Adivinhe Quem vem para Jantar

After a period of vacation in Hawaii, Joanna "Joey" Drayton (Katharine Houghton) returns to her parents' home in San Francisco bringing her fiancé, the high-qualified Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), to introduce him to her mother Christina Drayton (Katharine Hepburn) that owns an art gallery and her father Matt Drayton (Spencer Tracy) that is the publisher editor of the newspaper The Guardian. Joey was raised with a liberal education and intends to get married with Dr. John Prentice that is a black widower and needs to fly on that night to Geneva to work with the World Health Organization.

Joey invites John's parents Mr. Prentice (Roy E. Glenn Sr.) and Mrs. Prentice (Beah Richards) to have dinner with her family and the couple flies from Los Angeles to San Francisco without knowing that Joey is white. Christina invites also the liberal Monsignor Ryan (Cecil Kellaway), who is friend of her family. Along the day and night, the families discuss the problems of their son and daughter.

"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is a witty dramatic comedy about interracial marriage in the racist USA in the 60's. The theatrical story has magnificent performances and dialogs and has not aged after all these years. This is the last movie of Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, who is the aunt of Katharine Houghton, has never seen this movie because of the loss of her friend. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Adivinhe Quem Vem Para Jantar" ("Guess Who's Coming to Dinner")

It's so easy to criticize this film. The soundtrack from DeVol is *awful*. The film is incredibly dated and there are some scenes, (the scene with the delivery boy and the ice cream shop), that are unbearable, like something out of a Gidget film.

Of course the other problem with this film, 33 years after its production, is who in the year 2000, would be upset about their daughter marrying a Yale educated Doctor?

However, despite all this, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a great film. The film is wonderful because it was the last film made by one of Hollywood's greatest duos, Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy.

This film was made while Spencer Tracy was dying. Spencer had to put his entire salary in escrow in order for the film company to allow him to do the film.

So why did Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy agree to do this film, without immediate payment? Because it's a film about forbidden love, it's a film about loving someone no matter what society thinks, or what the rules are. This is something Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn knew a great deal about.

What makes this film outstanding is, by the end of the film you realize, Kate and Spencer are not even acting they are relaying their feelings about each other, through the film. Once you catch that, the drama of the final few scenes is just unparalleled and Spencer's final speech, about his love for Kate (Christina), can drive even the most twisted soul to tears.

A few things to catch in this film, watch Kate's face when Spencer recites the line, 'screw what the rest of the world thinks about your love'...those are real tears. Watch Spencer Tracey as he paces back and forth on the terrace near the end of the film. He realizes he is about to begin one of the last scenes he will ever film. He's line 'well I'll be a son of a bitch'...is more a realization he's about to make his last grandstand on the big screen, in his entire career.

Spencer Tracy is one of America's greatest actors. This is his last triumph. For that reason alone, it's a true cinematic treasure.

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?

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.

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.