Before Lora takes off with stardom, her desire to be famous and create a spectacle of herself is articulated through her physical gestures, many of which are over the top and operatic. These actions by Lora Meredith contribute to her character as a whole, painting a portrait of a star on the rise. One of these moments occurs in the first scene of the film and is, in fact, the first time the viewer sees Lora.
The shot begins with her legs as she moves across a boardwalk. The camera pans up and she is seen leaning over the railing, leaning far out and calling for her daughter as if she is the center of attention. This melodramatic gesture, just moments into the film, says a great deal about Turner’s character and is highly indicative that she acts on theatrical impulses. Just seconds later she descends the stairs and stands in front of Steve, who photographs her like a member of the paparazzi.
It is no wonder why she stops directly in front of him. Even though she may not know at the time that she is creating a spectacle of herself, it happens regardless, which supports the idea that her life is about theatricality whether she intends for it or not. In his article Dyer writes about gesture, “The vocabulary of gesture may be read according to formal and informal codes. Both may be taken as indicative of personality and temperament, although only the former recognizes the social dimension of personality” (Dyer 128). This can be applied to Lora’s personality as a struggling actress in the beginning of the film, when she seems to be so desperate that she has to constantly be creating a spectacle of herself. She communicates these aspects of her personality to the audience through these gestures, all of which contribute to her character as a star even before her initial success. Her theatrical tendencies as an actress surface to a higher degree in the film once she has established herself. She makes a point of trying to steal Annie’s moment of theatricality, as she is on her deathbed in the final minutes of the film. As Annie announces her dying wishes, Lora breaks down hysterically at her side, giving her all for the sake of crying melodramatically and once again creating a spectacle of herself when all focus should be on Annie as she dies. This happens once more after the funeral. One of the final shots shows Lora, Steve, and the two girls driving away. Sarah Jane has just spiritually reconciled with her mother, which the viewer most likely cares about the most.
However, Lora steals the moment one last time when she smiles at Steve, Suzie, and Sarah Jane. It is as if Lora wants this smile to indicate that everything is fine because she says it is. After all, she thinks of herself as the center of attention, and if anyone should confirm the ultra happy ending that one could expect of a film by Sirk, it will be Lora, the focus of the spectacle. Dyer’s idea about gesture is key to Turner performance as Lora, who is full of impulsive, colorful behaviors that contribute to her position as a star only concerned with theatricality, on and off the stage.
Aside from gesture as a way to illustrate Lora Meredith as a spectacle, the film makes excellent use of physical appearance and mise en scene as ways to depict star power. In terms of how appearance is meant to reflect character traits, Dyer writes breaks it down into three categories when he writes, “What a character looks like indicates their personality, with varying degrees of precision. Appearance may be divided into: physiognomy, dress, and star” (Dyer 123). Physiognomy, which is essentially the concept of analyzing facial expressions to interpret one’s temperament, is at the heart of Lora’s character. As an actress she has to use her face a great deal in order to communicate elements of the women she is portraying, but even off the stage uses facial expressions to her benefit as a way of conveying her stardom to the world.
This is seen especially in the moment when she has to rely wholly on appearance to convince a studio agent that she is a well-known actress. Even though she is lying to he man, he believes her for a very brief moment, which is essential not only to what Lora wants, but also to the fact that she is able to use her appearance to establish herself as a spectacle. Another element of appearance that contributes to her character is the clothing she wears, and the fact that it all coincides with her increasing fame. In the early moments of the film, her wardrobe is already a bit melodramatic and fanciful, however, the clothing itself as well as expensive jewelry become objects of spectacle with each bit of fame she receives. Instead of plain white or dark, dull colors, she begins wearing things that are bright and extravagant, a clear reflection of her overwhelming star power.
This image provides a prime example of appearance as a component of stardom, as Lora flaunts her wardrobe and physical looks to the Italian agents in the hope of impressing them. Lora Meredith’s appearance is, in turn, often closely linked to her surroundings, hence Sirk’s use of mise en scene as a way to explain character. In an image such as this, one can see the connection in plain view, as Lora finds herself enveloped in places full of bright colors, glass, and expensive jewels. In certain cases as in the image above, her wardrobe matches the color of the walls, and her necklace a reflection of glass items in the house. As a star one can see that Lora is materialistic and has made a point of surrounding herself with expensive things simply for the sake of creating a spectacle. All of these material products serve to explain Lora’s character and make suggestions about her personality. The film’s use of physical appearance, including clothing and physiognomy, as well as the everyday surrounding within the frame paint a portrait of Lora Meredith excessive star power.
Finally, the film’s themes of spectacle and theatricality are brought to life within Lora Meredith through the audience’s foreknowledge of not only Lana Turner, but the film and its content as well. Like the idea of appearance, Dyer considers audience foreknowledge as something to be broken down into several categories: familiarity with the story, familiar characters, promotion, star/genre expectations, and criticism. All of these elements combined contribute to the viewer’s understanding of Lora as a star on the rise, however, familiarity with story, familiarity with character, and star/genre expectations build Turner’s character the most. First, Sirk’s film is a remake of the 1934 version starring Claudette Colbert. The fact that this film is a remake should immediately tell the viewer things about its content, as well as recognizable themes such as the idea of spectacle. In relation to the remake, a viewer would have particular expectations on Turner’s take on the character, seeing that Colbert established the image in 1934. This, in turn, relates to the audience’s star/genre expectations. Claudette Colbert, like Lana Turner, was a famous very famous actress in the 30s and the viewer would have preconceived notions about her as an actress and a star before seeing the film. One would have assumptions about the nature of Colbert’s character based on her persona in real life. This can be applied to Lana Turner in the same way when Imitation of Life was released in 1959.
At the time she was a well-known actress whom audiences had come to think of as a woman concerned with spectacle. Having been married seven times and appeared before a jury after Johnny Stompanato’s murder, which some say was the best performance of her life, Turner had a reputation for being in the spotlight. This obviously creates a parallel between Turner and the character Lora Meredith. The audience more or less expects her to portray a beautiful, radiant woman who drives the story with her stardom. Viewers, who are educated about film as well as celebrity, would have assumptions about many elements within Lora Meredith, and a familiarity with story and character as well as Lana Turner as an actress and celebrity. With these components featured in Dyer’s essay, one could come to many conclusions in regard to a film’s character.
In the 1959 film, Imitation of Life, the character Lora Meredith transcends her boundaries through a variety of Dyer’s components, which illustrate the film’s themes of spectacle and theatricality. In his article Dyer writes, “A character’s personality in a film is seldom something given in a single shot. Rather it hast o be built up, by filmmakers and audience alike, across the whole film. A character is a construct from the very many different signs deployed by a film (Dyer 120). Lora Meredith is a character, as well as a star, whose personality is perfectly illustrated through these components. In conclusion, they help the viewer to draw conclusions about Lora and paint an accurate, consistent portrait of a star on the rise.
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