Find Movies & TV
Home
Live TV
On Demand
Discover
Explore
Movies & TV Shows
Most Popular
Leaving Soon
Explore
Browse Channels
Featured Channels
Sign In
Imitation of Life
Directed by
Douglas Sirk
Not Rated
1959
2h 5m
Drama
,
Romance
7.8
82%
91%
7.5
Add to Watchlist
An aspiring white actress takes in an African American widow whose mixed-race daughter is desperate to be seen as white.
More
Where to Watch Imitation of Life
Hulu
Subscription
Amazon Video
Buy $14.99
Apple TV
Buy $14.99
Fandango at Home
Buy $14.99
Cast of Imitation of Life
Lana Turner
Lora Meredith
John Gavin
Steve Archer
Juanita Moore
Annie Johnson
Sandra Dee
Susie (16)
Susan Kohner
Sarah Jane (18)
Robert Alda
Allen Loomis
Dan O'Herlihy
David Edwards
Karin Dicker
Sarah Jane (8)
Terry Burnham
Susie (6)
John Vivyan
Young man
Lee Goodman
Photographer
Ann Robinson
Showgirl
Troy Donahue
Frankie
Sandra Gould
Receptionist
David Tomack
Mr. McKenney
Joel Fluellen
Minister
Jack Weston
Stage manager
Billy House
Fat Man on Beach
Maida Severn
Teacher
Than Wyenn
Romano
See all
Imitation of Life Ratings & Reviews
elginaar
June 23, 2025
A classic movie brings tears to my eyes every time I see this movie
Filmspotting
Adam Kempenaar
Lana Turner is great at embodying all of these conflicting parts of [Lora]... It helps when Sirk and his DP Russell Metty know how to light her and use lighting and composition to accentuate her performance.
LarsenOnFilm
Josh Larsen
Melodrama with lasting, emotional heft...
Spectrum Culture
Jake Cole
Maximizes Old Hollywood glamor to reveal the gangrenous rot just below the surface of America's postwar prosperity, a reminder that the nation's newfound self-image was erected on hate and denial that threatens to swallow everything in a sinkhole.
Miami Herald
George Bourke
This edition of Imitation of Life should do as much for Miss Kohner as did the original movie for Miss Colbert in 1934.
California Eagle
Chazz Crawford
This type of film fare may have been entertaining a quarter of a century ago. but the re-hash in fancy dress is just a lot of tripe.
The New Yorker
Richard Brody
Sirk unleashed a melodramatic torrent of rage at the corrupt core of American life-the unholy trinity of racism, commercialism, and puritanism.
Village Voice
Charles Taylor
The toughest-minded, most irresolvable movie ever made about race in this country.
TIME Magazine
Imitation of Life is still a potent onion. When passed before the moviegoer's eyes, it may force theater owners to install aisle scuppers to drain off the tears.
TV Guide
You'll be horrified at how this hokum manipulates you, but the best strategy is to just surrender and enjoy it.
ColeSmithey.com
Cole Smithey
[VIDEO] Set in postwar New York, "Imitation of Life" is a wonderfully deceptive film.
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Rob Nelson
What [the characters] need most from their maker is something he couldn't have given them at the time: the 1960s.
Variety
Variety Staff
While this device lends more scope, it also results in the overdone busy actress/neglected daughter conflict.
New York Times
Bosley Crowther
This modernized remake of Miss Hurst's frankly lachrymose tale is much the same as its soggy predecessor. It is the most shameless tear-jerker in a couple of years.
Video-Reviewmaster.com
Steve Crum
Glossy soaper ahead of its racially themed time.
Slant Magazine
Ed Gonzalez
Sirk immediately and deliberately acknowledges the film's metaphoric, almost pathological obsession with surfaces.
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
The film is a biting critique of American race relations in the Fifties and a complex study in contrasts and paradoxes.
Chicago Reader
Dave Kehr
Douglas Sirk's 1959 film was the biggest grosser in Universal's history until the release of Airport, yet it's also one of the most intellectually demanding films ever made in Hollywood.
Take Plex everywhere
Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices
Home
Live TV
On Demand
Discover
Categories
Action
Animation
Comedy
Crime
Descriptive Audio
Documentary
Drama
En Español
Horror
Music
Romance
Sci-Fi
Thriller
Western
NFL Channel
Hallmark Movies & More
Miss Universe
Categories
Hit TV
Drama TV
True Crime
Comedy
News
Sports
Reality
History & Science
Movies
Sci-Fi & Action
Classic TV
Food & Home
Lifestyle
Nature & Travel
Daytime TV
Game Shows
Kids & Family
Anime+
Chills & Thrills
International
En Español
Music
Watch Imitation of Life (1959) Full Movie Online - Plex
