I agree thanks for sharing this information Jacqueline I always appreciate your feedback.

@@TerrySwoopeVideos Susan Kohner's sons are Chris and Paul Weitz they are film producers and directors. They are known for the famous comedy American Pie.

Fredi Washington not Freddie Washington was also the sister in law of Congressman Reverend Dr Adam Clayton Powell Jr.

Can you please tell the story of actress and screenwriter ,Ellen Holly, she's my inspiration to become a fascinating community activist and entertainer. I read her book and it was straight up phenomenal. Thanks- mr. Swoopes

jacqueline russell it was actually her sister who married a civil rights activist Adam Clayton Powell

Me too 😥

Yes I agree, I also cry every time I watch it. Especially at the seen when MaryJane runs to the hurst her mother's casket was riding in after the funeral. 😭

Me too.😥

Righttt loveee this movie!!

Moniqua McCune yesss it starts up with Mahalia singing but it’s boohoo city when she’s crying at the hearse definitely gets me everytime 😭

Good God a mighty break your heart

Every single time. Another tearjerker is Pinky. !!!i believe Ethel Waters was in that one

Dorothy Taylor yes. Loved Pinkie!

Clarice Oliver meto

I know! That part gets me every time. IF you haven't see this movie you are missing a classic!

They were letting you catch a glimpse of how it was back then, how most domestic workers were thought of as their only life, was centered around working, for them, with no other outside interest. My mother was a domestic worker, in the '60s, but the people she worked for were very kind, to us, and took an interest in all of us. Christmas they would bring boxes of clothes, and food, and even attended some of our school activities. Even offered to give my mama a car, but she turned it down, I guess because she couldn't drive, but it was a nice gesture. So you sure can't clump everyone, of any race, into one barrel. All are not the same, there is good and bad, in everyone.✌

@@c.calliecoleman1531 Equally Different & Differently Equal 💙💯✔

I was brought up in a very "white" area of London and loved doing Scientific experiments in my Mom's bathroom - mixing potions, so was blessed to follow my passion becoming a research scientist. I saw An Imitation of Life when very young and it left a deep impression on me. But as if by premonition my Daughter is blonde green-grey eyed, could "pass" and studied the performing arts. But, unlike her darker Brother with more Afrikan features, my daughter is very Culturally aware, and proud of her mixed heritage. My fears of rejection were allayed when she was very young - begged to be Junior Carnival Queen wokin' up on Notting Hill, Barbados and Trinidad streets, started a Gospel Choir in High school and teaches Afrikan dance traditions after school to the delight of her Students' parents. Phew

@@lizokokon1411 I loved your wonderful family story. Thanks for sharing. ✌

Yes, and the Lana Turner character realized at the end how superficial her life was

YES. Can you imagine how mad it is NOW if it was bad enough for her to walk away 70-something YEARS ago??

Exactly!

I think that’s what Greta Garbo did too

@@nelixsulu6201 No, Garbo had a long career in Hollywood and she became a reclusive in her NY apt. I eat chi classic movies and I have read about actors from the golden era

She walked away because she had class ! I also believe she would have had a hard time getting roles if she stayed. People would always think of her as Sara Jane and she would be type cast. One last thing at times in the movie she looked like a black woman. When she came into the room with the shrimp [crawdads] in a bowl on her head. Susan is also mixed race. Don't forget she is Jewish and Mexican Her father was Eastern European. I saw her in other roles playing women of color. She played a Native American in a western movie She would never be allowed to play white non ethnic parts. They used her but, She through them away ! She had the last say. That's Class !

I do not cry at movie’s, however every time I see the ending I cry as well. I cry 😭 as if I’ve never seen the 🍿 🎥 movie. Lol The 1959 version was an excellent movie. I didn’t like the 30’s version it was boring and hard to follow.

It gets me every time. When she cries out,”Mama”. The water works start for me.

Me as well.....😭

@@yolieb2905 Yes! This movie touch my heart, thankfully I have my mother 83yrs old! Blessed. That's a beautiful song and Ms Jackson, has that great voice. ❤

M C me too, seen it a hundred times, cry every time.

Yes, it was heartbreak. Sarah Jane was her only child, always her baby, that she loved so much, so when she rejected her, she lost her will to live. And as you said it was the ultimate sacrifice, if it meant the only way for her baby girl to be happy, was to be white, she would just stay out the picture. As it turned out, that wasn't what Sarah Jane wanted at all. I could see throughout the picture she loved her mama, even though she was harsh with her sometimes the love was still there. She was just a confused little girl, seeing one side of life, the white privelege, and thinking she could only pass as white, to get that. The love of your race, is freedom, for you'll never look at any other race as being better than you. God made all races, and what God makes is beautiful, and He made different races so that we can learn from them. Everyone has something to bring to the table. ✌

I...was...done! I think it was my 2nd time seeing my mom cried. Lawd have mercy. That movie was powerful!

Same.

I remember crying. And I was a child when it came out.😭

She had to, my Mother was in the room.....

I'm welling up now just recalling that scene! Wow - yes - FANTASTIC performance!

I wonder if maybe playing that role made her take the message of the movie seriously, causing her to step away from the pursuit of fame to pursue a family centered life instead. Apparently her children grew up as great successes. It payed off.

That scene kills me. Heartbreaking.

And when she said everytime you find me ill keep running Wow

So did I😩😭

That's the same reason I've only seen it once. Wonderful movie but the ending just hurt me so bad.

When imitation of life came out, I was a teenager I cried so over actress Juanita Moore ,she played the character beautiful.

So did I thanks for commenting Betty.

Me as well😭

I watched this movie as a young girl with my mother. I cried when the mother died and her daughter begged for forgiveness.

Mee too and my brother

I had forgotten that part. Yes, she wore her mother down, trying to run after her, and be rejected. But you couldn't help but feel love for Sarah Jane behind that confession, and the breakdown at the hearst. That young lady played that role, superbly. ✌

And she was the heart of that movie.

Amen!

1934 version had Rochelle Hudson as the daughter?

Agreed 💯she had a unique beauty❤💥🙏

Totally agree!

Thank you for correcting him

Juanita Moore was a great actress and I enjoyed watching her in movies and on TV.

Yes cant believe he saw 100 times and got her name wrong each time he pronounced it. Lol

@@lindae1765 you noticed that too!! lol

Yes, Mr. Swoope, please just listen to how Google pronounces her name, and you'll get it! You'll say, I've heard that name! and it's not Joe-neta! lol

Thank you for adding that note.

Interesting.....thanks

WOW what??

I bought this movie, me and my daughter love this movie. We don't just cry, we ball our eyes out and snub . Great tear jerker.

Wow how awesome for your mom to have been a part of such an iconic movie.

Wow! Sorry..My Mom has also been gone 20 yrs there's no one that can take her place

Years ago my mom and I had an argument a few weeks after watching An Imitation of Life. She swore that Sarah Jane was played by Natalie Wood.

YES she & Natalie could have been sisters 👯‍♀️

@@cherylj6499 Wasn't Susan Kohner and Natalie Wood in the film "All the fine young cannibals"?

Roxanne Santoro Yes, they were in All the fine young cannibals together, I’ve never seen the movie though.

@@roxannesantoro7503 yes. The movie cast included Robert Wagner, George Hamilton, and Pearl Bailey. It's another good classic movie

Yes Ma'am

All movies by Fannie Hurst are tearjerkers. The one that gets me everytime is "Back Street" with Susan Hayward.

Yeah it was have you seen The Grapes of Wrath ?? Sad teary gem of a movie.

Especially at the end during the funeral procession.

I am picturing you still crying an hour later, even though I don't know you...😊

I cried so hard when she ran and grabbed her mothers coffin in this movie and I still love this movie wish I could see it again

Mines 2 it's like she wanted me too see how some people can be but I'm so close too my mama I could never hurt her in anyway team mom.

The first time my sister saw this movie, she had to cry in her pillow because she was sobbing

I think just about everyone hugged their mama a little tighter, after seeing this movie, and showed them more love.✌

My mother did too!! We used to watch so many good movies that used to come on Sunday afternoons!!

Miss Moore said that she and Miss Lana remained friends after filming. I thought that was cool!

She's a dramatist, she would say that, naturally.

Miss Moore was wonderful in that part. She made it real. I absolutely love her.

Wow!

I believe this was the movie Lana Turner became one of my favorite actresses because I just loved how you could just feel the love she had for Juanita Moore, in the movie. Hollywood definitely typecasted the right characters to play this movie, everyone just fit like a puzzle. I don't know how Hollywood do it but they usually always pick the right one for role.✌

Exactly!

I thought that I heard him say Joanna Moore...I even commented on it! Lol...thought I needed a hearing aid!

@@shawnjones4527 you were perfectly correct no hearing aids for you!!

Amen

@@shawnjones4527 - I thought he mispronounced her last name at one point, also. I'll bet he never will again! (Well, hopefully not anyway!!)

Puts me in mind of Julia Stiles, played opposite black guys, never see her...shes a good actress

@@lwoods9482 you do know who I'm talking about is white right. The white woman that played a light skinned white woman in the movie in the second versions, the 1950's version. I don't see her having trouble getting any roles in early Hollywood.

@Ethelouise Smith sure did Paul Weitz

From what I am to understand, there was a rumor on the true nature of her ethnicity and it was difficult for her to find work as a caucasian actress because of the rumor.

I wish that she had continued acting and gotten more roles as good as Sarah Jane. She had so much to offer.

The movie makes me think of my sister, she looks like a reincarnation of her.

Yes that is the secret, love yourself.....

But the character of Sarah Jane is NOT biracial! Miscegenation was not something Hollywood or America as a whole was comfortable with. I haven't seen the movie in years, but I believe Annie explains that Sarah Jane's father was a light skinned black man as were many in his family.

You're right, when the boyfriend dumped her after he found out she was part black. I first saw the movie when I was about 7 or 8 years old. I wasn't paying much attention to the movie, until I saw it again years later.

The most wonderful movie made in Hollywood... I just got finished watching 8/7/2023 it came on TCM and I'm crying like a baby... Just Want say, his commentary would have been better if he could get Ms. Juanita Moore's name right. 😅

*GOD BLESS YOU>*

I know me too

No,just breaks me down every time.

No, for me the crying part is the best of the film. When I haven't cried in a while I'll put that film on and I'll get my tissues ready because it's guaranteed, LOL.

Nope. I cry my eyes out .

Yes that was also a good movie

Pinky was an excellent movie as well.

There’s also another movie that was a true story about a family that passed for white called Lost Boundaries

michelle elmore Wow. I’d like to see that movie. I never heard of it. Thanks. 👍

I've never seen the film Pinky, thank you for mentioning it. Hope I can find it ..

😄 Mr .Steve. Yes!!!!!Her daughter played by (Sandra Dee ) was in love with Mr. Steve 😀

I am from Jamaica and our local TV station would air this movie every Mother's Day and my mother and I would look forward to watching it. This movie is a very impressionable and positive movie that teaches unconditional love

It should be played at schools!

Agreed. I have 2 granddaughters, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned, 10 and 9. #PerfectTool. #SelfLove.

@@michelegreen3305 you can love yourself,and know want you are,but can have a preference for another race,just because your black does not mean you can't date or prefer another race,plus it was the 60's

I agree.

@@gloriabowie5629 yea Im 50, I know. The #Light one said she doesn't want to be dark like her sister. The young lady didn't want to be dark like her mother. Its a problem in our culture. #Perfect Tool #SelfLove

I’ve watched. The movie over one hundred times growing up with my mother. The daughter lived there. The mother was there everyday for many many hours. My point was the person said they lived together. The mother was the housekeeper. He failed to mention that and made it seem like they were roommates I misspoke. I meant the daughter lived there

I8thumper what does any of that have to do with what the narrator said? Absolutely nothing. He mentioned the success of the movie without mentioning Mahalia Jackson’s performance. Your comment makes no sense to the discussion. She was also a stripper. There’s a reason that wasn’t mentioned. It has nothing to do with the discussion.

@@Rbhawk3rd They both lived together but in separate quarters. Both are poor at the beginning. In fact, the Black mother has no place to live when they meet, so she suggests they live together and she'd act as a housekeeper and sitter for the white child as the White mother seeks a career. She becomes wealthy and the Black mother still is the housekeeper.

@@Rbhawk3rd Watch the movie again. The black woman and daughter lived (in a small room) with Lana Turner and her daughter. Yes, she was her housekeeper--AND FRIEND. That is why the black girl was able to go to the white school--and that is also why Lana Turner enrolled her and not her mother. Remember that the black mother had nowhere to live due to the death of her husband. That's what made Lana Turner let her live with her. Lana didn't just hire her as a "maid" because Lana didn't have much money (by the looks of that apartment) herself. The black woman cleaned and cooked for her in exchange for room and board. You should watch the movie again.

One of the reasons I like the original better is because the two women seemed to be more equal. The black woman was not portrayed as the white woman's hired help.

They were nominated but didn't win!

Yes PINKY is a very good movie also!

@@tinag4929 - I remember the nursing school she founded, but I don't remember PINKY being gut-wrenching like Imitation of Life. I could be wrong because I had already seen Imitation of Life SO many times that PINKY really didn't affect me very much - it wasn't powerful in the way Imitation of Life was powerful.

Pinky was a great movie, I hope that there are no remakes of today's Hollywood of these classic movies just let them be for us to remember them by and enjoy...

I thought so; as well!

It was a much better as well. All 3 actresses were nominated for an Oscar! I don't know how rare that is, but I know it was much entertaining that Imitation of Life. And I saw the latter as a child, and loved it totally, still do. But clearly, Pinky is a better film. Better writing, better acting, better directing, better filming.

To be fair though he was focusing on her but yes Juanita Moore was a gorgeous looking woman and a great actress.

@@GRTVO of course he was.

The video he made was about where the daughter was because she is still alive. If you want to you can make a video about how Beautiful the mother was, you can do that. Good Grief. You are right though she was a very beautiful woman and a very good actress.

You know why 🤦

Agree - the video person Terry Swoop seems to have had a crush on the white girl playing the black daughter - he constantly focused how beautiful she was. She was pretty, yes, but the half black girl in the first show was very pretty also - Freddie Washington.

It was a good movie

It affected my the same way - stays with me still and I'm in my early 70's!

@@haveagreatday2823 Exactly...so believable....I am 70...would not have seen it, but my dad owned a mom & pop theatre. That's why I saw it at that age. It was something else.

Paula Smith Me too! I was so sad for Ms Annie, I loved my own mother so much I couldn’t understand why she didn’t love her mom, or be proud of who she was. Made no sense to me. We weren’t raid to be indifferent to people of color. I was born in 1951.

Back in the '60s, they played it, about once a year, just as they played 10Commanments, every Easter, and I think they should go back to doing that. It's just something about those movies, that set your heart right.✌

It always breaks my heart when Moore goes to her daughter's school to bring her a raincoat and umbrella. When she walks into the classroom, the daughter visibly shrinks because she's been passing for white and doesn't want to acknowledge that Moore is her mother. Gets me every time.

@@auapplemac1976 mk

It's nice to leave in style. To me tho, it's more important how, you live. I find people put on a form and fashion, and really have no since of love or respecr, when your living. The person in the casket won't know about how, they leave this world, and when your a live people hide, after funeral's. Never keep in touch, . My mom had Cancer and I'm an only child with no kid's, or husband. Haven't heard from them since. Why I say why not show up, and love the living as you do, when their gone.

@@crystalsmith4187 I agree with you Crystal Smith 100% I lost my mama...and I have no children either...but I do have a sister...whom I love dearly. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have her...in my life. I thank GOD...that my mother had two kids.. I know you don't know me..but if you believe in JESUS CHRIST....you have a new sister in Christ ok..my name is Pamela...

Right! I was just about to comment this

THANK YOU!

@ Paul Evans - He did mention that.

Didn’t know they received Oscar nominations, wish at least one of them would have won... but it’s good to know!

They sure did Paul! The only reason, that I see that they didn't win one was because, they were both playing themselves! Both ladies were actually mixed in real life! Oscars are given to people who play a character quit different from themselves! And that is acting, at it's best!

What's sad is that a person with a white parent was shunned for claiming her white heritage. Racism had us all tricked. Think about it. Y'all so willing to say a biracial person is black, but get mad when they claim white -- even though they're just as white, as they are black. Furthermore, based on skin color, the majority of them were white, 'passing' for black.

@@lql1094 My Jamaican grandmother's aunt, passed for white, she was extremely light skin with green eyes and wavy black hair. She looked southern Italian. My grandmother said her aunt, met a white English man, who was visiting Jamaica. She pretended she was a orphan, and pretended she was a European Italian woman. She married him, and they moved to England. She used to write letters and send money back to our black family in Jamaica. She never revealed to her husband about her black family. When My Jamaican grandmother became a adult, she met my grandfather, and they came to England in 1949, during the Windrush period......my grandmother got in contact with her white passing aunt, they met up in secret, a few times, but then her aunt died suddenly. she could not contact her aunts children, or white husband, because they knew nothing about the black family. Her aunt's children think they are white. My grandmother did not bother to tell them, more trouble than it's worth. So somewhere in the uk, I have quadroon and octoroon relatives, that think they are white people, with Italian heritage, when really they have black ancestry. Lol😂😂🤣

@@ebonynaomi1085 all the dishonesty makes it hard to be happy. Always having to look over your shoulder, wondering when and if the truth will come out. Very difficult life.

Winnie Gordan, All of the above, are my favorite, classics..YES!!

Pinky was another good one.

i am a big fan of old movies ....love them...it has rubbed off on my daughter....i have watched this movie since a was a kid..i still love it and still fascinated by it...one of the best....my daughter she is a Bette Davis fan.

Talk about classics, how about “Backstreet” with Susan Hayward (tearjerker) & I Want To Live

Great films!

Me too.

Blacksoil and everyone in this thread, check out the 1960 movie called "I Passed for White." It's here on KZfaq. It's a good one, too.

@@mcpheejesus5945 i will do that!! Thank you

@@blackcandyish You're welcome. Yesterday, I also watched another amazing movie regarding racial tension and deception called "The Well," which I'd never heard of. It's very timely in regards to all the racial tension, chaos, and unrest going on in our nation right now. I'm sure you'll enjoy both. Please let me know your thoughts when you get a chance. Take care and God bless!

And she inherited the mansion.

It is actually a much more entertaining film, than Imitation of Life. Better writing, better acting, better directing. Like the latter film, "Pinky" is a very powerful film also. But I enjoyed more for lots of reasons. The acting was incredible! And the way it was filmed, so many extremely tight close ups.

Me too! I was eight years old when my mother took me and my 2 sisters to the Drive-In to see it in 1959. I cried so hard - still watch it today - still cry every time! Yes - I've seen "Pinky" too! Have you seen "Band of Angels" with Yvonne DeCarlo, Clark Gable and Sidney Poitier? It's not a tear jerk-er but it's a good bi-racial movie too.

Yes that movie the bad seed was a great movie i really love it.

For some reason, my mom did not want us to watch the Bad Seed. Of course me and my siblings snuck and watched it. Rhoda was a true little bitch and deserved that lighting strike at the end.

...as did Susan Kohner ("Sarah Jane"); they both lost to Shelley Winters' ("The Dairy of Anne Frank;" Winters' first Oscar). It was a fine post, but the poster lost points for the inaccuracies re: Juanita Moore and Kohner not receiving Oscar nominations.

Ought to edit and reupload this.

@@KDC256 and for this to be a favorite movie, he should have gotten Ms. Juanita Moore's name correct.

@@CBromfield Thank You!! Thought its was Just Me, and he said it differently both times!!

She should have won!!!!

It's definitely a tear jerker thanks for commenting Robin.