Imitation of Life (1934)

Imitation of Life (1934) is a drama film directed by John M. Stahl, based on the novel of the same name by feminist and race activist Fannie Hurst. It stars Claudette Colbert, Louise Beavers, Fredi Washington, and Warren William. The story is centered on two single mothers, Bea and Delilah, and their lives with their children, Jessie and Peola. Starting with their daughter’s childhood and ending with the girls in college, its central theme is how parents and the choices they make can affect their children, in both positive and negative ways. The film crossed many boundaries for its time such as Louise Beavers’ role as Delilah, which was the first time in American cinematic history that a Black woman's problems were given great emotional weight in a major Hollywood motion picture. The film dives into her effort as a single Black mother, her heartbreak after losing her daughter, how hard it is for people of color to discuss racism with their children, and how Black people were treated in general. Due to its discussions on race, racism, and mixed-race passing, it made history and is on Time magazine’s list of The 25 Most Important Films on Race. One notable scene is seen in the first ten minutes of the film when Bea and Delilah first meet. Delilah ends up on Astor Street instead of Astor Avenue and Bea tries to help by telling her Astor Avenue is only ten minutes away by cab. Delilah responds with: “We have to walk…”. Bea offers her money in a show of white privilege and ignorance, thinking she means she doesn’t have fare and not that she isn’t allowed in a cab. The plot is a fast-paced telling of Bea and Delilah’s journey from struggling financially, to starting a pancake restaurant together, to expanding their business to boxed pancake mix and ending up in New York’s high society. Bea’s side of the story focuses on her falling in love with a man called Steven Archer, played by the charming Warren William (who also stars in the excellent Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)). As she and Steven’s relationship grows to the point where they consider marriage, her daughter comes home from college and instantly falls for her mother’s boyfriend. Their remaining story centers on Bea’s choice on whether or not to proceed with her marriage and break her daughter’s heart, or call it off. But what we’ll be talking about is Delilah’s side of the story with her daughter Peola. Peola has always felt like an outcast stuck between worlds, her father was “very light-skinned” making her a very pale Black woman. Her drama starts at the beginning of the film when she’s still a child and runs home from school crying because Jessie called her “Black”. She sobs and blames her mother for “making her this way” saying she wishes to just be like “all the other children”. Bea attempts to tell Jessie to apologize for hurting Peola, but Delilah stops her saying: “She has to learn to get used to it.” Fast-forwarding, Peola is now a young woman who is struggling even harder with her identity and perception in society. Due to her skin tone, she’s often perceived as white until seen with her mother, leading to shocked whispers that hurt and disturb her. To try to alleviate her dissonance and pain, Delilah offers to use the money from their business to send her to an all-Black school. Peola’s horrified at this, due to her lifelong struggle with accepting her own race. She refuses. Delilah tells her to "quit battling it" and that her "head must be sore from beating it against a stone wall". She tells her daughter to be proud. God made her black. Accept it. Peola ends up giving in and resigns herself to attending this college. But it doesn’t last long. Delilah soon gets news that Peola ran away from her school and hasn’t been seen for days. Following leads, Delilah, accompanied by Bea, leave New York and find her working in a cigar shop in Virginia posing as a white woman. Relieved, Delilah runs in and addresses her daughter. Peola pretends not to know her mother, pleading at the owner of the shop and its customers: "Do I look like I could be her daughter?" Bea, offended at the hurt Peola is causing her mother, confirms her identity to the crowd and Peola runs. Peola comes back home. She apologizes for denying knowing her mother, proceeding to explain her disappearance. She says she tried going to that school to please Delilah but couldn't bear it. She had to get away. Delilah forgives her and beckons her closer. Peola refuses. She says she’s leaving. To Delilah’s horror, Peola intends to completely separate herself from her family and community, lip-trembling and crying, she confesses that she knows it's wrong but that Delilah doesn’t understand how hard it is to “look white but be Black”. Fredi Washington’s performance in this scene is absolutely heartwrenching. Her voice breaks, her body shakes, and she’s quite possibly the best actress in the entire film. She portrays the act of mixed-race passing for what it is: a difficult, painful decision. Delilah then falls ill after the shock of losing her daughter. She spends a week with failing health, in bed and being cared for by a physician until she eventually passes away. During her funeral (paid for and lavishly decorated by her lifelong friend Bea) Peola shows up horrified. Sobbing in the crowd, a nearby white woman asks her "Did you know her?" and Peola answers "Yes" eventually breaking into a shouted admission: "She was my mother!" and running from the crowd to the casket. She openly embraces her race, holding her mother's casket, asking for her forgiveness, proudly stating that she's Delilah's daughter. Bea runs up, holds her, and escorts her to the family limousine. Nearly inconsolable, Peola weeps stating: “She only ever wanted the best for me.” At the end of the movie, Peola decides to go back to the all-Black school and finish studying, no longer denying her race and honoring her mother’s wishes. Delilah and Peola’s story was enormously impactful to Black audiences of the time. To put it in perspective, historian Anna Everett