Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is an American film first released in 1967, directed by Stanley Kramer.  The film stars Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton and Cecil Kellaway.  Our overall rating for this film is: very good.


Whilst holidaying in Hawaii, Joanna Drayton, a young middleclass Caucasian, meets and falls in love with Dr John Prentice, an Afro-American.  The couple immediately make plans to get married, but first they must break the news to their parents.  Although Joanna’s parents, Matt and Christina, like to think of themselves as hard-line liberals, neither of them takes kindly to the idea of their daughter marrying a black man.  Realising the unease he is causing, John tells his prospective father-in-law that if he cannot give his consent to the marriage within the next few hours, he will break off his engagement to Joanna.  Just when the situation cannot get any worse, Joanna invites John’s parents to dinner, and it is soon apparent that they are as anxious about the marriage as Matt and Christina...

Although doubtless inspired by the best of motives, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a clunky and overly contrived attempt to destigmatise mixed marriages and smash what was still very much a taboo subject.  At the time the film was released, miscegenation was outlawed in 17 states of the US and was frowned upon by the majority of white and black Americans.  The film is to be commended for tackling this thorny subject with such sincerity, but its simplistic treatment of a highly controversial and emotive issue robs it of the impact is deserves to have, and dates it somewhat when viewed today.

It’s not all bad, however.  The screenplay may be predictable and platitudinous in the extreme but the performances are faultless throughout, especially Spencer Tracy, in his last film appearance.  Tracy was seriously ill whilst making the film and died two weeks after the filming had been completed, yet he still delivers a knock-out performance.

Katharine Hepburn had worked with Spencer Tracy on nine films over a twenty-five year period and enjoyed a close personal relationship with him throughout this time.   The tears that gush from Hepburn’s eyes when Tracy delivers his speech at the end of the film are real and almost painful to watch.  This was the end of one of Hollywood’s most successful screen partnerships as well as the last chapter in the career of one of the world’s greatest film actors.  Hepburn’s performance won her the second of her four Oscars (in the Best Actress category). The film also picked up the Oscar for the Best Original Screenplay and was nominated in a further eight categories, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Tracy).

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