“The only Hollywood movie of its era that even suggested the existence of such a thing as a race problem in America, the film set off sparks within the black community. Black ministers preached sermons about it while black intellectuals wrote about the film as well. And the movie acquired a legend of its own that still lives today.” – Donald Bogle on Imitation of Life (1934) in Blacks in American Films and Television: An Illustrated Encyclopedia

Less well known than the 1959 Douglas Sirk remake starring Lana Turner and Juanita Moore, the first film version of Imitation of Life, directed by John M. Stahl, is actually more faithful to the Fannie Hurst novel (except for the ending) and in many ways presents a much more socially progressive viewpoint than the Sirk version as noted in the below article.