Racism and Movies of 40's
I just watched this movie PINKY, based on the book "Quality" by female novelist Cid Ricketts Sumner. It was made in 1949, and was directed by Elia Kazan.
It handles some of the same subject matter that "Imitation of Life" did in 1934 but "PINKY" is more gritty and honest in its portrayal of bigotry and self loathing.
The story follows Patricia "Pinky" Johnson, a light skinned black woman, as she returns to her grandmother's house in the South after graduating from a Northern nursing school. Pinky confesses to her grandmother that she has been "passing" for white while at school in the North. On top of this news we find out that Patricia has fallen in love with a white Doctor who does not know her family history. When he does find out he still wants to marry her but wants to keep her family history a secret.
This creates an excruciatingly hard decision for Patricia to make - you really feel the weight of it in the performance. In the end Patricia decides to be true to herself, she doesn't want to deny who she is and chooses to take PRIDE in her family history.
It is an amazing movie. I was blown away by the acting, writing and direction but I couldn't help but to be distracted by the casting. The actress that played the part of Pinky was caucasian, Jeanne Crain.
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| Jeanne Crain and Ethel Waters in "Pinky" |
Then a question ran through my mind, Why didn't they just cast a Black actress in the part?
I found out that a number of black actresses did campaign for the role. Now, be forewarned, some of these stories will make you wince:
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| Lena Horn |
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| Dorothy Dandridge |
DOROTHY DANDRIGE was also interested in the role, but she was thought "too Black" to be convincing in the role. This was a few years prior to her oscar turn in "Carmen Jones"
And number of Bi-racial actresses tried as well But in the end, a Black or Bi-racial Actress could never had been cast. WHY?
Because of the Romantic story line. The lead character has a relationship with a white man. Now remember this was the 40's in America, Racism was the norm. Also, the Hollywood Production Code at the time had rules against portraying interracial relationships in film.
The film is not well remembered today but it was the biggest hit of 1949 and the three leads, Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters were up for Oscars that year.
PINKY served as an important milestone - it proved that a film that tackled the subject of racism could be a commercial success. It paved the way for many of the "message" filled movies of the 1950's.
If you haven't seen PINKY I recommend you do. It's a great movie. Wonderful performances. And it has an inspirational central message.
"TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE"
xo
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