1934 – Imitation of Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imitation of Life – 1934

This was a movie that was done right.  It was so well done, and I’ll be honest: This movie should have taken home the Oscar for Best Picture.  It lost that honor to It Happened One Night, which was not one of my favorite winners.  It starred Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers, Warren William, Rochelle Hudson, and Fredi Washington.

It was a great film that had a definite stance on a serious issue, but it didn’t beat you over the head with it.  It was simply a powerful story with a very loving and positive message.  The characters were well written.  They were good people, and yet they were each flawed enough to be completely realistic.  I would put this film up there with other great movies like The Best Years of Our Lives and Marty.

It is interesting to note that Claudette Colbert seemed to have been the hot ticket in 1934.  This was the third Best Picture nominated movie she starred in for that year.  She was in Cleopatra, and the Best Picture Winner, It Happened One Night.  And she really did a great job in each of them.

The story is about a widow, Bea Pullman, played by Colbert, with a child.  She is struggling to make ends meet, struggling to care for her daughter, Jessie.  By happy misfortune, she meets Delilah Johnson, played by Beavers.  She is a colored woman with a daughter of her own named Peola.  She is looking for a job as a housekeeper and a place to live.  She asks to become Bea’s housekeeper for free in exchange for room and board.

Without giving away too much of the plot, I will mention the main points of the film.  Peola is a child of mixed race.  She is very light-skinned, fair enough to pass herself off as a white girl.  She sees how colored children are treated and becomes embarrassed because of the color of her mother’s skin.  She also learns to hate herself because of her true heritage.  It was a very interesting take on the problem of racism.  I’ve never seen another movie that deals with the prejudice in the same way.

The two women use Delilah’s family recipe for pancake batter to open their own pancake restaurant, become rich beyond their wildest dreams, and the children grow into young adults.  Jessie is not the smartest girl, but she has a good heart.  But Peola still has the same issues, though she is apparently very smart.

When the business takes off, Bea offers to buy Delilah a house of her own, but she doesn’t want to be parted from her.  She begs to be able to continue to be Bea’s housekeeper, though they are both rich enough to have their own servants.  The friendship between the two women is a strong one that was wonderfully written and beautifully acted.  Colbert and Beavers each did a really fantastic job.

The adult Peola also had a pretty dramatic role.  She was played by actress Fredi Washington.  The scene in which she rejects her mother completely, saying that she wanted to be free to pass herself off as a white woman, was heart-wrenching.  Delilah’s spirit is crushed.  She takes to her bed and dies of a broken heart.  Before dying she tells Bea her dream of a lavish and grand funeral.  Let me tell you, the funeral scene was very dramatic and brought tears to my eyes, especially when Peola shows up and breaks down in tears.  She is ashamed of her own behavior and cries for her mother who never treated her with anything but unconditional love.

Of course, I have completely left out a whole different side of the film, which was the relationship between Bea and her daughter, Jessie.  The adult version was played by Rochelle Hudson.  And a new man comes into Bea’s life.  He is Stephen Archer, played by William Warren.  But you’ll have to watch the movie yourself to get that story-line.  The parts that dealt with racism were so much more interesting and meaningful to me.

And finally, it is interesting to note that like most films made in the 1930s, the cast credits are given before the beginning of the movie.  But at the end, they are listed again with a little sign that said, “A good cast is worth repeating.”  And this cast was very good.  Like I said, this one should have won the Award for Best Picture.