Imitation Of Life (Two-Movie Special Edition) (Universal Legacy Series) (1934)

I was very excited to hear about the release of the two versions of Imitation Of Life together on the same DVD. I had never seen the 1934 version and found it to be an equally enjoyable film as the 1959 one, although quite different (the main character is an entrepreneur versus an actress in the '59 version). The transfer for the 1934 version is decent considering it's age. I was more disappointed with the 1959 one. Granted, it was filmed in Eastman Color so one could not expect Technicolor brilliance, but the transfer is grainy and faded. To make matters worse, the layer change occurs at the worst possible place, as someone is running down the stairs (as with all DVD's, there is a slight pause at that time). This is very jarring; what was the engineer thinking? Layer changes ideally should be placed between a fade-out and a fade-in of scenes. Considering the price and the content, I would reccomend this DVD if you can ignore it's flaws.

Both John Stahl's 1934 version of "Imitation of Life" and Douglas Sirk's 1959 adaptation are tales of racism and the shame that befalls a young malato girl who denies her black heritage. Based on the novel by Fannie Hurst, Stahl's quiet understated approach to the subject matter is less heavy handed in its use of melodrama than Sirk's (though Sirk is widely regarded as the master in this medium). To be sure, Sirk amplifies the melodrama to underscore racial prejudice and materialism but, to the contemporary eye, his exaggerations seem more garish than genius, more indoctrinated than inspired.
THE TRANSFERS: Stahl's B&W photography holds up remarkably well. But Universal's transfer is rather weak in spots, showing considerable signs of age throughout. Contrast levels are unusually low while black levels are weak. Fine detail is lost in film grain. The B&W film is presented full frame - as it should be.
Sirk's color version is a genuine visual disappointment. Colors are faded, dated and muddy. There is a haze across many of the scenes taking place outside. Film grain is excessive. Many scenes appear overly soft to down right blurry. There's a bit of smearing and bleeding of colors in several scenes. Contrast levels are weak. Fine details disappear during the darkest scenes and are never fully realized in brightly lit scenes either. This version is anamorphic widescreen as it should be. The audio for both films is BIG FAT MONO.
EXTRAS: None.
BOTTOM LINE: Not a very impressive effort from Universal to say the least. There's little to recommend the films as such. The transfers are entirely forgettable.

The later version of Imitation of Life has been a favourite since I took a sick day in my early teens. I had watched it a couple of times since then, but decided to buy it for Christmas holiday movie marathons. The discovery of an earlier version of the same movie within the same jewel case was a bonus.
Both movies are great and show well as two separate but very similar movies.