web - Imitation of Life 2 copy
Imitation of Life (1934)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

Imitation of Life

John M. Stahl | USA | 1934 | PG
Film

When

Wed 3 Dec 2025

See below for additional related events

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.

Format: DCP
Language: English
Source: Park Circus
Courtesy: Park Circus
Runtime: 111 mins

Event duration

111 mins

Rating

PG

The content is mild in impact

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

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Membership options

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(3 consecutive weeks)
$30.5–36

Annual memberships
$174–325

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More films screening in this program

There are no upcoming related events at this time.

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. 

Learn more | View the 2025 program | See membership options

Melbourne Cinémathèque - Dirk Bogarde in a still from Victim

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