Imitation of Life is a 1959 American film directed by Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk

Douglas Sirk was a Danish-German film director best known for his work in Hollywood melodramas in the 1950s.-Life and work:...

, produced by Ross Hunter

Ross Hunter

Ross Hunter was a Hollywood film producer.-Biography:Hunter was born in Cleveland, Ohio as Martin Fuss. After serving in Army intelligence during World War II, he signed a movie contract with Columbia Pictures and acted in a number of B-movie musicals...

 and released by Universal Pictures

Universal Pictures

-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc* Am I Dreaming?* The Dragon's Net* The Adorable Savage* Putting It Over* The Line Runners-1921:* The Fire Eater* A Battle of Wits* Dream Girl* The Millionaire...

, starring Lana Turner

Lana Turner

Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...

 and John Gavin

John Gavin

John Gavin is an American film actor and a former United States Ambassador to Mexico. Gavin is half Mexican and fluent in Spanish....

 and features Sandra Dee

Sandra Dee

Sandra Dee was an American actress. Dee began her career as a model and progressed to film. Best known for her portrayal of ingenues, Dee won a Golden Globe Award in 1959 as one of the year's most promising newcomers, and over several years her films were popular...

, Dan O'Herlihy

Dan O'Herlihy

Daniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...

, Susan Kohner

Susan Kohner

Susan Kohner is an American actress.-Early life and career:Born as Susanna Kohner in Los Angeles, Kohner is the daughter of Mexican actress Lupita Tovar and Jewish film producer Paul Kohner who was born in Bohemia part of Austria-Hungary...

, Robert Alda

Robert Alda

Robert Alda was an American actor. He was the father of actors Alan Alda and Antony Alda.-Life and career:...

 and Juanita Moore

Juanita Moore

Juanita Moore is an American film and television actress. She is the fifth African American to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Supporting Actress category.-Career:...

 as Annie Johnson. Gospel music

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 star Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson

Mahalia Jackson – January 27, 1972) was an African-American gospel singer. Possessing a powerful contralto voice, she was referred to as "The Queen of Gospel"...

 appears as a church choir soloist. The film is an adaptation of Fannie Hurst

Fannie Hurst

Fannie Hurst was an American novelist. Although her books are not well remembered today, during her lifetime some of her more famous novels were Stardust , Lummox , A President is Born , Back Street , and Imitation of Life...

's novel of the same name

Imitation of Life (novel)

Imitation of Life is a popular 1933 novel by Fannie Hurst, which was adapted into two successful films for Universal Pictures: a black-and-white film in 1934, and a color remake in 1959.-Plot summary:...

. It is the second film adaptation of the novel. The first film

Imitation of Life (1934 film)

Imitation of Life is a 1934 American drama film directed by John M. Stahl. The screenplay by William Hurlbut, based on Fannie Hurst's 1933 novel of the same name, was augmented by eight additional uncredited writers, including Preston Sturges and Finley Peter Dunne...

 was released in 1934.
In 1947, Lora Meredith (Lana Turner

Lana Turner

Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...

), a struggling white widow with aspirations of becoming a famous Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 actress, loses track of her young daughter Susie at the beach (portrayed as a child by Terry Burnham), and requests the help of a stranger named Steve Archer (John Gavin

John Gavin

John Gavin is an American film actor and a former United States Ambassador to Mexico. Gavin is half Mexican and fluent in Spanish....

) to help her find the girl.