Director:
Douglas Sirk
Lead Actors:
Lana Turner, John
Gavin, Juanita Moore, Susan Kohner
Producer:
Ross Hunter
Plot Synopsis
Two single mothers randomly meet on a Coney Island boardwalk
as their respective, pre-pubescent daughters play together in the sand. One woman
is white and an aspiring, yet struggling actress. The other is black, homeless
and desperately seeking employment as a maid.
The women pair off as employer and housekeeper and the
foursome attempt to survive financially in 1947-era New York City. Beneath the
surface, however, trouble brews for the two girls. One craves attention from her clueless,
stardom-obsessed mother while the other, who is fair skinned and fatalistic about
her circumstances, tries to pass as white – a consequence of believing that in
20th Century America being another color regulates one to the bottom
rungs of society and opportunity.
Oscar-nominated actress Lana Turner plays Lora Meredith
while Juanita Moore plays her faithful and sensible housekeeper Annie Johnson.
The story forwards ahead 10 years where they now reside in a
plush Manhattan-area mansion with all of the amenities and trappings that Lora’s
fame and wealth have bought. The girls are now teenagers with Turner’s daughter played by Sandra Dee
and Johnson’s daughter Sarah Jane played by the alluring and sexy-voiced Susan
Kohner.
Sarah Jane’s constant embarrassment of having a black mother
causes her to repeatedly run away. The final time comes when a prospective boyfriend
learns of her ethnicity and renders a savage beating to her.
Annie, now terminally ill, enlists the help of Lora’s fiancé
Steve ( John Gavin ) to find her. Once
found, Annie makes a final visit to say her goodbyes. She dies a few weeks
later and as promised by Lora, is given an elaborate funeral complete with a
horse-drawn hearse and renowned gospel singer Mahalia Jackson.
The movie ends with a sobbing, hysterical Sarah Jane rushing
through the crowd, throwing herself on the casket and begging for her mother’s forgiveness
– much to the astonishment of the funeral patrons.
Who Would Like it and Why
Anyone able to identify with sympathetic, yet flawed characters.
Who Might not Like it and Why
Anyone sensitive to the mistreatment or marginalization of
women.
Highlights/Top Scenes
Annie pays a surprise visit to Sarah Jane’s dressing room while
she prepares for a cabaret show. She assures her daughter that she will no
longer meddle in her affairs and asks for a final hug goodbye.
As the two embrace, Sarah Jane cries. Her increasing guilt
over the mistreatment of her mother has become apparent.
It is the RARE viewer who will have survived thus far without shedding a tear. The closing scenes will leave even the most hardened and detached individual misty eyed and shaken. A testament to Sirk in creating a sophisticated, thought-provoking potboiler that ratchets up the emotions to a gut-wrenching climax.
