Indovina chi viene a cena?

I went to see it for the first time with my grandmother when I was 17. I loved it but it felt strange to me because my grandmother after 22 years of widowhood, had remarried to an African American man. He had become a blessing in my grandmother's life and in ours. How could Spencer Tracy of all people be against the union? After the movie we went to dinner and my grandmother answered all my questions with a single answer that's been with me always and that sometimes explains absurdities like Charlottesville 2017 - "Society, humanity doesn't evolve all at the same time" Of course Grandma', you were right. Watching Guess Who's Coming To Dinner in 2017 was an experience. Is not that Spencer Tracy is against their union, - Tracy was only worried to what his daughter was going to face 1967 - He was thinking like a father and not like a thinking, evolved liberal. On the other hand, Roy Glenn, Sidney Poitier's father objects to his son marrying a white girl. Sidney Poitier stops him by saying "Dad, you see yourself as a colored man, I see myself as a man" Was it as didactic as it sounds in 1967? Who cares? The message was delivered - I also was so moved to see Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy together for the last time and they knew it was for the last time. Sidney Poitier is superb as the messenger who points at the absurdity of racism. Guess Who's Coming To Dinner is a delicious document of its day.

Matt and Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) are a couple whose attitudes are challenged when their daughter brings home a fiancé (Sidney Poitier) who is black.

I had never seen this movie until last night, primarily because I never saw the point. The story seemed so obvious and cliché to me, having grown up decades after the film was released. Of course a family would react poorly when they see the racial difference of their daughter's chosen husband. But, I underestimated the whole thing.

The film is more complex, because as it turns out, the family is not actually racist -- at least not in theory. And this film allows theory to meet practice, which may be harder to overcome than they thought. Luckily, they have the advantage of the black man being a world-renowned doctor. Had he just been any old schmuck, the family might not have been as welcoming. It is a whole different story.

The two things I found most interesting about the film were: one, that the two people most opposed to interracial marriage were both black. That seemed quite the opposite of what you might expect. And two, I found it odd that the biggest problem was supposed to be the racial difference. The 14-year age gap and the fact they wanted to get married after only 10 days of knowing each other was largely ignored. I find that to be the much bigger problem -- how do you commit to a lifetime after only 10 days?

Seeing this film for the first time more than thirty years after it was made, I was struck by the theme's endurance in time. It remains relevant today, even if not to the same degree. And even though I'm almost thirty years old, I can say with mixed emotions of embarrassment and vindication, that Spencer Tracy taught me a better way to tie a tie. Who's says movies don't teach you anything?

The film is dated, to be sure, by many things, from clothing to music, cars and expressions. At times the dialogue seemed a bit hokey, and others, simply brilliant. I swear, I half expected an entourage of go-go dancers to spontaneously burst through the streets of San Francisco. And if I never hear the "Story Of Love" ever again in my life, it would be too soon.

But I can't help but think that the more things change in thirty years, sometimes they remain the same. Certainly there's more examples of interracial couples today than thirty years ago, and therefore a greater degree of tolerance, but for a lot of narrow-minded individuals, it's still as controversial or "appalling" as it was thirty years ago.

Some of the lines actually had me laughing out loud, enjoying the moment as it follows into another well complimented scene. I'm speaking in particular of the scene where Katharine Hepburn fires her employee for her prejudicial views, and basically everything that follows that scene for the next five minutes.

I try my best to imagine what it would be like to be in the shoes of any character in the film, to appreciate what it might've been like for them, in that time, and while I think I can muster an inkling, I don't think my creativity is up to a challenge of that nature. And I think that ultimately, that's a good thing, and I'm grateful to those who came before.

Continuing to review films featured with people of color in chronological order for Black History Month, we're once again in 1967 with Sidney Poitier's third film in release that year: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. Here, he's Dr. John Prentice who, after spending vacation time in Hawaii for 10 days with one Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton), is engaged to her and is meeting her parents for the first time in San Francisco. They're Christina (Katharine Hepburn) and Matt (Spencer Tracy) and they're both a little shocked when they meet John despite both being liberal people. Christina gets over hers while Matt takes a while. Their maid Tillie (Isabel Sanford) isn't thrilled at all while old friend Monsignor Ryan (Cecil Kellaway) approves and is bemused by all the reactions including those of John's parents (Beah Richards, Roy Glenn) when they arrive. I'll stop there and just say that while I'm sure the whole thing was made to provide such a mostly perfect representation of the black race for public consumption in presenting Poitier's characterization, he's still allowed to be a little human whether talking back a little to his father or saying he'll call off the marriage if his fiancé's parents have any reservations without consulting Joey first. Many of the funniest moments come from Ms. Sanford's Tillie during her outbursts about "black power"! There's also some nice moments concerning Tracy and Hepburn on screen together especially when one knows that this was Spencer's final movie before his death. Why, seeing Ms. Hepburn cry during her longtime loving partner's last speech on set is perhaps the most touching thing here. But let's not cut the lines of Ms. Richards and Mr. Glenn short here. Roy makes the then-pertinent point of how his son and fiancé would be considered criminals in at least 16 states (actually 14 during filming) if their relationship was known. But Beah herself is the one who gets through to Spencer about how both him and her husband seemed to have forgotten what it was like when they themselves were young and impulsive. It's that part that got her the worthy Oscar nomination. In fact, Cecil Kellaway, Ms. Hepburn, and Mr. Tracy all got worthy nods with Hepburn a worthy win (though I admit that with the exception of Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark, I haven't seen the other nominees for Best Actress that year). I'm not so sure about the Best Picture nomination but it's not as embarrassing as that for Doctor Doolittle (though I'm basing that more on reputation since I've yet to see that one in its entirety). In summary, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is still quite entertaining even with the obvious liberal point-of-view. P.S. Two other African-American players worth mentioning are Barbara Randolph (daughter of Lillian Randolph who's in my favorite movie, It's a Wonderful Life) as Dorothy who does a groovy dance with a white delivery guy and D'Urvile Martin who as Frankie gets his car accidentally hit by Spencer's automobile when the latter backs out of an ice cream parlor.

Guess who's coming to dinner is a first class film. It focuses on the subject of interracial marriage and the challenges that can arise. Set in the 1960s, this was definitely topical.

We are treated to first class acting from Sidney Poitier who is arguable one of the greatest and most dignified actors to grace the screen. Great performances from Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn who play shocked and concerned parents. This film also focused on the important issue of walking the talk, righteous people who preach certain ways of living but we see it put to the test when they themselves are in that situation. The parents who raised a unbiased and open minded daughter must deal with her choices.

Spencer Tracey's speech to his daughter and Sidney is one of the best in film. He passes on an important message of understanding and righteousness to not just his daughter and son in law to be but the rest of America watching. A showcase of brilliant acting and messages in a film that was ahead of its time.