Anyone see this movie?

[Midnight Palace]

This just came out on DVD. I've never seen it but it sounds really interesting. The plot kind of reminds me of Imitation of Life.

I Passed for White (1960)

Starring Sonya Wilde, James Franciscus, Patricia Michon, Isabel Cooley, Lon Ballantyne, Elizabeth Council, Max Mellinger, Phyllis Cox, Temple Hatton, Elizabeth Harrower, Freita Shaw, Jimmy Lydon, Calvin Jackson and Ed Shashe. A beautiful young woman meets and marries the man of her dreams--only she has not told him that she is half-black, and he and his rich family and friends are white. She soon discovers that happiness cannot be founded on a lie.

 

[Lady Day]

Imitation of Life, or Pinky.

That that aspect of race relations has always facinated me, in life and in film. More so because you could not use real actresses of color (unless they too were 'passing' and did not tell the producer/director) in most of these parts.

Its from the 60s so wil probably be a bit more lax.
Will have to netflix it.

LD

 

[Feraud]

I have not seen it but it looks very interesting.

This thread reminds me of the Anthony Hopkins film The Human Stain.

 

[Girl Friday]

I haven't seen that movie, but it reminded me of Imitation of Life, which I have seen, and it was pretty good.
http://imdb.com/title/tt0052918/

 

[Doctor Strange]

There's also a little-known English film called Sapphire from 1959 that's a murder mystery partly about "passing".

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0053242/

I saw this around 35 or 40 years ago(!), when one of the NYC broadcast stations had a late-night Saturday series called "Foreign Film Festival", or something similar. I don't really remember it in any detail, except that I was really impressed with it and I have never forgotten it.

 

[Midnight Palace]

I really do want to see it. I haven't seen Pinky yet either. Lady Day, if you netflix this movie, let me know how you like it!

 

[Lady Day]

Pinky is alright. It was just really controversial for its time because Pinky (altho played by a white woman) had a white male as her love interest and kissed him over and over in the film.

What facinated me so much about this topic is that mostly these light skinned, 'passing' characters are often characters as for their darker skinned conterparts who are often charactures of themselves. Watch Pinky and you will see what I mean.

In the original version of Immitation of Life, the black daughter Peola was played by an African American actress. Im not sure but I think the original story had a love interest for her, but of corse in the 30s, that was all cut out.

In the aweful remake in the late 50s, Peola did have a boyfriend, but they never kissed.

Doctor Strange, I will indeed have to check out Sapphire. Thanks for the reccomendation.

LD

 

[deadpandiva]

There's also a little-known English film called Sapphire from 1959 that's a murder mystery partly about "passing".

http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0053242/

I saw this around 35 or 40 years ago(!), when one of the NYC broadcast stations had a late-night Saturday series called "Foreign Film Festival", or something similar. I don't really remember it in any detail, except that I was really impressed with it and I have never forgotten it.

I think I saw this one ages ago. Is it the one were the bi racial girl marries into a white family and she is killed by the sister of the man she married. There was a baby carriage that played a big part in the movie if I remember correctly. It was pretty good.

I enjoyed Pinky and both versions of Imitation of Life.

Jas Slang for a light skinned person is "Peola" which is the name of Freddie Wahsington's character from the first version of Imitation of life.

Has anyone ever read the book? I was looking for it for a while but gave up.

 

[Miss Dottie]

I've only seen the second version of "Imitation of Life" but have been interested in these types of films and books since a lot of people have passed in my own family.

My grandfather's two siblings passed for white. My mother's cousin also passed for white. Passing means completely disconnecting yourself from your family and not looking back. I'm sure it did make a positive financial difference to their life. Sad, but true. There was good reason for them to pass. And who am I to judge their decision since I didn't live through the rampant racism of the early 20s through 60s.

My parents sat me down at an early age and said that passing is never an option because there is too much to be proud of in my family, even though many in my family's history have. My father was a major civil rights activist and the first black journalist hired at Newsweek. How could I not be proud?

But because I am so very light skinned I am almost always taken for white. But I am always happy to let people know of my background and heritage. Hey, my birth certificate notes both my parents as "Negro".

Anyway, passing is a very very very layered and complicated conversation.

 

[deadpandiva]

I've only seen the second version of "Imitation of Life" but have been interested in these types of films and books since a lot of people have passed in my own family.

My grandfather's two siblings passed for white. My mother's cousin also passed for white. Passing means completely disconnecting yourself from your family and not looking back. I'm sure it did make a positive financial difference to their life. Sad, but true. There was good reason for them to pass. And who am I to judge their decision since I didn't live through the rampant racism of the early 20s through 60s.

My parents sat me down at an early age and said that passing is never an option because there is too much to be proud of in my family, even though many in my family's history have. My father was a major civil rights activist and the first black journalist hired at Newsweek. How could I not be proud?

But because I am so very light skinned I am almost always taken for white. But I am always happy to let people know of my background and heritage. Hey, my birth certificate notes both my parents as "Negro".

Anyway, passing is a very very very layered and complicated conversation.

Your parents sound like amazing people. My mom was given up for adoption because she was mixed even though her mother's family was of various mixes (Creole, Native American, Puerto Rican etc...).

I have alot more that I could say but I don't want to go off topic.

I don't think the first Imitation of Life is as well rounded as the second.

 

[Lady Day]

Pass on I passed for White (*spoilers*)

It was cheezy and overacted, even for the time.

Just goes to show you if you lie about being bi-racial, your husband will accuse you of sleeping with a black Jazz singer who touches your arm (it was her brother). Her 'secret' almost comes out, cause she loves to dance The strange thing is, the one black woman who could have actually passed in the film was the maid. lol

But she learns her lesson when she looses her baby and abandons her white husband who knows nothing of her family to return home to be with her own kind. That was the message of the last shot of the move, not kidding.

But the clothes were great!

LD

 

[The Wolf]

"But the clothes were great"

I don't know why but that statement makes me think of the joke, "Aside from that Mrs. Lincoln what did you think of the play?".

Seriously, I've been able to enjoy some Golden Age entertainment and accept some depictions of sex, race, etc. if it's really good with everything else. When the "moral" of the story is off I have a harder time. To mention a couple of newer movies with odd morals are "Pretty Woman" and "You've Got Mail".

Spoiler for "Pretty Woman": If want to meet Mr.Right become a prostitute.

Spoiler for "You've Got Mail": It's good to have big business put "Mom and Pop" stores out of business because the owners will have more time to devote to what they really want to do.

Sincerely,
The Wolf