Friday, June 6, 2025 - 6:00 pm
June 6 - Pinky (1949), 102 minutes, directed by Elia Kazan, starring Jeanne Crain, Ethel Waters, and Ethel Barrymore.
“Pinky” Johnson is a light skinned black woman who returns to her home in the South having been trained as a nurse in the North. She has passed for white and fallen in love with a white man who is unaware of her black heritage. Ethel Waters, Broadway star and legendary singer at the Cotton Club during the Harlem Renaissance, plays Pinky’s loving grandmother. She brings high conviction to the role, and became the second African American to be Oscar nominated, after Hattie McDaniel in Gone with the Wind. Is Pinky dated? Most certainly, but it is also a compelling time capsule of postwar Hollywood, American society, and entrenched cultural views on race.
June CinemaLit - Trailblazing Actresses of Black Hollywood
June has us exploring the accomplishments of trailblazing African American women in Hollywood. Opportunities were horribly limited for black actresses to shine, but sometimes with a confluence of the right performer for the right role, talent couldn’t be denied. As the Academy Awards, for all their inconsistencies, are a barometer of acclaim and accomplishment, we are screening four films that earned their stars acting nominations. Join us for Pinky (1949) with Ethel Waters, Carmen Jones (1954) with Dorothy Dandridge, Imitation of Life (1959) with Juanita Moore, and Claudine (1974) with Diahann Carroll.
Matthew Kennedy, CinemaLit’s curator, has written biographies of Marie Dressler, Joan Blondell, and Edmund Goulding. His book Roadshow! The Fall of Film Musicals in the 1960s, was the basis of a film series on Turner Classic Movies. His most recent book, On Elizabeth Taylor: An Opinionated Guide, examines the screen legend's entire career.
“I don't have a favorite film,” Matthew says. "I find that my relationships to films, actors, genres, and directors change as I change over the years. Some don't hold up. Some look more profound, as though I've caught up with their artistry. I feel that way about Garbo, Cary Grant, director John Cassavetes, and others."
“Classic films have historical context, something only time can provide,” Matt observes. “They become these great cultural artifacts, so revealing of tastes, attitudes, and assumptions.”
Cafe opens at 5:30 pm with wine, beer, sparkling water, juice, and fresh-popped popcorn for sale.
Tickets can be purchased online below, or onsite in Office 406 during the following box office hours:
Monday: 10 am to 6 pm
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 1 pm to 6 pm
Thursday: 12 pm to 4 pm
Friday: 1 pm to 4 pm
Saturday: Closed
Please note: Photos and/or video may be taken during this event.
CinemaLit Films
