Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1959: Juanita Moore in Imitation of Life

Juanita Moore received her only Oscar nomination for her performance as Annie Johnson in Imitation of Life.

Juanita Moore appears right at the beginning of the movie and is an extremely important presence throughout the whole movie: even if she is often in the background, she is the heart and the conscience of the movie and she delivers a performance that both anchors and supports the whole movie. Right from the first scene of the movie, in which Lora and Annie meet for the first time, Juanita Moore completely owns the screen without ever looking like she's trying to do so: she actually is a very generous performer that never tries to upstage the other cast-members - she looks effortless and completely spontaneous, she is subtle and restrained and lets the other actors shine while leaving an unforgettable impression herself. Annie can be seen as an idealized character - she is a truly selfless human being and she's so pure that she might have come off as unbelievable or one-dimensional. But Juanita Moore's performance feels completely real and convincing and at the same time she always manages to make us believe that Annie is truly as good as she seems - this way she never compromises the character's goodness but never comprises her realism either. She manages to accomplish this by never playing for the tears - she realizes the emotional impact that the character of Annie is bound to have with the audience but at the same time she never becomes overly sentimental or melodramatic. She is always completely committed to the role and it's a testament to her talent that she alone manages to create a real friendship between the characters of Annie and Lora: this is because Lana Turner's performance seems to be a bit too self-centered, more interested in shining itself rather than creating a believable and deep chemistry between the other members of the cast. Juanita Moore, though, manages to convince us that there is something deep and meaningful between those two characters and that's only because of her outstanding display of loyalty and affection. One of my favorite moments of her performance is the scene in which Turner's Lora is surprised by the fact that Annie is full of friends outside of her work as her maid - Moore's response "But, Miss Lora, you never asked" is wonderful in its honesty and simplicity.

Of course, the core of Juanita Moore's performance is Annie's relationship with her light-skinned daughter who wants to pass for white. Moore is outstanding in portraying Annie's sadness as she witnesses her daughter's emotional turmoil and I particularly love the scene in which Annie realizes for the first time that the color of her skin is a problem for Sarah Jane - her line-delivery of "How do you tell a child she was born to be hurt?" is downright heartbreaking because of the quiet melancholy in her voice and the deep sorrow in her eyes. When Sarah Jane grows older, she starts to reject her mother as she wants to start afresh as a white woman and Moore does a fantastic job in portraying the devastation of a mother who wants the best for her daughter and yet is the main obstacle between Sarah Jane and what she wants in life. Moore portrays Annie's emotional state with remarkable subtlety and dignity: it could have been very easy to overact but Moore made the very wise choice to underplay it, a choice that is extremely fitting to the personality of Annie, a woman so generous and good-hearted that she is willing to put her pain behind the needs of other people. As the movie progresses, Moore is amazing in realistically portraying Annie's growing decay, both physical and emotional - she progressively looks slightly more tired and slightly more heartbroken scene by scene and portrays this developement of Annie in such a believable way it's simply astonishing. Her scene in which she follows Sarah Jane to the club she works at and begs her to come home again is a devastating scene made even better by the excellent acting by both actresses who, as I mentioned in my review of Kohner's performance, share an absolutely tremendous chemistry. Their final scene together is something truly unforgettable and Moore couldn't be better in it: she is heartbreaking in portraying Annie's final sacrifice and her resignation to the fact that Sarah Jane doesn't want her by her side. It's a tearjerking scene but Moore, again, is never sentimental in the role and her display of emotions couldn't be more honest (I simply can't forget her line-delivery of "My beautiful baby" and her final line "You take good care"). Her death scene could have easily been ridiculous considering how absurdly long it is, but Moore makes it tenderly sad: she portrays this scene with an heartwrenching quietness that always makes me tear up.

Juanita Moore is the beating heart of Imitation of Life: in what could have been a simple, stereotypical or even racist role, she delivers a phenomenal performance that is heartbreakingly human and vividly real. She delivers a performance that is captivating and compelling from start to finish in spite of, or maybe because of, its quietness and creates a truly unforgettable and moving character. 

5/5