
When
Wed 3 Dec 2025
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A single mother (Claudette Colbert) achieves business success on the back of a pancake recipe “given” to her by her African American maid (Louise Beavers). This epic adaptation of Fannie Hurst’s novel follows the pair’s complex relationship across the decades, as they endure heartaches both shared and individual.
Stahl’s incisive original, like the more famous Sirk remake, boldly reckons with oppressions both systemic and personal, demonstrating the freedom with which maligned genres (the “women’s weepie”) could confront material deemed too incendiary for more “legitimate” dramas. Preston Sturges and future member of the “Hollywood Ten” Samuel Ornitz were among the 12 writers.
About Melbourne Cinémathèque
Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.
Melbourne Cinémathèque is self-administered, volunteer-run, not-for-profit and membership-driven.
