I first saw Pinky when I was nine years old, and it moved me deeply. For the first time I understood the importance of a director, and it set my standards for excellence in that field. I later became a director myself, and I owe much of my artistic life to the influence this film had on me as a child. I'm now 67, and I've just watched it again for the first time since then, and I'm pleased to experience again how brilliantly it is directed, and how well it stands up over time. Yes,the plot and the social assumptions are extremely dated, but as with all great drama, Kazan and his actors brought the story to life so vividly, and with such depth, that the drama still stirs, and makes us celebrate how our society has changed for the better. Seeing the black and white struggle in the past only illuminates how far we yet have to go to be free of all prejudice. The artistic excellence lifts the film above the limitations and sentimentality of the fifties. It is a classic of social realism.
