Monty Python's Life of Brian and Michael Palin alongside mayor Sue Jones-Davies (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film). However, before the showing, an Aberystwyth University student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981. In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on Good Friday, despite protests by local atheists. In New York (the film's release in
Imitation of Life (1959 film) performing a version of "Trouble of the World" at Annie's funeral service. Sirk's "Imitation of Life" premiered in Chicago on March 17, 1959, followed by Los Angeles on March 20 and New York City on April 17, then Universal put the film into general release on April 30. Though it was not well-reviewed upon its original release and was viewed as inferior to the original 1934 film version – many critics derided the film as a "soap opera," – "Imitation of Life" was the fourth-most successful motion picture of 1959, grossing $6.4 million. "Imitation of Life" was Universal-International's top-grossing film