A young girl meets and marries the man of her dreams--only she hasn't told him that she is half-black, and he and his rich family and friends are white.A young girl meets and marries the man of her dreams--only she hasn't told him that she is half-black, and he and his rich family and friends are white.A young girl meets and marries the man of her dreams--only she hasn't told him that she is half-black, and he and his rich family and friends are white.
Patricia Michon
- Sally Roberts
- (as Pat Michon)
Isabel Cooley
- Bertha
- (as Isabelle Cooley)
Jimmy Lydon
- Jay Morgan
- (as James Lydon)
Thomas Browne Henry
- Dr. Merritt
- (as Thomas B. Henry)
Edmund Hashim
- Club Patron
- (as Ed Hashim)
Steve Carruthers
- Party Guest
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- Fred M. Wilcox
- Mary Hastings Bradley
- Reba Lee(uncredited)
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOnly the second feature film score to be composed by John Williams, as he is early in his movie career credited as Johnny Williams. His very prolific career would continue for over sixty years.
- GoofsLila tells Rick "You're twisting that poor cat's ears off," but the close-up shows him scratching the cat on its head and under its chin.
- Quotes
Ann Leyton: She's not natural. She's like a cat in a strange attic.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sleazemania on Parade (1992)
Featured review
Dramatic, serious "problem" film
Fred M. Wilcox's claim to fame is having directed several classic MGM movies: "Lassie Come Home", "The Secret Garden" and "Forbidden Planet", but this final movie, made for Allied Artists. Is a quite well-made drama with that exploitation movie title "I Passed for White". Writing, producing and directing, he does a fine job with the material.
His script weaves together two major themes: the endemic racial prejudice that continues to exist in America (see: the way jerks like Trump and Vance ridicule Kamala Harris due to her mixed-race status) and more significantly what happens when one lies about oneself instead of finding strength in one's true identity.
Sonya Wilde impresses in the difficult title role, as Wilcox carefully details her problems growing up in a world that's anxious to pigeonhole her. She looks 100% Caucasian but is a member of a Black family, with both her kindly grandma and jazz saxophonist brother identifying as Negro. Tired of being picked on, she heads for Chicago to try a new life on her own, and is fortunate (?) enough to be seated on the plane next to dreamboat James Franciscus.
Growing up I was a big fan of Franciscus, enjoying him as star of "Naked City" and especially "Mr. Novak", and later thrilled (literally) when he starred in Dario Argento's "Cat O' Nine Tails". He was virtually an identical movie type to his contemporary Robert Redford, whose stardom came later and clearly has overshadowed Jim's 100%.
Sonya's inability to stay true to herself in Chicago is quite believable, and once she tries to pretend she's not a Negro in order to make a living and have friends, the lies expand and multiply, and poor Sonya is doomed to suffer.
Franciscus is quite convincing as the too good to be true ideal husband with the kicker that both he and Sonya are genuinely in love. But... society and its pressures intervene.
One interesting fact is that the original score is by "Johnny Williams", one of his first movie assignments, including plenty of excellent jazz music by the future wunderkind of film music. This is a classy, A-movie all the way, with only Wilcox's version of the usual (fake) Hollywood happy ending giving the wrong message in an otherwise sincere drama.
His script weaves together two major themes: the endemic racial prejudice that continues to exist in America (see: the way jerks like Trump and Vance ridicule Kamala Harris due to her mixed-race status) and more significantly what happens when one lies about oneself instead of finding strength in one's true identity.
Sonya Wilde impresses in the difficult title role, as Wilcox carefully details her problems growing up in a world that's anxious to pigeonhole her. She looks 100% Caucasian but is a member of a Black family, with both her kindly grandma and jazz saxophonist brother identifying as Negro. Tired of being picked on, she heads for Chicago to try a new life on her own, and is fortunate (?) enough to be seated on the plane next to dreamboat James Franciscus.
Growing up I was a big fan of Franciscus, enjoying him as star of "Naked City" and especially "Mr. Novak", and later thrilled (literally) when he starred in Dario Argento's "Cat O' Nine Tails". He was virtually an identical movie type to his contemporary Robert Redford, whose stardom came later and clearly has overshadowed Jim's 100%.
Sonya's inability to stay true to herself in Chicago is quite believable, and once she tries to pretend she's not a Negro in order to make a living and have friends, the lies expand and multiply, and poor Sonya is doomed to suffer.
Franciscus is quite convincing as the too good to be true ideal husband with the kicker that both he and Sonya are genuinely in love. But... society and its pressures intervene.
One interesting fact is that the original score is by "Johnny Williams", one of his first movie assignments, including plenty of excellent jazz music by the future wunderkind of film music. This is a classy, A-movie all the way, with only Wilcox's version of the usual (fake) Hollywood happy ending giving the wrong message in an otherwise sincere drama.
- How long is I Passed for White?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- La negra blanca
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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