Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner was a ground breaking film upon its release in 1967. The yarn revolves around a liberal San Francisco couple whose twenty-three year conventional daughter comes home from a skedaddle to Hawaii and surprises them by announcing she’s engaged to an older man who also happens to be shadowy. The couple, Matt & Christina Drayton, is played by camouflage legends Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Sidney Poitier, Dr. John Prentice, is the fiancé and Katharine Houghton, Joey Drayton, (who is Ms. Hepburn’s niece) is their daughter. Matt & Christina are obviously shaken by the news and concerned about the space. It is not because they are prejudice against minorities as their daughter is marrying a shadowy man, but it is against the struggles she will face in such a relationship. Also, the doctor has assign it to them that if they do not approve and give their blessings, he will call the marriage off. They have less than twenty-four hours to get their decision and they struggle with it, especially Matt. He is a crusading newspaper publisher who has championed liberal causes all his life, but faced with this set, his beliefs are shaken to their core. Throughout the day they net council from their best friend, Monsignor Ryan (a beneficial Cecil Kellaway, who provides them with guidance and a allege of reason. Joey invites John’s parents (Roy Glenn & Beah Richards) up from Los Angeles to dinner. Upon finding out Joey is white his parents mumble their displeasure with the space as well. When the two sets of parents accumulate together, the mothers agree that they will serve their children because they treasure them, but the fathers hold an opposing understanding. Mr. Poitier gives a distinguished and forceful retribution to his father about the station of shadowy men in the novel day and it shows why he is such a sparkling actor. In the extinguish, Matt gives an impassioned speech to John & Joey about the struggles they will face and the unkindness that will be heaped on them, but that if they truly admire each they will survive. Director Stanley Kramer does a radiant job of making the film poignant yet not sappy. The cast are all sparkling and Ms. Hepburn would kill up taking home her second Best Actress Oscar (after a thirty-four span from her first for Morning Glory in 1933) and the film won a second Oscar for William Rose for his screenplay. The film is definitely dated as interracial marriages are not as monstrous as they were at the time and interracial couples have been the basis of countless films since then. The film is smooth grand, because prejudices unexcited exist in this country and the jam one has when they have their beliefs tested is all too true. Mr. Tracy was gravelly ill at the time and it turned out that this would be his final film. He died two weeks after its completion, but he was posthumous given his final Academy Award Best Actor nomination and he delivered a great and lasting reminder of why he was one of the greatest actors in film history.

1967’s Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner probably raised more than a few eyebrows at the time of it’s release. Sadly though, if you can not attach yourself in the mindset of that time, the potential emotional impact of the film will be lost on you.

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Set in the San Fransisco of the gradual 1960’s, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner tells the record of Joanna Drayton (Katharine Houghton) bringing her boyfriend of a mere 10 days, Dr. John Wade Prentice (Sidney Poitier), home to meet her parents. What the parents (played by Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn) don’t know is A) she is coming home, B) that she has a boyfriend she is planning to marry C) that said boyfriend is African-American and that D) said boyfriend is 14 years older than she.

Dr. Prentice informs Joey’s parents of his intentions to marry their daughter, but also informs them he will not marry Joanna without their permission. To further complicate matters though, they only have this one day to settle if they approve as he is due to leave for Geneva Switzerland for a job. What ensues is a family’s hopes and dreams for their daughter being analyzed and re-thought in the span of a mere few hours. Trying to choose if their daughter’s happiness should outweigh the inevitable hardships she will face in a relationship such as this.

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The film spares no time in setting up objective how contented the unusual couple are, and also does not kill time in letting you know the difficulties an interracial couple will face at this time in American history. Sadly though, it goes putrid in several other areas that are disturbing. The cookie-cutter characters in this film abound. The Irish Catholic Monsignor, the wise-to-the-world African American housekeeper and the busy-body friend of the Mother who has to be assign in her state. If you can search for pass these musty out, two-dimensional characters though, there is a poignant sage of how appreciate truly should conquer all.

Going benefit and watching a film that deals with rush relations from a different time period can, however, be enlightening. Not once do you hear the term “African American”. You do hear the “N” word once, but it is aged by the housekeeper towards Dr. Prentice. It is collected gross to hear it blurted out all of a sudden, but again, you have to remember the time frame the film was made in.

This is a difficult review to write though. This movie is flawed, but do you rate it based on its positive film making flaws, or the merits of a tale that needed to be told? I believe in the raze you have to go with the narrative. The sage is basic, simple and timeless, don’t deem a book by it’s cloak, and don’t care what the rest of the world thinks. For that, and its state in cinematic history, it deserves 4 stars.

Sadly, the DVD though only gets 2 stars. It does feature a magnificent transfer of the film, and does offer both widescreen and elephantine cloak versions. However, the lone extra is the novel theatrical trailer. Certainly there must have been something they could have included in the produce of a commentary track for one of AFI’s Top 100 Films Of The 20th Century. A murky, exiguous trailer is all it gets? Pathetic.

On a side effect, this is also a unlit movie to search for as you know Spencer Tracy passed away only 17 days after filming completed. You can also peek the early signs of Katherine Hepburn beginning to display signs of trembling that would later be so well known. It was a handsome film for both mighty actors.

Four stars for the film

Two stars for the DVD
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