As Good As It Gets

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Blistering performances.

After the War, Hollywood and Americans in general were Feeling quite Proud. Recognizing the "Group" Effort it took to Defeat the Axis Powers, felt that it was time to address some of the Nation's "Sins".This Idealistic Persona that the United States experienced was Short Lived. As the 1950's emerged America, once again, became Insecure, Paranoid, and started Lashing Out at anything and anyone who was "Different", Racially, Philosophically, Politically, Culturally.So this Type of Film was Quickly Abandoned for about a Decade. It's obvious Cousin, "To Kill a Mockingbird", wouldn't be made until 1962. "Pinky" was a Product of that Initial Post War Optimism and Freedom from Winning the War.Jeanne Crain, a White Actress, Cast to Portray a Negro that could "Pass for White", gets a lot of ink because of the "Cross Casting". This was Inevitable and would not and could not have been done Any Other Way. An On Screen "Kiss" and Heated Romance between a Black Woman and White Man would have caused "Riots".The Film is Best when it Exposes the "True Life" Prejudices in small Scenes that Pepper the Picture as it Unfolds the "Bigger" Story. The Slapping Down, Near Rape, N-Word and the General Store, are examples. The Courtroom Scene is an example of the "Big Picture" of the Story and the Ending is part of that Aforementioned Optimism and National Pride. Unfortunately the Nation, Hollywood and the Liberals would have to wait 15 Years for the Tide to Change. That Tide is Still Wavering Today.Note…Ethel Waters as "Granny", Jeanne Crain, and Ethel Barrymore were Oscar Nominees.

THE FILM: Pinky is not a particularly well-know film, and there are very few people who would indeed consider it to as a film that deserves to be well known. Pinky is the kind of film you watch because you are a fan of Elia Kazan. That said, an interesting fact I recently discovered about the film is that John Ford was originally appointed to direct the film, however, producer Darryl F. Zanuck fired Ford since he was unsatisfied on the constant delays he was getting from John Ford. Zanuck decided to call Elia Kazan who was in New York at the time. Kazan was not too fond of the screenplay, but he felt he owed Zanuck a favor as it was Zanuck who commenced Kazan's career in film. Lena Horne was initially hired to play the role of Pinky but the studio decided to go with Jeanne Crain instead as they wanted there to be no way to tell that Pinky was of African American decent. This was never one of Kazan's most popular films. It is currently considered to be his one of his lightest films, even though it is not a comedy and like all his films it is a commentary on American life.THE PLOT: Pinky is an African-American woman with light skin. After graduating from a North American nursing school she returns to her grandmother who lives in the South. We learn that when Pinky was in the northern part of the U.S. she did not divulge information of her African American decent to any of her colleges. To make matters more difficult, Pinky has fallen in love with an doctor who knows nothing of her African-American nationality. Pinky desires to leave the south immediately to return to the north where she can be treated properly. Her grandmother convinces her to stay so Pinky can nurse a wealthy white woman, Mrs. Em. Pinky agrees in resentment and she slowly begins to believe she is headed down the same road her grandmother went down.At first, tension is high between Pinky and Mrs. Em, but as time passes and Mrs. Em's state of health deteriorates they are met with a quiet but un-deniable respect and friendship. They soon realize how naive they were. Mrs. Em resented Pinky due to her black heritage and Pinky resented Mrs. Em because of how she treated 'Negroes'. This begins a very surprising and short-lived friendship that draws closure to racial barriers in Mrs. Em's life.THE CRITICISM: Pinky is a naive melodrama that does very little more than accept the fact that the world we live in is one of racial prejudice. Unlike the 1962 masterpiece, To Kill a Mockingbird, Pinky has a very childish view on racism. The best example of this is a spoiler. This is not a particularly amazing ending or a particularly amazing film for that matter, but should you desire to find watch this film, do not read on. In the end when Pinky abandoned the doctor she loved and turns Mrs. Em's mansion that she inherited into a nursing home for young black woman it presents the impossible situation of racism to be stopped by one person. It seems as if everything is right in the small Southern town after Pinky's action come through. I admire Kazan for trying to comment on a cause that certainly needed commenting on, but I wish he could have done it better. As well, this was among the first films to condemn racism. It is hard to believe that just 34 years before Pinky the film The Birth of a Nation was considered a cinematic masterpiece. The Birth of a Nation promotes the K.K.K.The following point was not a major issue for me, but I know it was a problem for several people who watched the film. Jeanne Crain is supposed to play an African-American woman. How did that happen? Yes, I understand that she is supposed to be Caucasian but it is still difficult to expand our disbelief. We know Pinky's parents are dead, perhaps they inter-racially bred? I have read reviews by average people who watched Pinky and could not get their head around the fact that Pinky was of African American heritage. Pinky would have worked more should Kazan had made an effort to at least find a resemblance between Pinky and her grandmother.I might as well add that the acting in Pinky was quite good on behalf of Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore and Ethel Waters. However, I wish they had given us a little more time to witness the way in which the relationship between Pinky and Mrs. Em deepens.Pinky is not a terrible film. However I wish Kazan could have approached the subject of social and racial justice in a more honest manner instead of being so falsely inspirational. Pinky is a sugarcoated and heartwarming film where it should have been raw, aggressive and truthful to the way the world is.

Although Twentieth-Century Fox's "Gentlemen's Agreement" won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director in 1947, "Pinky" (also by Fox and director Elia Kazan) is a message film that seems to have better withstood the test of time and is, in my opinion, a more watchable film--and probably a lot more daring in its day.Pinky is a young nursing school graduate played by Jeanne Crain. After spending the last three years up North studying, she has come home to visit with her grandmother (Ethel Waters)...a Black woman. It seems that for the last three years, the very white-skinned Crain has been posing as White...and you certainly can't blame her in light of the second-class status (or less) afforded to Black-Americans at the time.The first day she goes into town, she is arrested (though she was doing nothing illegal), given a "talkin' to" by the Judge and almost raped on the way home! In light of this, you can certainly understand her wanting to leave as soon as possible and get away from this hellish Southern town. However, something intervenes. Grandma wants Pinky to stay a bit and take care of their neighbor, Miss Em (Ethel Barrymore). Pinky could care less, though, if and when Miss Em dies--as she's just another despicable White lady. Grandma shames Pinky into staying and helping Miss Em to die--after all, if she doesn't help, Grandma promises to knock her silly! All Pinky can remember are bad things about Miss Em, though Grandma's recollections are far different--telling Pinky that Miss Em is a good woman and they owe her for her past kindness. Pinky doesn't believe it, but doesn't want to disappoint Grandma or get whooped, so she goes to Miss Em's mansion to care for her. Surprisingly, after a very rocky start, the two women develop respect for each other.Some time later, Miss Em dies and the full extent to which she cared for Pinky is now apparent. Just before dying, Miss Em left her estate to Pinky! The problem, however, is that Miss Em's closest relative is an evil and selfish lady, Melba (Evelyn Varden--who was great playing horrible women in this film and others like "The Bad Seed"), contests the will. In addition, Melba is a racist and does what she can to stir up resentment in the community. What will Pinky do? Can she get a fair shake in this terrible town? Is it worth staying and fighting for what is rightfully hers? Tune in and see.I loved the film because it dared to talk about racism. The way many White-Americans treated Blacks was disgraceful and was finally being addressed by Hollywood in films like this and "Intruder in the Dust" (also 1949). Other related topics such as interracial marriage, bitterness within Black-America due to racism and rape were also brought into the film--making it a very, very daring film. I am sure it did not play in many towns in the US and had to have been met with hostility by some. However, because the acting, direction and script were all top-notch, it managed to counter the pin-heads out there, as it's hard to see the film and not be led to see the evil and injustice that was rampant in some parts of the country.A must-see and a unique and powerful film.

PINKY was a bold, cutting-edge movie 60 years ago (in 1949) and holds up solidly in 2009. How fortunate to find a Darryl Zanuck - Elia Kazan collaboration available on Netflix, thus avoiding once again the mindless drivel of most 2009 movies.There is enough honesty in the portrayal of race relations and other attitudes of 1949 America to make watching PINKY a learning experience for the open minded. Too bad this doesn't register with so many liberal empty-heads -- people who fault a 1949 movie for not being compliant with their 2009 hare-brained political correctness dogma. Oh, gosh! A small part of the story concerns the white doctor's plan to go ahead and marry Pinky after learning she's a Negro; but.. BUT.. moving away from his native Boston and setting up shop in Denver. Hush, now! He's not taking a Negro wife back to liberal Boston; no, NO! Subsequent to 1949 America had the entire school integration cause and tons of Boston Liberals hopped Freedom Trains and told Alabamans how to run their schools. Cute! But many remember that the FINAL and BLOODIEST battle of School Integration was fought in Boston, when Bostonians were simply shocked at the idea of their white kids going to school with blacks.The courtroom scenes in Pinky brought together the real clash of ideas in the community -- and this was so much better than in "To Kill a Mockingbird" where alleged hero Aticus Finch engaged in his bogus fight to save an accused Negro who everyone in town knew was not guilty. In Pinky the issues are sharp, and the suspense is genuine.My parents went to see PINKY in 1949, but left their 11 year old at home. I remember the film was controversial, and many wouldn't see it; but it wasn't a red hot issue in Maryland. Then, as now, it's a damn good movie.