Pinky
Directed by Elia Kazan
Written by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols from a novel Cid Ricketts Summer
1949/USA
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
First viewing/Amazon Instant
[box] Patricia ‘Pinky’ Johnson: Miss Em told me to always be myself, not to pretend. You told me that after I marry you, there won’t be a Pinky Johnson anymore. How can I be myself if there’s no Pinky Johnson anymore?[/box]
I was kind of dreading this one, fearing it would be an overblown message picture with the additional drawback of having a white actress playing a black woman who passes for white. To my pleasant surprise, the message is surrounded by some fine acting and tolerable dialogue.
As the film opens, Pinky Johnson (Jeanne Crain) returns to her grandmother’s (Ethel Waters) shanty in the “colored” slum on the outskirts of a small Southern town. She is returning after several years in the North attending high school and then nursing school. Her grandmother’s pleasure at having her back is tempered by her sadness that Pinky admits to having passed as white. We eventually find out that Pinky has run home after being proposed to by a white doctor who is unaware of her race.
When anyone at home finds out she is black, Pinky is subjected to all the racism of the town. At one point, she is practically raped. Pinky hates this life and is not afraid to say so and to demand respect. She finally decides to leave. But at that point, granny’s friend Miss Em (Ethel Barrymore) has a heart attack and granny more or less forces Pinky to take care of her.
Pinky is at odds with Miss Em, who is an irrascible and demanding former school teacher, from the first minute. Over time, they get used to each other. Then Miss Em dies, leaving Pinky most of her property. Em’s white relatives are having none of this, claiming Pinky had coerced the will. The rest of the story focuses on Pinky’s defense of her inheritance and to her dilemma over whether to marry the doctor, who wants her even when he knows the truth. With Nina May McKenny (Hallelujah) as a bad girl.
This is another in the series of quality message movies (Gentleman’s Agreement, The Snake Pit, etc.) coming out of Fox during this period. Like those films, this is powerful and not overly preachy. What makes them work is strong plots with real characters that do much more than spout platitudes. The two Ethels are outstanding. Poor Jeanne Crain did her best in a role for which she was utterly miscast. She does have a certain fighting spirit going for her.
Lena Horne had campaigned for Crain’s role but the studio ultimately decided that audiences would object to the use of a black actress due to the love scenes with the white doctor. Zanuck’s liberal convictions took him only so far.
Pinky was nominated for Oscars in the categories of Best Actress (Crain); Best Supporting Actress (Barrymore) and Best Supporting Actress (Waters).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dm09iOIjM1M
Trailer
