Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of LifeIn a passionate and witty behind-the-scenes expose, the author of All About "All About Eve" takes on the classic 1959 Douglas Sirk film starring Lana Turner Few films inspire the devotion of Imitation of Life, one of the most popular films of the '50s--a split personality drama that's both an irresistible women's picture and a dark commentary on ambition, motherhood, racial identity, and hope lost and found. Born to be Hurt is the first in-depth account of director Sirk’s masterpiece. Lana Turner, on the brink of personal and professional ruin starred as Lora Meredith. African-American actress Juanita Moore played her servant and dearest friend, and Sandra Dee and Susan Kohner their respective daughters, caught up in the heartbreak of the black-passing-for-white daughter in the 1950s. Both Moore and Kohner were Oscar-nominated as Best Supporting Actress. The author combines vast research, extensive interviews with surviving cast members, and superb storytelling into a masterpiece of film writing. Entertaining, saucy, and incisive, this is irresistible reading for every film fan. |
Contents
Recapturing the Past | 1 |
1 A Small Giant | 15 |
2 The Good and Faithful Servant | 22 |
3 A Few Things in Movies | 32 |
4 Susan Sightings | 40 |
5 An Intimate Confession from Susan Kohner | 49 |
6 Becoming Sarah Jane | 55 |
7 If Love Could Kill | 60 |
27 My Family at the Studio | 217 |
28 The Business of Glamoo | 228 |
29 Turn Again to Life and Smile | 239 |
30 The Case of the Missing Screenwriter | 244 |
31 Gowns by Jean Louis | 255 |
32 Underscore | 263 |
33 The Unknown Mogul | 270 |
34 Goin to Glory | 279 |
8 Will Lana Win the Oscar? | 69 |
9 Take Away the Sweater and What Have You Got? | 73 |
10 A Portrait of the Artist as Hero and Bully | 80 |
11 Sirk du Soleil | 92 |
12 Hitlers Madman | 98 |
13 The Shaky Megastar and the Sepia Hollywood Hope | 104 |
14 Locations Locations | 112 |
15 Two Little Girls | 118 |
16 Was Jesus White or Black? | 121 |
17 Sorrow Set to Music | 126 |
18 The Rocking Chair Blues | 130 |
19 The Lady and the Bullfighter | 141 |
20 No Beefcake Please Were Republican | 148 |
21 Pretty Baby | 160 |
22 If Troy Donahue Can Be a Movie Star Then I Can Be a Movie Star | 171 |
23 Further Down the Credits | 182 |
24 Jack Weston and the Citizens Arrest in Beverly Hills | 194 |
25 Joel Fluellen | 200 |
26 The Kind of Playwright Who Flings His Manuscript in the Fire | 209 |
35 Hallelujah | 287 |
36 Nobody Liked It but the Public | 292 |
37 The Compromised Oscar | 303 |
38 Mr and Mrs Weitz | 305 |
39 A Late Encounter with L T | 310 |
40 Imitation of Half Life | 317 |
41 Gentlemen Prefer Lypsinka | 326 |
42 There Once Was a Lady Named Fannie | 333 |
43 John M Stahl | 338 |
44 No Falling Diamonds | 343 |
45 The Bizarre Conflicted Reality of the Era | 353 |
46 Miss Bea Aunt Delilah the Tragic Mulatto and the Movie Star Spy | 360 |
47 Reflection of Life | 372 |
Acknowledgments | 375 |
Selected Bibliography | 379 |
Notes | 385 |
| 399 | |