The lives of two women
This Fanny Hurst’s tear-jerker didn’t disappoint the audience living through the travails of others. Skirting around the socioeconomics of the 1934 culture such as racism and two single mothers venturing into business, William Hurlbut’s screenplay recreated the story of Bea Pullman based on the novel by Fannie Hurst.. This is a story of a determined young widow with a little girl. The inspiration behind the story is about a black maid, Aunt Delilah also with a young daughter who moves in with them and the two mothers start a successful pancake flour corporation. But beneath this glitzy enterprise, lies the travails of being mothers of two daughters, living their personal lives. Added to this is that Aunt Delilah’s daughter is fair-skinned and likes to lead her life as “white girl” away from her mother. It is sad saga of how divided a family becomes to follow the rules of the society. The story is portrayed with a great deal of restraint in contrast to the same title produced in 1959 starring Lana Turner. Claudette Colbert offers a tremendous performance with splendid execution by Louise Beavers as Aunt Delilah. Imitation of Life was nominated for the Academy Award in the Best Picture category. Highly recommended.
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