Imitation of Life

:"Imitation of Life" is also a song by R.E.M.. See Imitation of Life (song).

Trivia

• Fredi Washington, the actress who plays the light-skinned daughter Peola in the 1934 film, was an actual light-skinned African American, who was noted for turning down a number of offers by Hollywood agents to pass for white and become a star. Although many African Americans were screen-tested for the Sarah Jane role in the 1959 remake, Susan Kohner, of Mexican and Caucasian decent, won the role.
• In the 1959 film, Sirk depicted the Annie/Sarah Jane relationship with even more melodrama than the original versions of the story, and some critics commented that Juanita Moore and Susan Kohner stole the film from Turner. Sirk later admitted that he had deliberately and subversively undercut Turner, whose wardrobe for the film was, at a cost of over $1.078 million, one of the most expensive in cinema history at that timehttp://www.brightlightsfilm.com/18/18_lana.html.
• The 1959 Imitation of Life has been a staple of both the American Movie Classics and Turner Classic Movies cable television networks. Both versions of the film are currently available in on a double-sided DVD from Universal Home Entertainment.