I Passed for White

I Passed for White is a 1960 film directed and adapted for the screen by Fred M. Wilcox from a novel of the same name by Reba Lee "as told to" Mary Hastings Bradley. The film stars Sonya Wilde, James Franciscus, Patricia Michon, and Isabel Cooley. The film was released by Televista on March 18, 1960. Benice Lee, a young woman of mixed African and European American ancestry, living in Chicago with her family travels to New York and starts a new li... more

I Passed for White is a 1960 film directed and adapted for the screen by Fred M. Wilcox from a novel of the same name by Reba Lee "as told to" Mary Hastings Bradley. The film stars Sonya Wilde, James Franciscus, Patricia Michon, and Isabel Cooley. The film was released by Televista on March 18, 1960. Benice Lee, a young woman of mixed African and European American ancestry, living in Chicago with her family travels to New York and starts a new life passing as a white woman. The film begins with her being mistaken for a "purely" white woman by a white man who tries to hit on her repeatedly. Her brother, more obviously of mixed heritage in appearance, fights off this man. Bernice's grandmother consoles her when she confides her troubles. Later in the film, after a failed attempted at looking for employment as an African American, she decides to leave town, use the name Lila Brownell and live as a white woman. On the plane to New York she meets and eventually marries the man of her... less