Film Forum

(1949, Elia Kazan) Back from the north, passing-for-white nurse Jeanne Crain must choose between a free life with white beau William Lundigan or, as granny Ethel Waters argues, the truth. Kazan took over Hollywood’s first anti-racism film from John Ford, the tumultuous courtroom scene bearing Kazan’s personal stamp. After a long absence from Hollywood, Nina Mae, looking older than her years, returned to play the unsympathetic Rozelia, a razor-toting shantytown sex worker. DCP. Approx 102 min.

Plus excerpt from BBC: THE VOICE OF BRITAIN (1935).

Reviews

“Directed with a fine eye for the vicious undercurrents of Southern decay… Hasn’t been given its due.”
– Pauline Kael

“Whether we like it or not, at every turn, there is something affecting and engrossing about Pinky, its undercurrents and its subtext disturbing and intriguing us far beyond our expectations. As the stoic, kind-hearted, Christian grandmother, Ethel Waters infuses what could have been no more than an appallingly dated stereotype with genuine warmth, integrity, and an overriding sense of commitment. For her work in Pinky, Waters was nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress of 1949.”
– Donald Bogle