregson Wagner, describes hearing, at age eleven, of her mother's shocking and mysterious death, in . Imitation of Life (2021) - IMDb Natalie Wood was first considered for the part of Turner's daughter, but eventually Universal went with its own contract player, Sandra Dee, whom they were grooming for stardom. In Cowboy (1958), Lemmon plays a city slicker venturing out on the wild frontier. Thanks to its provocative themes, the novel was a huge success. Quinn directed his only film in 1958, The Buccaneer, a commercial failure he later attributed to producer Cecil DeMille's interference. For Lana Turner, that hit a little too close to home, and she hesitated. Steve, now a company vice-president, learns that Sarah Jane is working as a chorus girl in Los Angeles, and Annie, convinced she is dying, flies to California for one last look at her daughter. The opening and closing cast credits vary in order. "Imitation of Life crosses a succession of emotional bridges, hitting But in Quinn's case, it's all true. He eventually returned to his native Germany, where he taught film and made a few experimental pictures. She was abandoned by her father by age five, and her mother, Mary Douvan, lied about Sandra's age so that she could put her in school and get a job. Imitation of Life (1959) Full Cast & Crew See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro Directed by Douglas Sirk Writing Credits Cast (in credits order) verified as complete Produced by Ross Hunter . The Mirror Crack'd. . Natalie Wood - Trivia - notstarring.com Imitation of Life is the second film adaptation of Fannie Hurst 's 1933 novel of the same name; the first, directed by John M. Stahl, was released in 1934. The two mothers are now alone in the house. everything: mother love, musical numbers, backstage intrigue, race relations, The novel was a huge success and it was made into a film in 1934, starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, directed by John Stahl. Her mother's appearance gets Sarah Jane fired, and she again runs from her, causing Annie to faint. 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." Meanwhile, Lora and Susie argue over Steve. Imitation of Life. 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. It was appraised at $1 million. With her fetching blonde curls and pretty face, Dee found herself moving up quickly on the modeling ladder. With Sirk's other melodramas, Imitation of Life has become one of the central films for proponents of the auteur theory, who point to his filmmaking technique as a clear reflection of his personality and his attitude toward the often exaggerated soap opera plots in his films. As Mahalia Jackson started singing, she lost control and fled to her trailer in tears. At the age of 11 he won a sculpture award and shortly after began studying architecture under Frank Lloyd Wright. Lora and Susie gently lead her into the hearse, where they reassure her that she did not cause her mother's death. The series lasted until 1979 and brought O'Connor four Emmys, even leading to a four-year spinoff Archie Bunker's Place starring O'Connor. Screenplay: Eleanor Griffin, Allan Scott It was Wright in fact who suggested the possibility of acting to Quinn and even paid for an operation to cure a speech impediment. By all accounts, O'Connor was nothing like Archie Bunker; in fact, O'Connor was an active anti-drug crusader, partly the result of his son's drug-related suicide. Famous Quotes from IMITATION OF LIFE It was made into a film in 1934, starring Claudette Colbert and Louise Beavers, directed by John Stahl. Years later, the pair met on Natalie's 18th birthday for a date. By Cino Niles & Jeff Stafford 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. Best Known For: Natalie Wood was an actress who starred in 'Rebel Without a Cause' and 'West Side Story.' She died tragically, drowning during a boating trip in 1981. He was a fixture in movies during the 1950s, playing an assortment of heartthrobs and borderline tough guys. picture and a dark commentary on ambition, motherhood, -- Gavin, as Steve, meeting Turner after she's become a star. Fannie Hurst's novel, Imitation of Life, was the story of two single mothers, one white and one black, who join forces and become successful businesswomen. According to Daily Variety, Universal encountered some resistance to the promotion of the film and tailored its advertising campaign for the South, where, a studio representative said, "white southerners avoid films that are advertised as dealing with the race problem." As he did throughout his career, Quinn rarely hesitated to take work whereever he found it, which resulted in dozens of potboilers like Seven Cities of Gold (1955) but also a few cult favorites like Budd Boetticher's The Magnificent Matador (1955). Natalie Zacharenko (later Natasha Gurdin) was born of Russian immigrants. Hunter offered a first-class production, with Jean Louis gowns and Laykin et Cie jewels, the leading women's director, Douglas Sirk, and a chance to make a lot of money, if Lana would work for a small salary plus half the net profits. the heart with each step in one of the best Universal films of recent years. 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. 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. Onscreen, Lemmon's characters often found that they were the wrong men for their jobs. But both women suffer heartbreak caused by their daughters. Variety. As recently as 1995, readers of the New York Daily News voted Imitation of Life a place among their ten favorite films. Heartbreaking Details About Natalie Wood's Life - Grunge Instead of accepting her offer, they made Imitation of Life their major offering for spring 1933. There she majored in philosophy at University of California at Berkeley though she didn't graduate (the school later gave her an honorary degree). By Lang Thompson.
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