Imitation of Life: Douglas Sirk, Director (Rutgers Films in Print) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0813516447 ISBN 13: 9780813516448

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 1991

Synopsis

Douglas Sirk (Claus Detler Sierck) was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1900. He made nine films before fleeing Nazi Germany, eventually coming to America. His best-known films, made during the 1950s—all of them melodramas—were Magnificent Obsession, All That Heaven Allows, The Tarnished Angels, Written on the Wind, and Imitation of Life (made in 1958, released in 1959).

Because of the special stamp he put on his melodramas, Sirk's best works transcend the constraints of their genre. In them, he both exemplified and critiqued postwar, conservative, materialistic life and its false value systems. There is much in Sirk, particularly in Imitation of Life, that is of interest to us today. The time seems to be right for a new look at the film, its reception amidst scandal over the affairs of its star—Lana Turner—the relationships between its mothers and daughters, the tensions between its men and its women, the friendships between its black and white women, and the ambiguous, controversial approach of Sirk to his material.

This volume includes the complete continuity script of the film, critical commentary and published reviews, interviews with the director, and a filmography and bibliography. It also includes an excellent introduction by Lucy Fischer.

About this title

From Library Journal:

Fischer has assembled an important omnibus of source material and critical appraisals of Douglas Sirk's 1959 blockbuster Imitation of Life , which starred Lana Turner. He brings together selections from Fannie Hurst's 1932 novel (upon which the film was based); biographical information on Turner, Sirk, and Hurst; interviews with Sirk; reviews, critical writings, and commentaries; and Sirk's continuity script. It is a well-rounded study of the entire world of the film and its continuing reflection and impact upon American culture. The gravity of the themes raised by the film and its popular and critical receptions (such as women and work, race relations, star mythology, and parenting) are reflected in the scope and depth of the sources assembled. This important contribution to literature on film and its multifaceted life in the American psyche is a must for film collections.
- Robert Rayher, Sch. of the Art Inst. of Chicago
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Rutgers University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0813516447
• ISBN 13: 9780813516448
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 346
• Editor: Fischer Lucy