A light skinned black woman Pinky (Jeanna Crain) returns home to the deep South. She had been at school in the North passing as white and getting her training as a nurse. She's also fallen in love with a handsome, white doctor who knows nothing about her past. It's clear that Pinky HATES being black...but everybody in that town knows she is. She's going to leave but her grandmother (Ethel Waters) asks her to take care a sick mean white woman (Ethel Barrymore) who's near death. Pinky starts to learn to not be ashamed of who she is.
This film was well ahead of its time. In the late 1940s racism was alive and well in the US and this film attacked it. It also showed a black woman who's ashamed of being who she is because of white society. Those were revolutionary ideas at the time. Also there are some disgusting sequences in here that are now almost impossible to watch--the "n" word is used casually; the acts of racism are truly cruel and there's a harrowing scene where Pinky is almost raped just for being black! Still, these scenes need to be shown to see how terrible conditions once were. Still, the picture isn't as brave as it thinks it is. The ending was, for me, entirely predictable and way too "happy".
Top production values help and all the acting is great. Crain (who was white) pulls off a difficult role and was nominated for an Academy Award. Waters and Barrymore are also just great in their roles. This is dated (of course) but still powerful and well worth seeing. For some reason this film just disappeared over the years but now it's back and being rediscovered. Worth catching.
This film was well ahead of its time. In the late 1940s racism was alive and well in the US and this film attacked it. It also showed a black woman who's ashamed of being who she is because of white society. Those were revolutionary ideas at the time. Also there are some disgusting sequences in here that are now almost impossible to watch--the "n" word is used casually; the acts of racism are truly cruel and there's a harrowing scene where Pinky is almost raped just for being black! Still, these scenes need to be shown to see how terrible conditions once were. Still, the picture isn't as brave as it thinks it is. The ending was, for me, entirely predictable and way too "happy".
Top production values help and all the acting is great. Crain (who was white) pulls off a difficult role and was nominated for an Academy Award. Waters and Barrymore are also just great in their roles. This is dated (of course) but still powerful and well worth seeing. For some reason this film just disappeared over the years but now it's back and being rediscovered. Worth catching.