Tag Archives: Production Code

Crossing the Color Line

Posted on by
Reply
This film poster for IMITATION OF LIFE (1934) was an alternate version that was targeted toward black audiences.

“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.

Continue reading →

Before Bogart Became Bogie

Posted on by
Reply

For that small number of gifted actors who become screen legends, the path to stardom is rarely predictable. Sometimes it’s a case of pure luck. Other times it’s achieved after years of honing their craft and screen persona through hard earned experience. I can’t think of a better example of the latter than Humphrey Bogart who made twelve films (two of them short subjects, 1928’s The Dancing Town and 1930’s Broadway’s Like That) before his breakout supporting role as the vicious gangster Duke Mantee in The Petrified Forest (1936). The irony is that despite playing that same character on Broadway where he won unanimous critical acclaim, Warner Bros. wanted Edward G. Robinson for the role. If it hadn’t been for the film’s star, Leslie Howard, who played opposite Bogart on Broadway and demanded that he be cast in the film or he would quit, Bogart might not be as famous today.  Continue reading →