Imitation of Life

Name: Imitation of Life
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: November 26, 1934
Duration: 111 min
Rating: 72
Cast: Alan Hale, Claudette Colbert, Fredi Washington, Henry Armetta, Juanita Quigley

1934

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Generally favorable reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 26, 1934 | Approved

Starring: Alan Hale, Claudette Colbert, Fredi Washington, Henry Armetta, Juanita Quigley, Louise Beavers, Ned Sparks, Rochelle Hudson, Warren William, Wyndham Standing

Summary: A struggling widow and her daughter take in a black housekeeper and her fair-skinned daughter; the two women start a successful business, but face familial, identity, and racial issues along the way.

Director: John M. Stahl

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 111 min

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Critic Reviews

Pauline Kael

Classic, compulsively watchable rags-to-riches-and-heartbreak weeper, from a novel by Fannie Hurst.

Staff (Not Credited)

More character study than polemic, wonderfully warm and witty in its observation of two women (one black, one white) who not only crash the race barriers in their friendship but successfully go it alone in a man's world, Stahl's version of Fannie Hurst's novel makes fascinating comparison with Sirk's remake. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine

Highly sentimental social soaper, subtly crafted by director Stahl. Read full review

Andre Sennwald

A gripping and powerful if slightly diffuse drama which discussed the mother love question, the race question, the business woman question, the mother and daughter question and the love renunciation question. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

John M. Stahl directs this kind of thing very well. He keeps the Fannie Hurst ‘success story’ brand of snobbishness under control and the film flows with mounting interest, if at moments a trifle slowly. Read full review

Dave Kehr

Douglas Sirk's famous 1959 remake was pure metaphysics; this version emphasizes the social content, particularly in its Depression-era attention to class nuances. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Because of the authority with which it is acted and the skill with which Director John Stahl has built up individual episodes, the picture remains an efficient tearjerker, outspoken in its praise of motherlove. Read full review

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