Black??

I tend to agree.

In 1949?

I agree.

But you have to take into account the time period that film was made. It was made at a time when there was de facto "white supremacy" here in the United States. The film industry was controlled by "whites". The directors, writers, actors/actresses, producers, etc., were all "white". So you have the attitudes and mindsets *of some* people in power at that time. There may have been people of color behind the scenes, but in Hollywood (and throughout America) i bet that number was very small. Also maybe the "powers that be" felt people of color couldn't act or they just didn't want to use people of color, or maybe even felt the general audience (read: "white") didn't want to see actual people of color in those roles. It would be okay for a "white" to play a "black". But not a "black" to play a "black" in some roles or situations in film or on stage. Also keep in mind some of the situations in the movie Pinky. The scene where she was accosted by those "white" men while walking along the path. With slavery and "Jim Crow" (segregation, racist laws and attitudes towards "blacks") and the legacy it left in America, for some, that scene with an actual "black" woman would have been too much to take.

"White" actors were also used to play Indians (American and East Indian) and Chinese and Japanese (Asians) - Ex. Paul Muni ("white", Jewish actor) as "Wang" in "The Good Earth" (1937) and Mickey Rooney (white actor) as "Mr. Yunioshi" in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961). That happened a lot in movies then, especially in the early part of the twentieth century.

That's just how it was in those days. It was the mindset *of some* of the "suits" or the "powers that be" in film industry at the time.

Not that it's perfect now, but we've come a long way since then.

You're asking why they didn't pick a black woman to play a black woman that look so white that she passes for white? Are you kidding me with that question? It answers itself.