Pinky (film)

Pinky
Theatrical release poster
Directed byElia Kazan
Written by
Based onQuality
by Cid Ricketts Sumner
Produced byDarryl F. Zanuck
Starring
CinematographyJoseph MacDonald
Edited byHarmon Jones
Music byAlfred Newman
Distributed by20th Century-Fox
Release date
  • September 29, 1949 (1949-09-29)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$3.8 million (rentals)[1]

Pinky is a 1949 American drama film directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. The screenplay was adapted by Philip Dunne and Dudley Nichols based on Cid Ricketts Sumner's 1946 novel Quality. It stars Jeanne Crain as the title character, a young light-skinned black woman who passes for white. It also stars Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters and William Lundigan.

Pinky was released in the United States on September 29, 1949 by 20th Century-Fox. It generated considerable controversy because of its subject of race relations and the casting of Crain to play a black woman. It was nonetheless a critical and commercial success, and earned Crain, Barrymore and Waters Academy Award nominations.