I really enjoyed this movie and talked way too much during it. L gave me three choices of movies and I picked this one. It was in color which she had not seen before but it was done well. I had heard of this movie just on title but knew nothing else going in. This starts off in 1947 and this mother named Lora is screaming looking for her daughter, Susie at the beach. This is the most packed beach I have ever seen in my life and L said she would have turned right back around. This guy Steve helps tell her where a cop is and she finds her daughter sitting with this lady Annie and her daughter Sarah Jane. You will learn to hate Sarah Jane by the end of this movie. Maybe not as much as I did but still. Annie is a Black woman and her daughter is as well but don't look it. Lora mentions that she would like someone like Annie to help her out and Annie is like “Hire me!” Lora says she can't afford it but after seeing Sarah Jane cry about wanting a home she takes her in.
Annie stays at home while Lora looks for work as a model. Sarah Jane absolutely does not want to be Black and rejects being called such. One day her mother shows up at the school to bring her something and she runs out of the class embarrassed. Lora meets up with Steve after he brought some photos he took of her and the kids at the beach. They have a thing but Steve doesn't like the demands of Lora's life as she continues to get busier and more successful.
Time passes and Lora is getting more famous and performing on stage. The girls are now 18 and Lora's daughter Susie leans more on Annie for advice and support because her mother supports her financially and such but not emotionally and never around. Meanwhile Sarah Jane is sneaking out at night to hang with a boy and pretending to be white. Lora started dating a playwright but split after she wanted to do more dramatic roles. Annie is still her housekeeper but more of a friend. One night after Lora's new show does well Steve shows up with a date. I wanted him to stay away from Lora. I was having Sex In The City flashbacks of Carrie and Aiden. Steve meets the girls again after all these years and then Lora is like “I gotta go film in Italy watch Susie for me byyyyyyyye!” Next thing you know Susie starts having a thing for Steve. He does not feel the same because he doesn't know and he's not a creep.
One night Sarah Jane goes off the meet her boyfriend and he asks her if she is actually Black. He pieces her up in the alley and leaves her in a puddle. Puddle my ass, that was the juiciest alley I have ever seen! A little bit later she leaves home and starts working at this night club as a “dancer.” I mean it was called dancing but it was not sexy in the least. See, she had told her mother she was working nights at a library but when she called to speak to her she was not on record. But her dumb ass sent the telegram from her actual not sexy job. So Annie heads to her job and is like “I'm her Black mama!” They look at Sarah Jane and she bounces because her fucking life could be in danger pretending to be white at this seedy ass place! This is not the only time her mother puts her life in danger cause of love.
Annie starts to fall apart because of the stress Sarah Jane is putting on her vanishing and shit. She runs away from home and Annie has Steve get a detective to search for her. She finds her doing more bad dancing in Hollywood. Annie hops on a plane and once again shows up at her job. She follows Sarah Jane home and tells her she will leave her alone from now on. Sarah Jane is full on playing at being white and has a date planned. Sarah Jane's friend walks in and Annie leaves saying she used to watch Sarah Jane when she was little. Annie returns home and her health is getting worse. Her self hating daughter is killing her!
I haven't mentioned Susie too much because she is going through stupid boy stuff. Steve and Lora are dating again and Susie, who still is in love with him, gets mad and decides to go to college far away. Her mother is like “I will just leave Steve then!” and Susie is like “Oh, cut the shit, mama! You were never around for me.” Annie is on her deathbed and tells everyone what she wants for her funeral and where she wants her belongings and such to go to. Its all very nice. She passes away and has this huge funeral with hundreds of people there. After her casket is loaded Sarah Jane comes running up like “I killed my mama!” Girl, bye. You spent your whole raggedy ass life being taken care of by your mother and Lora who literally pulled you off the street and paid them back with nothing but hate.
I forgot to mention one scene where Lora is talking to this movie producer and Sarah Jane is asked to take a plate into the room. She goes full on “mammie” mode.
Sarah Jane: Fetched y'all up a mess 'a crawdads, Miss Lora...fo' you an' yo' friends!
Lora: Well, that's quite a trick, Sarah Jane...where did you learn it?
Sarah Jane: Oh, 'tain't no trick ta' totin', Miss Lora! I learned it from my mammy, an' she learned it from ol' massa, 'fo' she belonged to you.
This was a really good movie and I am glad L had me check it out cause I have no idea when I ever would have under my own volition watched this. I still stick by my feelings that Annie was gonna get her daughter killed by jumping into her life like “Acknowledge ya Black mama!” But also Sarah Jane was a straight up asshole to everyone in her life. Lora was a very absent parent and her daughter Susie needs to grow up.
Lana Turner as Lora Meredith
Juanita Moore as Annie Johnson
John Gavin as Steve Archer
Sandra Dee as Susie Meredith, age 16
Susan Kohner as Sarah Jane Johnson, age 18
Robert Alda as Allen Loomis
Dan O'Herlihy as David Edwards
Karin Dicker as Sarah Jane Johnson, age 8
Terry Burnham as Susie Meredith, age 6
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