Okay, the ending's a little dicky, and predictable, but the intentions of the film-makers are sincere and the results must have been revolutionary in 1949. But the most praise must be reserved for the two Ethels - Waters and Barrymore - who are nothing short of brilliant. Evelyn Varden deserves special mention as a vicious Southern matron. The supporting cast is flawless, down to the smallest role. I'm sure Kazan must have been dismayed to have been given a Hollywood starlet to play the complex lead character - a black woman who looks white - but he managed to extract a damn good performance out of Jeanne Crain. The scenes are realistic, even brutally filmed, and the language strong for its day. Here we see a deeply prejudiced South where black girls are attacked on the streets and shops refuse them service. 'Pinky' is not as good as 'Gentleman's Agreement', but it ain't half bad either. And if he didn't show much courage in the Fifties, he sure did in the Forties when he tackled racial prejudice head-on in two excellent movies: 'Gentleman's Agreement' and 'Pinky' (John Ford is said to have chickened-out of directing this one).

It is not very 'in' to like Elia Kazan right now, because he named names in the McCarthy witch-hunts and just received an honorary Oscar, but what a brilliant director he was.

Pinky & Pepper Forever by Eddy Atoms