Imitation of Life

Fannie Hurst novel tells the story of widowed Beatrice Pullman (Colbert) who uses maid Delilah's (Beaver) recipe for pancakes in order to have the women open a restaurant, which becomes a success. Both mothers suffer at the hands of their willfull teenaged daughters. Delilah's lightskinned daughter Peola (Washington) breaks away from her mother so she can continue to pass for white and Bea's daughter Jessie (Hudson) has a serious crush on her mother's beau, Stephen (William). Weepie was also successfully filmed in 1959.