Lana Turner is 39 in this??
Wow. People sure aged fast in the day!
shareI believe she was 38. Anyway, not sure exactly what you mean. You mean she looked older to you?
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MovieChat Forums > Imitation of Life (1959) Discussion > Lana Turner is 39 in this??
Now that I'm getting old, I can appreciate looks from different eras. Especially when I was young, the hairstyles and makeup from some past eras did make the women look older to me.
shareI sometimes wonder if the fashion trends were to support the idea of adulthood and maturity... whereas today we all seem to be pursuing eternal youth. I say that from my early fifties, with my hair long (to my Mom's horror) and an effort to keep my roots from showing.
shareThat’s funny. I am 57 and have really long hair. My mother absolutely hates it. Mine has nothing to do with age, though—it’s long because when it’s short I can barely comb it.
shareShe would appear younger in a few subsequent films. She is VERY thin here, looking uncomfortably as she did on "Falcon Crest" in the 1980's. She's more attractive and younger-looking in "Who's Got The Action?" "Portrait In Black" "Madame X" and some enjoyably trashy movie about rich women and beach gigolos.
Also Douglas Sirk's camera-work is stark and dramatic. Great for the mood of film, not so hot for blonde women in their late 30s.
I didn't think she looked that old! I mean, really, fifty? Damn.
Get down & boogie!
Jean Harlow is the original blonde bombshell.
The fashion of the past was to look mature and sophisticated. The fashion of the present is to chase youth. 38 year old women in '59 would not try to dress like their teenage daughters, Today is you can't dress like your teenage daughter you are made to feel like a failure and a frump!
Look past the fashion to the face. Lana Turner looks her age. If she had her hair down and wearing low slung jeans you wouldn't have posted that OP.
Don't be a sheep!
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Even though she was a very pretty woman, she aged like ordinary people. Her lifestyle was a bit on the tumultuous side with torrid love affairs, scandals and partying.
I agree that she looks well into her forties here for only being 38. Some of that can be due to the mature hairstyle and stately mannerisms which are indicative to middle aged woman of that day.
I wonder if it was the intention to make Lana Turner look as though she was in her 40s, as her character was told that she was no chicken at one point in the movie. Her character needed to look several ages due to the long time period in which the movie was set.
shareGood point.
Good point.
People didn't "age fast" back in the day. For the most part, they aged naturally because Botox wasn't around (not in the way it's used today anyway) and there weren't a billion anti aging products on the market. Plus, people smoked, drank and tanned because having tan skin was very fashionable. If you watch other films and television shows from this era, especially in the 1960s, some people look like they were burnt to a crisp!
I don't think Lana looked bad for her age and she certainly didn't look 50 in this film. She didn't look like she was in her twenties like her character supposedly was but she looked youthful enough to sort of pass. I attribute that to her having been a heavy smoker. Had she lived in this era, I'd bet she would have taken full advantage of Botox and plastic surgery and likely wouldn't have smoked or tanned.
'Had she lived in this era, I'd bet she would have taken full advantage of Botox and plastic surgery and likely wouldn't have smoked or tanned.'
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Botox is the it=word today, as if everybody uses botox which is only a temporary fix for light wrinkles,
They had cosmetic surgery when this film was made, and before.
I think Lana looked her age in the film- 38 or 39. But t seems that many women on this board resent Lana's good looks and say that she looked much older. I don't see it.
shareI started this thread. I do NOT 'resent her looks'! First of all, she's DEAD, and I don't recall ever envying a dead person. Second, I thought Lana Turner was utterly gorgeous in movies like "The Postman Always Rings Twice." The remark about how she looks in 'Imitation' is a comment about how aging the hairstyles and drawn-on eyebrows were for that time.
Seriously, grow UP.
What is it with these capital letter of yours? I get the message w/o your attending anger. I was giving my opinion. But if I offended you, I am sorry.
My favorite Lana Turner movie was "Johnny Eager." There she was 21 and she looked 21. But I thought she looked quite good and youthful in "Imitation..." Still, if we disagree, that's show business.
I use caps for emphasis. Are you new to the Internet?
shareNo, I am not new to the Internet. But I do get your point, w/ or w/o the caps. You do seem somewhat emotional, though. Again, if I offended you, I am sorry.
shareYou seem to be projecting, but that's understandable, considering what an ass you keep making of yourself. (This would be the time for you to shut up and slink off.)
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