Pinky (1949) is a film directed by Elia Kazan. The movie was adapted by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols from the novel by Cid Ricketts Sumner. Originally John Ford was hired to direct the film, but was replaced after one week because producer Darryl F. Zanuck was unhappy with the dailies. Although Lena Horne and other black actresses were considered for the role, producer Darryl F. Zanuck chose to cast a white actress for box-office reasons. Released by Twentieth Century Fox, it starred Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore (who was screenwriter Philip Dunne's godmother), and Ethel Waters.
Pinky, a light skinned black woman, returns to her grandmother's house in the South after graduating from a Northern nursing school. Pinky tells her grandmother that she has been "passing" for white while at school in the North. In addition, Pinky has fallen in love with a young white doctor, Dr. Thomas Adams, who knows nothing about her black heritage. Pinky says that she will return to the North, but Granny Johnson convinces her to stay and treat an ailing white woman, Miss Em. Meanwhile, Dr. Canady, a black physician from another part of the state, visits Pinky and asks her to train some African American students, but she declines. Pinky nurses Miss Em but is resentful because she seems to feel that she is doing the same thing her grandmother did. Pinky and Miss Em slowly develop a mutual respect for one another. Mrs. Em leaves Pinky her property when she dies, but relatives of the deceased woman contest the new will in court. To raise money for the court fees, Pinky washes clothes by hand with her grandmother. The court rules in Pinky's favor and she keeps the land. Tom wants her to resume her life as a white woman and to marry him, but she refuses. Pinky decides to use the house and land for Miss Em's Clinic and Nursery School. Written by Broncine G. Carter
Pinky Johnson is a pretty, light-skinned Negro nursing student who's been passing for white, a fact she's kept secret from her Granny and the young doctor she's in love with. Written by Daniel Bubbeo
