Pinky
(1949)

Director: Elia Kazan

Key Cast: Ethel Waters, Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, William Lundigan, Basil Ruysdael, Kenny Washington, Nina Mae McKinney, Griff Barnett, Frederick O’Neal, Evelyn Varden, Raymond Greenleaf

Rating: Unrated

Genre(s): Drama

Pinky, a young nurse (Jeanne Crain), returns to her small southern hometown, but the trip is bittersweet one:  Educated in the North, Pinky is engaged to a doctor who doesn’t know that she is part black. 

Her grandmother, Dicey (Ethel Waters), is a proud black woman who is less than happy to learn that Pinky has been passing for white and is engaged to a white man.

Then, Pinky (after pressure from her grandmother) agrees to take care of southern aristocrat, Miss Em (Ethel Barrymore) who is sick.  This turns out to be another life-changing experience for Pinky.

Shunned by both blacks and whites, Pinky’s choices make her the unfortunate target of bigotry in this compelling classic.  Does she return to the North where she will pass for white, or will she stay in the South and accept her African-American heritage?

∙  "Pinky" was one of the largest grossing movies in 1949.

∙  "Pinky" was considered a daring movie for a studio to make at this time in history, because it dealt with the taboo (and in many places illegal) subject of interracial romance and marriage.  In fact, it wouldn’t be until eight years later when the Island in the Sun is released that a film dared to show physical affection between an interracial couple.

∙  "Pinky" was banned in from being shown in some Southern theatres.  In particular, the town of Marshall, Texas banned the movie, but someone showed it anyway.  This resulted in a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court outlawed the Marshall, Texas ban on the film.

∙  Many African Americans were upset that a white actress, Jeanne Crain, was selected to play a light-skinned black woman.  Lena Horne was interested in the role, but the studio didn’t want to cast a black woman in a role where she would have a romance with a white man.  They didn’t think white audiences would react favorably to it.

∙  "Pinky" is an adaptation of a novel written by Cid Ricketts Sumner entitled "Quality".

∙  Ethel Waters was nominated for a 1950 Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Her nomination was the first time that an African-American woman had been nominated for any Academy Award since Hattie McDaniel won one for her role in "Gone With the Wind."

∙  Nominated for two additional 1950 Academy Awards:  Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jeanne Crain) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Ethel Barrymore)

Buy the Pinky Movie DVD

In "Pinky", Ethel Waters plays Granny,
who is a domestic worker for a wealthy
White woman. She takes the role, however,
and makes Granny such a compelling and
heroic figure that she transcends any attempts
to stereotype her.

 
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