jjpulczinski-1

I Passed for White (1960)

A Real True Story

What makes this movie special is that it is a true story written by Mary Bradley about people known to her personally, Reba Lee and her mother. The ending was what really happened in real life and the book and movie were pretty much true to life, not "based on a true story" like so many other movies that end up paying only lip service to the true story. Reba Lee's mother was Mary Bradley's seamstress, so she got the story first hand from the people it happened to. To me, that makes the story even more meaningful than if the author had simply interviewed someone she didn't know and told the story from her own viewpoint. I saw the movie many, many years ago and I am not sure I remember details exactly, but it seems to me that the movie was pretty faithful to the book. If you can find either the book or the movie, it is well worth your time to read or watch it.