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''Pinky'' is a 1949 American
drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...
film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by
Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
. The screenplay was adapted by Philip Dunne and
Dudley Nichols Dudley Nichols (April 6, 1895 – January 4, 1960) was an American screenwriter and film director. He was the first person to decline an Academy Award, as part of a boycott to gain recognition for the Screen Writers Guild; he would later accept ...
based on Cid Ricketts Sumner's 1946 novel ''Quality''. It stars
Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in '' Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films '' In the Meantime, Darling'' (194 ...
as the title character, a young light-skinned black woman who passes for white. It also stars Ethel Barrymore,
Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...
and
William Lundigan William Paul Lundigan (June 12, 1914 – December 20, 1975) was an American film actor. His more than 125 films include '' Dodge City'' (1939), ''The Fighting 69th'' (1940), ''The Sea Hawk'' (1940), ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), '' Dishonored Lady ...
. ''Pinky'' was released in the United States on September 29, 1949 by 20th Century-Fox. It generated considerable controversy because of its subject of race relations and the casting of Crain to play a black woman. It was nonetheless a critical and commercial success, and earned Crain, Barrymore and Waters
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations.


Plot

Pinky Johnson returns to the South to visit Dicey, the illiterate black laundress grandmother who raised her. Pinky confesses to Dicey that she passed for white while studying to be a nurse in the North. She had also fallen in love with a white man, Dr. Thomas Adams, who knows nothing about her
black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...
heritage. Pinky is harassed by racist local law enforcement while attempting to reclaim money owed to her grandmother. Two white men try to sexually assault her. Dr. Canady, a black physician, asks Pinky to train black nursing students, but Pinky plans to return to the North. Dicey asks Pinky to stay temporarily to care for her ailing, elderly white friend and neighbor Miss Em. Pinky has always disliked Miss Em and considers her another of the many bigots in the area. Pinky relents and agrees to tend Miss Em after learning that when Dicey had
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
, Miss Em cared for her. Pinky nurses the strong-willed Miss Em, but does not hide her resentment. However, as they spend time together, she grows to like and respect her patient. Miss Em bequeaths Pinky her stately house and property when she dies, but greedy relative Melba Wooley challenges the will. Everyone advises Pinky that she has no chance of winning, but she begs Miss Em's old friend Judge Walker, who is nearing retirement, to defend her in court. With great reluctance, he agrees to take the case. Pinky washes clothes by hand when her grandmother is sick in order to pay court expenses. At the trial, despite hostile white spectators and the absence of the only defense witness, presiding judge Shoreham unexpectedly rules in Pinky's favor. When Pinky thanks her attorney, he coldly informs her that justice was served, but not the interests of the community. Tom, who has arrived from the North after tracking Pinky down, wants her to sell the inherited property, resume her masquerade as a white woman, marry him and leave the South, but she refuses, firmly believing that Miss Em intended her to use the house and property for some purpose, and Tom leaves. Pinky establishes a clinic and
nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary schoo ...
on the property.


Cast

*
Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in '' Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films '' In the Meantime, Darling'' (194 ...
as Patricia "Pinky" Johnson * Ethel Barrymore as Miss Em *
Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...
as Dicey Johnson *
William Lundigan William Paul Lundigan (June 12, 1914 – December 20, 1975) was an American film actor. His more than 125 films include '' Dodge City'' (1939), ''The Fighting 69th'' (1940), ''The Sea Hawk'' (1940), ''Santa Fe Trail'' (1940), '' Dishonored Lady ...
as Dr. Thomas "Tom" Adams * Basil Ruysdael as Judge Walker * Kenny Washington as Dr. Canady *
Nina Mae McKinney Nina Mae McKinney (June 12, 1912 – May 3, 1967) was an American actress who worked internationally during the 1930s and in the postwar period in theatre, film and television, after beginning her career on Broadway and in Hollywood. Dubbed " ...
as Rozelia *
Griff Barnett Griff Barnett (born Manley Griffith, November 12, 1884 – January 12, 1958) was an American actor.(17 January 1958) ''The New York Times'' Barnett was born in Blue Ridge, Texas in 1884. In the early 20th century, Barnett was a member of the ...
as Dr. Joe McGill *
Frederick O'Neal Frederick O'Neal (August 27, 1905 – August 25, 1992) was an American actor, theater producer and television director. He founded the American Negro Theater, the British Negro Theatre, and was the first African-American president of the Actors ...
as Jake Walters * Evelyn Varden as Melba Wooley *
Raymond Greenleaf Raymond Greenleaf (born Roger Ramon Greenleaf; January 1, 1892 – October 29, 1963) was an American actor, best known for ''All the King's Men'' (1949), '' Angel Face'' (1952), and '' Pinky'' (1949). Early life He was born as Roger Ramon Gre ...
as Judge Shoreham * Juanita Moore as Nurse * Arthur Hunnicutt as Police Chief (uncredited) *
Harry Tenbrook Harry Tenbrook (born Henry Olaf Hansen, October 9, 1887 – September 4, 1960) was an American film actor. Henry Olaf Hansen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. His family migrated to the United States in 1892. Under the stage nam ...
as Townsman (uncredited)


Production notes

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...
was originally hired to direct the film but was replaced after one week because producer
Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl Francis Zanuck (September 5, 1902December 22, 1979) was an American film producer and studio executive; he earlier contributed stories for films starting in the silent era. He played a major part in the Hollywood studio system as one of ...
was unhappy with the dailies.


Casting

Both Lena Horne and
Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Jean Dandridge (November 9, 1922 – September 8, 1965) was an American actress, singer and dancer. She is the first African-American film star to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, which was for her performance in '' C ...
were interested in playing the role of Pinky. In the end,
Jeanne Crain Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in '' Pinky'' (1949). She also starred in the films '' In the Meantime, Darling'' (194 ...
was chosen. Elia Kazan, who assumed directing duties when John Ford was fired, was unhappy with the casting choice, and later said, "Jeanne Crain was a sweet girl, but she was like a Sunday school teacher. I did my best with her, but she didn't have any fire. The only good thing about her was that it went so far in the direction of no temperament that you felt Pinky was floating through all of her experiences without reacting to them, which is what 'passing' is."


Marshall controversy

''Pinky'' enjoyed wide success in the southern United States, but was banned by the city of
Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 U.S. census, the population of Marshall was 23,392; The population of the Greater ...
for its subject matter. In Marshall, W.L. Gelling managed the segregated Paramount Theater, where blacks were restricted to the balcony. Gelling booked ''Pinky'' for exhibition in February 1950, a year in which the
First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
did not protect movies, subsequent to ''
Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio __NOTOC__ ''Mutual Film Corporation v. Industrial Commission of Ohio'', 236 U.S. 230 (1915), was a landmark decision of the US Supreme Court ruling by a 9-0 vote that the free speech protection of the Ohio Constitution, which was substantially sim ...
'' (1915). Marshall's city commission "reactivated" the Board of Censors, established by a 1921 ordinance, and designated five new members who demanded the submission of the picture for approval. They disapproved its showing, stating that it was "prejudicial to the best interests of the citizens of the City of Marshall." Gelling exhibited the film anyway and was charged with a misdemeanor. Three members of the Board of Censors testified that they objected to the picture because it depicted a white man retaining his love for a woman after learning that she was a Negro, a white man kissing and embracing a Negro woman and two white ruffians assaulting Pinky after she tells them that she is colored. Gelling was convicted and fined $200. He appealed the conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court, which decided the landmark free-speech case of '' Joseph Burstyn, Inc v. Wilson'' (1952) that extended First Amendment protection to films. The court then overturned Gelling's conviction.


Box-office performance

''Pinky'' was 20th Century-Fox's second-most-successful film of 1949 (after ''
I Was a Male War Bride ''I Was a Male War Bride'' is a 1949 comedy film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Cary Grant and Ann Sheridan. The film was based on "Male War Bride Trial to Army", a biography of Henri Rochard (pen name of Roger Charlier), a Belgian who ...
'') and the year's sixth-highest-grossing.


Awards and nominations


See also

* 1949 in film *
List of black Academy Award winners and nominees This list of black Academy Award winners and nominees is current as of the nominations for the 94th Academy Awards, which were announced on February 8, 2022, and held on March 27, 2022. Best Actor in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading ...
*
List of movies with more than one Academy Award nomination in the same category Here are lists of movies with more than one Academy Award nomination in the same category. The movie, year and nominees will be listed, as well as the outcome at the ceremony. Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actress Aca ...


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pinky (Film) 1949 films 1949 drama films 1940s English-language films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American drama films Films about race and ethnicity Films about racism Films based on American novels Films directed by Elia Kazan Films produced by Darryl F. Zanuck Films scored by Alfred Newman Films with screenplays by Dudley Nichols Films with screenplays by Philip Dunne 1940s American films