Main Cast: Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, William Lundigan, Basil Ruysdael
Release Year: 1949
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
Plot
Elia Kazan directed this, one of Hollywood's early attacks on racism, starring Jeanne Crain as Patricia "Pinky" Johnson. Patricia is a light-skinned black woman who is studying nursing at a New England medical institute. A white doctor, Thomas Adams (William Lundigan), has fallen in love with Patricia and wants to marry her, but Patricia refuses his proposal. Convinced their interracial union would never work out, Patricia believes Thomas would never be able to endure the acrimony that would be heaped upon their marriage. Patricia leaves New England to return to her childhood home in the South, where her grandmother (Ethel Waters) works for rich widow Miss Em (Ethel Barrymore). When Miss Em takes ill, Patricia cares for her. Upon Miss Em's death, it is discovered that she has bequeathed her entire estate to Patricia. Miss Em's family disputes the will because Patricia is black, and a courtroom battle ensues over the estate. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
Review
Part of the post-war cycle of "social problem" films and one of the first Hollywood productions to tackle American racism head-on (but with a Hollywood casting compromise), Elia Kazan's Pinky (1949) examines Southern bigotry through the experience of an African American woman who can "pass" for white. With Jeanne Crain's Pinky caught between her love for a white Northern doctor and her allegiance to her grandmother Ethel Waters, Kazan (taking over for John Ford) schematically yet effectively depicts her fate in the South through drastic reversals in her treatment by police and shopkeepers, and a near-assault by two locals when she reveals the "truth" behind her pale complexion. The court battle over Pinky's inheritance of the remains of dowager Miss Em's plantation becomes a testament to color-blind justice. Despite the film's boldness in subject matter, 20th Century-Fox hedged its bets by casting a white actress in the lead, attesting to the feared limits of acceptance for an anti-racism drama. Still, though it was not quite as well-received as Kazan's similarly-minded anti-Semitism film Gentleman's Agreement (1947), Pinky was a success, garnering Oscar nominations for Crain, Waters and the inimitable Ethel Barrymore as the gruffly wise Miss Em. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide
The film tells the story of a young woman of mixed African American and Caucasian heritage passing as white, who becomes torn between the needs of her grandmother and the love of a white doctor.
Critical reception
Because of its subject matter, Pinky was a controversial movie, and was even banned by the city of Marshall, Texas, where W. L. Gelling managed the Paramount Theater, a segregated theater in which African-Americans sat in the balcony. Gelling booked Pinky for exhibition in February 1950. In 1950, the First Amendment did not protect movies (Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio). The City Commission of Marshall “reactivated” the Board of Censors, established by a 1921 ordinance, and designated five new members who demanded the submission of the picture for approval. The Board disapproved its showing, stating in writing its “unanimous opinion that the said film is prejudicial to the best interests of the citizens of the City of Marshall.” Gelling nonetheless exhibited the film and was charged with a misdemeanor. Three members of the Board of Censors testified that they objected to the picture because it depicts (1) a white man retaining his love for a woman after learning that she is a Negro, (2) a white man kissing and embracing a Negro woman, (3) two white ruffians assaulting Pinky after she has told them she is colored. Gelling was convicted and fined $200. He appealed the conviction all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. After Gelling filed his appeal, the Court decided the landmark free speech case of Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. Wilson that extended First Amendment protection to films. The Court then overturned Gelling’s conviction.[2]
