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DVD Pinky
It used to be called "miscegenation," and it hasn't been a scandalous or taboo subject for several decades now. (Every other prime-time TV series seems to have an interracial romance going, and nobody bats an eyelash.) These welcome social changes have stranded Elia Kazan's 1949 weepie about a light-skinned African American woman (played less than convincingly by lily-white Jeanne Crain) who tries to "pass"---and falls in love with a white man. Director Douglas Sirk mined similar territory, and got a lot more juice out of it, in Imitation of Life. To his credit, perhaps, the director of On the Waterfront just doesn't have cheap soapsuds in his blood, and he makes the fatal mistake of taking a solemn and high-minded approach to this overheated material. The picture isn't even a hoot. Ethel Waters is the aunt who raises Pinky, while concealing her true lineage; it's a strong performance with a simmering subtext of anger. David Chute
The VHS was received in great condition and very fast service. I am impressed with this vendor.
A bit dated, but significant for its time
This was a pretty daring movie for the 1940's. In the postwar years, a number of socially conscious films came to the forefront. "Gentleman's Agreement" and "Crossfire" dealt with anti-Semitism. "Home of the Brave" addressed racism in the military. This 1949 Elia Kazan dealt with the dilemma of an African-American woman who, in the language of the day, "passes for white." Jeanne Crain isn't terribly convincing in this role, but she gets an A for effort. In the late 1940's, it was still taboo to have an actress who actually was Black to play the role. One would think that Lena Horne might have been a good choice. The story goes something like this: Craine returns from studying up North to her home in the Jim Crow South. She's caught in the middle: neither the Blacks nor the whites fully accept her. The great Ethel Waters plays her grandmother. William Lundigan plays the white man who's her love interest. Ethel Barrymore is marvelous as the local Southern matriarch who, despite her cantankerous exterior, befriends Craine. The movie has a sad ending, but it's sadder to think of how things were in those days. Perhaps a little dated in parts, it gets a A+ for sincerely trying to address a controversial issue. (Trivia: John Ford was slated to direct the film, but dropped out early on. Given Ford's depiction of African-Americans throughout the thirties and forties, it's probably a good thing. And I say that as a Ford fan!)
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER JEANNE CRAIN
Yeah ok it's a movie with an interracial theme and there are some strong performances. Fine. Now here's the only reason to see this movie. Jeanne Crain. I actually wanted to review Dangerous Crossing but it's no where to be found. I mean there aren't enough words to descibe her raw sensual appeal. Maybe it's that silky voice.....or that perfect Breck hair, or those pouting lips, or those....or them....or that.....aw hell I can't stand it! Here's a woman who would be 80 years old today had she lived and I'm still carrying around this incurable crush. I'm in my mid fifties. You'd think I would be pineing for some fake boobed, liposucked, tummy tucked, air brushed hotie from the silver screen but NOOOOOOOOO. For me she is and always will be the most underrated goddess who ever lived. See her in this.....see her in anything.....just see her! THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER JEANNE CRAIN. Sad.....but true!
Imitation of Life (1959) The last film in Hollywood of director Douglas Sirk (Written on the Wind), the 1959 Imitation of Life--an adaptation of Fannie Hurst's novel--is an endlessly fascinating film that speaks volumes about the American journey toward materialism and the racial tensions that are inseparable from it. Lana Turner plays a white single mother and aspiring actress who takes in a black housekeeper (Juanita Moore) and her daughter (played by an adolescent Susan Kohner), the latter so light-skinned she passes for white. As the years pass and success mounts for Turner, Moore also becomes more comfortable but her status as a domestic never changes. Meanwhile, Kohner's character, chafing against social constraints, rebels at every opportunity and throws a wrench... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Douglas Sirk - John M. Stahl DVD Release Date: Released the 10 February 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Few actresses have captivated the camera as powerfully as Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones. Her polished beauty plays in irresistible contrast to her title character's leonine sexuality and fluid emotions; a man can't decide from moment to moment if he wants to save her from doom, build her a castle, or never let her out of bed. Of course, that's the problem with the boys in this semi-experimental adaptation of Bizet's opera, Carmen. Straight-arrow Joe (a strapping Harry Belafonte), an obedient corporal on a Southern military base during World War II, is all set to go to flight school and marry his hometown sweetie, Cindy Lou (Olga James), when his troublemaking sergeant orders him to accompany Carmen to a civilian court. In short order, Joe is swept up in Carmen's... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Dorothy Dandridge - Harry Belafonte Director(s): Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 22 January 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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