Black History Month has inspired me to cover 3 (of what will be 4) race-related movies in February, but Pinky is the most overt about that charged topic. Ethel Waters has a key role as Jeanne Crain's granny in Elia Kazan's complicated movie...while Crain plays a mixed-race woman who passes for white, dealing with mean-spirited racism in the south while her boyfriend just wants her to go back up north and be white. Pinky turns into a courtroom movie after the dying Ethel Barrymore's racist rich neighbour decides to leave her house to her nurse (Crain)...and the will ends up being contested. I also spent some time talking earnestly about the evolution of race and racism...and about my own history with it. So don't let me guilt you into doing something you don't want to do. Except I'll collapse and probably DIE if you don't put your ears to the 719th ep on Have You Ever Seen. (now THAT's guilt!)

Well, Actually: the line about "sometimes when you win, you actually lose" is of course not from When Harry Met Sally...it's from White Men Can't Jump. Also, Kazan was nominated 5 times for Best Director, not 6.

Become a subscriber to the channel and help the podcast grow. Rate and review the show as well. And hunt me down on Letterboxd: RyanHYES.

The email address is "[email protected]". The Twitter handle is "@moviefiend51". And the Bluesky nickname is "ryan-ellis".