Imitation of life is a 1959 american drama film directed by douglas sirk, produced by ross hunter and released by universal international. The main character, alan turing benedict cumberbatch, is a mathematician that is hired by the british government to work on. Ford and buttons are marvelous and the movie walks the line between humor and the reality of the horror of war with real class. Imitation of life 1959 film analysis by jesse day on prezi. If youd like a pdf of the imitation game script scenebyscene breakdown, go here. The imitation game is a tremendously engaging work of historical fiction about alan turing, the british mathematical genius who was key to cracking the military codes of the nazis unbreakable enigma machine. As an adult, he was a man who attracted enormous publicity even while obsessively guarding his privacy. A master sergeant glenn ford takes a fallen general s star and leads an attack in world war ii france. Douglas sirks imitation of life senses of cinema film. The film is a colour palette of dreary london grey, burgundy, gold and kitbag brown. The imitation game is a 2014 american historical drama film directed by morten tyldum and written by graham moore, based on the 1983 biography alan turing. Imitation general 1958 glenn ford and taina elg in imitation general 1958 red. The sergeant must use this disguise to keep up the morale of the men and rally them to counterattack the nazi forces in france. With the korean war over and vietnam yet to come, the 1950s and early 1960s saw a.
Cast in credits order complete, awaiting verification. The general is a 1926 american silent comedy film released by united artists. The imitation game is a stylish wartime drama with stellar central performances and an eyeopening premise. Based on william chamberlains short story imitation general, which appeared in the november 17, 1956 edition of the saturday evening post, the film centers on the exploits of a world war ii sergeant ford who must masquerade as his commanding general kent smith when the general is killed in action. Ghostbusters, top gun enter national film registry. The imitation game imitating oppositionality, sincere. Michael boughen, producer of the tv series, tomorrow when the war began 1 the subject here is imitation of life, but its important to be clear about one point from the start. Buster keaton plays johnny gray, a southern railroad engineer who loves his train engine, the general, almost as much as he loves annabelle lee marion mack.
Whilst in the original film, the imitation of life was just a reference to peolas in this film, sarah jane desire to pass for white, in this film, three out of the four main characters have been living their own imitations of life. Derby tells sellers to play dumb about the generals hiding, then they surrender. America always had enlisted men that would take command and do what had to be done. Given the fact that the story of imitation general is motivated by the passing of a torch, its ironic that the films first network showing in november of 1963 was. Benedict cumberbatch stars in a film that struggles to unlock computing pioneer alan turings genius. Other articles where the imitation game is discussed. Since several of his key scenes had not yet been filmed, recasting. Porter, who joined edisons company in 1899 and advanced the special effects pioneered by georges melies, completed the sevenminute film in. Benedict cumberbatch, keira knightley, matthew goode. Imitation general 1958 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
The film, distributed by metrogoldwynmayer, is based on a short story of the same name by william chamberlain. Sergeant murphy savage impersonates a dead general in order to inspire the demoralized troops in fighting their way out of nazi encirclement. The title of the film quotes the name of the game alan turing proposed for answering the question can machines think. Imitation general is a 1958 blackandwhite comedy war film in cinemascope, directed by george marshall, produced by william b.
Set in new york in the 1950s, imitation of life by douglas sirk portrays an intricate relationship between a black american mother and her fair skin daughter, sarah jane. Unlike selfconsciously unconventional biopics, the imitation game melds fact and invention with lucidity and sweep. Imitation general 1958 stream and watch online moviefone. Taina elg is a lovely addition though she only speaks french in the film. The gun has a m1928a1 receiver and cutts compensator muzzle, but with an m1s ltype rear peep sight instead of the m1928a1s adjustable lyman sight, and an m1s smooth barrel, which lacks the m1928a1s cooling fins.
It was inspired by the great locomotive chase, a true story of an event that occurred during the american civil war. Although the film goes overboard in silliness at times, imitation general is a pretty good comedy from the talented directoractor team of george marshall and glenn ford who also did the riotously funny the sheepman that same year. Imitation general 1958 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors. When teresa played by vanessa bauche was left in mexico by a husband who hiked it up to montreal, quebec, canada, she followed in search of him with the help of fenton played by jesse aaron dwyre, a grocerystore stock boy, but. Based on a true story and its accompanying novel, the imitation game 2014 is about british efforts to crack germanys enigma code during world war ii, which germany uses to communicate their military strategies and combat plans. Stahls 1934 imitation of life with douglas sirks betterknown version from 1959, an examination of savage inequities. Appearance is a central theme throughout the story. Dean jones and crusty old tige andrews complete the casts main characters.
Sergeant murphy savage impersonates a dead general in order to inspire the. Imitation general 1958 imitation general 1958 user. The story was adapted from the memoir the great locomotive chase by william pittenger. It stars benedict cumberbatch as british cryptanalyst alan turing, who decrypted german intelligence messages for. Glenn ford and red buttons take a mighty big chance trying to impersonate a general. Tomorrow i will post one by rick dyke which provides some interesting analysis.
Imitation general 1958 a master sergeant glenn ford takes a fallen generals star and leads an attack in world war ii france. Hawks, and starring glenn ford, red buttons, and taina elg. Read the full synopsis of imitation general, 1958, directed by george marshall, with glenn ford, red buttons, taina elg, at turner classic movies. The plot was inspired by a real incident, though the keaton touch adds some of the most memorable stunt work and sight gags the cinema has ever seen. The film was released on august 16, 1949, by paramount, and is based upon the cbs radio series my friend irma that first aired in 1947. Shop imitation general from family and add this movie to your collection. It was sirks final hollywood film and dealt with issues of race, class and gender. We zero in on the major plot points in the imitation. After the film i bought this book and a few others in order to get to know more about the brilliant man and the codebreaking that went on during ww2. The general is an ambitious film that combines historical fact, outlandish stunts, acts of heroism, and an inventive story line.
We had a lot of born leaders in the military during. Murphs thompson submachine gun appears to be made up of parts from both an m1928a1 and an m1 thompson. Stopmotion and matte paintings added to the films whimsical appeal. My friend irma is a 1949 american comedy film directed by george marshall, and is most notable as the film debut of the comedy team dean martin and jerry lewis. Imitation general movie posters from movie poster shop. The language, though of a sophisticated bygone era, is easy to follow, and the 114minute plot is never dull. One of glenn fords best humorous parts in a action film. Imitation general 1958 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Leo genn signed to do the film after pulling out of run for the sun. Sarah jane can pass as white because of her fair skin. The film stars buster keaton who codirected it with clyde bruckman. Based on a novel by william chamberlain, imitation general has a bit more story depth and character development than the average wwii service comedy. Twelve years before imitation general 1958 was released, the prevailing attitude towards world war ii was best reflected in serious films like the best years of our lives 1946.
Buy imitation general movie posters from movie poster shop. Imitation general 1958 not rated 1h 28min comedy, war 29 august 1958 finland sergeant murphy savage impersonates a dead general in order to inspire the demoralized troops in fighting their way out of nazi encirclement. Major kudos to sean sauber for doing this weeks breakdown. Were your movie poster source for new releases and vintage movie posters.
With glenn ford, red buttons, taina elg, dean jones. The imitation game debut is years secondbest on per. In imitation of life, peoples attitude and behavior towards sarah. Lester hoyle, fred kruger, george marshall, william hawks. A film guide that looks at the imitation game 2014, in which benedict cumberbatch stars as pioneering mathematician and codebreaker alan turing, who was highly influential, but persecuted for being gay. This glamorized remake of the 1934 film imitation of life bears only a passing resemblance to its source, the bestselling novel by fannie hurst. Imitation of life, lana turner, juanita moore, terry burnham, 1959. This guide is useful for exploring topics including information computing technology, history. I have being looking for this o cd for years please release it on cd more produce a advd of imitation general. Imitation general 1958 a master sergeant glenn ford takes a fallen general s star and leads an attack in world war ii france. In the film, the main characters are lora, a white single mother who dreams of becoming an actress and annie, an african american single mother who is trying to make a life for her and her daughter lora takes in annie and her daughter as her nanny, but treats her no different. Imitation is a 2007 canadian film by directed by federico hidalgo and starring vanessa bauche, jesse aaron dwyre and conrad pla and distributed by atopia plot. Derby then pretends that the general had departed and moved on to another area. Directed by douglas sirk starring lana turner susan kohner new 4k restoration text.
The general opens with cahill as a boy, stealing from a local merchant and being sent to reform school where he socks a wouldbe molester. I watched the imitation game last week and i was left in awe, and slightly ashamed of myself for not knowing the contribution of alan turing to the war efforts and the advent of the computer age. Benedict cumberbatch shines as reallife war hero and pioneer of modernday computing, alan turing, who saved millions of lives by cracking germanys socalled unbreakable code during wwii. The film is a unique 1960s time capsule, a telling look at the myriad tensions involved in film creationa film on the making of a filmwith three camera crews recording different parts of the process and personalities involved director, actors, crew, bystanders. Definitions of imitation onelook dictionary search.
After the film was completed, owen said all of his films stink but they made money. His turn as turing earned him an academy award nomination for best actor. We are fortunate to have two scenebyscene breakdowns. Telecharger imitation general film complet en francais vf. There were so many good military movies made about wwii during the 40s and 50s that imitation general could get lost among the sheer numbers but it stands out for me because of the uniqueness of the story and for the casting of glenn ford and red buttons. Imitation of life is the second film adaptation of fannie hursts novel of the same name. Paul smith, glenn ford, barry cahill, frank francesco, kent smith, bob dennis, buzz henry, red buttons, dean jones, bob. Following a route similar to the kings speech, twc will expand the imitation game to six additional markets and about 25 theaters by dec. Photograph by everett for his last hollywood film, released in 1959, the german director douglas sirk unleashed a melodramatic. Ditto for any adaptation of a novel or a play or a poem to the screen, large or small. Murphy savage, who is forced to take drastic action when brigadier general charles lane kent smith is killed in action.