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, she has fallen in love with a young white doctor, who knows nothing about her black heritage.
Acting
Ethel Waters steals every scene; Oscar-nominated power.
Direction
Kazan pushes boundaries within strict Hays Code limits.
Writing
Dialogue that whispers what it cannot shout.
Director
Elia Kazan
Jeanne Crain
Patricia "Pinky" Johnson
Ethel Barrymore
Miss Em
Ethel Waters
Dicey Johnson
William Lundigan
Dr. Thomas Adams
Basil Ruysdael
Judge Walker
Kenny Washington
Dr. Canady
Nina Mae McKinney
Rozelia
Griff Barnett
Dr. Joe McGill
Frederick O'Neal
Jake Walters
Evelyn Varden
Melba Wooley
Raymond Greenleaf
Judge Shoreham
Fred Aldrich
Townsman (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released the same year as 'Intruder in the Dust' and 'Home of the Brave,' this was Hollywood's brief, nervous confrontation with racism—before retreating for years.
Lena Horne and Dorothy Dandridge both wanted the role; studio refused. Ethel Waters threatened to quit unless her role expanded—she got an Oscar nod, Crain didn't.
US
