Pinky (1949)

A young woman (Jeanne Crain) returns to her Southern roots from the North where she had been working as a nurse. When confronted by her grandmother (Ethel Waters), she confesses she had been passing for white. She hadn't told her fiance (William Lundigan) about her black heritage and she has come home to sort things out. Based on the novel QUALITY by Cid Ricketts Sumner and directed by Elia Kazan (ON THE WATERFRONT). Under Daryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century Fox produced a series of socially conscious films, the Oscar winning GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT (also directed by Kazan) being the most notable example. While GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT comes across as obvious and heavy handed today, PINKY holds up very well and (unfortunately) still relevant as when the police stop Crain's Pinky, their courtesy turns brutal after they discover she is black or after a sales clerk realizes she is "colored", he charges her twice as much. Crain's Oscar nominated performance is often dismissed but I think she's very good here. For a 1949 film, it doesn't pull any punches. The film was banned in Texas in a case that went all the way up to the Supreme Court which resulted in a landmark decision giving First Amendment rights to films. With Ethel Barrymore (also Oscar nominated along with Ethel Waters), Evelyn Varden, Frederick O'Neal, Basil Ruysdael, Arthur Hunnicutt and Nina Mae McKinney.