In 1949, Crain appeared in three films. "A Letter to Three Wives" (1949), in which she was top billed, quickly became established as a classic, winning Joseph L. Mankiewicz two Oscars and being a solid box-office hit. "The Fan", directed by Preminger and based on "Lady Windermere's Fan" by Oscar Wilde, was received poorly. However, "Pinky" earned Crain a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and was one of the more popular films of the year. "Pinky" was controversial because it told the story of a light-skinned African American woman who passes for white in the Northern United States. Although Lena Horne and other black actresses were considered, producer Darryl F. Zanuck chose to cast a white actress for fear of racial backlash.