Linda Darnell should have played Pinky!

[msladysoul]

I was glad to see someone like Robert Osborne agreed with me that Linda Darnell should have played Pinky not Jeanne Crain. Jeanne played the part fine but she didn't look like she had a drop of black blood in her. She didn't even look mulatto but I guess she was the bigger star but Linda would have been perfect as Pinky. Linda looks exotic, she looks like she has mixed blood.

 

Ava Gardner played a mulatto in Showboat and she looked the part. I always say if your going to cast a white actress to portray a mulatto, at least get one that looks mulatto.

[nsallieharding]

I read this on the IMDB last night before watching Pinky and the whole time watching it I kept thinking what a great film (better film) this could have been with Lena in that role.

 

Lena Horne initially campaigned to play the title role in this movie (she is light enough to photograph "white"), but in the end, the movie studio felt white American audiences would feel more comfortable with a white actress, especially since love scenes with a white actor were involved.

 

Jeanne Crain pulled it off ok but Lena could have added much more to this role.

[edgeciff]

Never though of this but I do agree that Linda Darnell would have been perfect as PINKY. She does look exotic at times. I always thought her makeup in NO WAY OUT was odd and to me she seemed to look mulatto for her role in that Mankiewicz film. Take a look at this 1949 film and see if I am right.

 

I don't think Ms. Horne could have carried off this role, however I think Dorothy Dandridge might have if they were casting actual black actresses for the role of PINKY.

[michellej]

I totally agree.Since they insisted on a white actress playing Pinky,at least get one that looks more the part.Linda Darnell would have been perfect.I believe she would have played Pinky with more depth.As for the love interest,they could have gotten a darker actor for that role.Jeanne Crain was cast in hopes the movie could be shown as close to the Mason-Dixon line as possible.who could have played Pinky's lover?Any ideas?Wasn't Ethel Barrymore great! I wanted to see more of her.

[msladysoul]

Lena first of all wasn't pale-skinned, she had color in her skin so I wonder why she thought she could play Pinky.

[shearerchic04]

I had never thought of Linda Darnell, but now that it's mentioned she would've made a fine mulatto

[Bunderful]

Of course Lena Horne could have played Pinky. Makeup works both ways. Think Halle Berry in Queen (made for TV). Her makeup looked natural, but she is not that light in real life.

 

It's my understanding that the makeup people created "Light Egyptian" especially for Lena to darken her up for the cameras. This was reportedly the same shade they put on Ava Gardner for Show Boat.

 

If they went with a white actress, I think Dorothy Lamour would have been a better choice than Linda Darnell. Personally, I always felt she had a racially mixed background, certainly not an unusual occurrence in her hometown of New Orleans. Whether she had the acting chops to pull it off is another matter. I feel that Jeanne Crain was a better actress than both of them, but I'm also pretty sure that Linda could have done it, but I don't know about Dot.

 

BLU

[JackBurley]

Yes, the story is that Max Factor himself developed "Light Egyptian" for Miss Horne. She was annoyed, "I'm not Egyptian!" And ironically, this was the shade used on Ava Gardner, who took the part of Julie LaVerne in Showboat that seemed destined for Miss Horne.

[GarboManiac]

Yes! And, I saw a show on Miss Horne. She said that she was supposed to play Tondelayo in White Cargo. But, she was miffed that they finally gave the part to Hedy Lamarr and rubbed "Light Egyptian" all over her! Poor Lena missed out on too many parts. She would have been great as Tondelayo, but I loved Hedy in the part. As for Linda, Forever Amber and A Letter to Three Wives are my favorites. She would have been great as Pinky, too!

[ken123]

Linda would have been a wonderful choice for the role of Pinky.She is one of my favorite leading ladies.I'm surprised that I had never thought of her in that role.Linda was a vastly underrrated and ill-used actress.The production code,back in 1949, mandated that a "white" actress portray the part-NO INTERRACIAL ROMANCE ALLOWED.If the code did not exist I would have liked to have seen either Lena Horne or Dorothy Dandridge play Pinky,but because of the code they(or other black actresses) could NOT even test for the part.Black actressess have it somewhat better today,but great ladies,such as Lynn Whitfield and Lonette McKee,just to mention two,get lousy or no-roles at all.Both of the aforementioned ladies are not only great actors,but so,so,beautiful.Jeanne Crain was EXCELLENT,as I said in my review on another web site.

[JackBurley]

"...great ladies, such as Lynn Whitfield and Lonette McKee,just to mention two,get lousy or no-roles at all...

 

I was wowed by Lonette McKee when I first saw her in Coppola's The Cotton Club. I saw this on the huge screen at San Francisco's [long gone] Northpoint Theatre. She was luminous and I thought "a star is born". Then I've barely seen her since. She's worked steadily, but her career wasn't given the spotlight that she deserved.