lilies of the field
This was an exceptional movie. I watch it many times, when ever I need a lift.

Spence & Katie ... alas no one to replace them
It is a Classic, what needs to be said? A shame there will never be any more pictures with the two of them, they played it all out, no stops.

Excellent Movie! Not So Good DVD!
This is an excellent movie and it's unsurprising given the quality of the great script; both almost always go together after all. I'm glad to hear from some of the other reviewers that this film is obsolete in the U.S. although I have my doubts but speaking as an international viewer, this film is still so relevant even today. I've known people who are still the butt of insults and dirty looks just because for example one is a dark skinned Indian while his wife is a fair skinned Chinese. Being tanned myself, I've had to put up with nasty stares sometimes whenever I happen to be having lunch with a pretty Chinese colleague even TODAY! I wish all racists could watch this movie and especially listen to the brilliant speech at the end by Spencer Tracy's character. Having experienced racism first hand, I can attest and relate to everything in that speech and I totally agree with him that the way to lick this is to pity the stupidity and ignorance and have an attitude of "screw" the "bastards" as he so ably put it. One thing about Singaporean women that I've noticed is that for the most part they are very strong characters and when it comes to matters of the heart they can very ably overcome the "bastards" on their own anyway. The irritation comes from even having in this day and age when science through genetic and mitochondrial DNA research has already proven that every human on earth today can trace their ancestry to one Central African Male who lived about 60,000 years ago to even have to put up with ridiculous notions of racial supremacy in any way shape or form. And to think that most of those disapproving starers I'm talking about are even tertiary "educated" too.

What makes this film great is that there are many great scenes that address the anti-racist theme very well. I thought the scenes with Tilly were very revealing; especially stunning was the fact that she herself would perpetuate the discrimination in an almost jealous fit being unable to see a "Black man step out of his place" as she kept telling Joanna and anyone who would listen. The actress who played Tilly actually goes on to bigger things on television as Mrs Jefferson in that hit sitcom "The Jeffersons".

Also very good was the scene where Prentice senior and junior face off in which Junior tells Senior that while Senior sees himself as a Black man, Junior sees himself simply as a man. That line really struck a chord in me and is really the best way to defeat racism by insisting upon looking at yourself as just a man belonging to the human race no matter how much others try to convince you to do otherwise as has unfortunately happened with Tilly and Prentice senior.

Some have questioned the need to make Poitier's character so successful but I disagree as I think it's extremely important that this is so so that the audience is left with no doubt that any objection to the marriage is racially motivated. One could argue had he been poor that the objection was naturally based upon any normal parents fearing that their daughter would not have a roof over her head.

It was nice to see too that after the initial shock it is clear that Spencer Tracy's character's objections were not at all racially motivated but instead were born out of his great love for his daughter and out of his fear that she would be hurt by the actions of others. He realised as evidenced in his speech at the end that his fear and objections would be playing right into the hands of the racists and again the best way would be to have an attitude of "screw" the "bastards" as he put is so well.

The cast is excellent all around and with great acting, great writing and a great soundtrack it's no wonder that this is such a great film that unfortunately is still relevant anywhere around the world where racism still exists.

The only problem is with this dvd version which hasn't been restored either picture or sound quality-wise and doesn't have any bonus features worth mentioning. Here's hoping a Blu-ray version with vastly improved picture and sound quality options will surface soon. By all means watch this film although you may want to wait for better quality dvd versions to become available first.

Not So Relevant Anymore But Still Fun
"Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Not so Relevant Anymore but Still Fun

Amos Lassen

I spent Memorial Day watching some "oldies but goodies". For some reason I found myself in the mood for Tracy and Hepburn so I popped the newly remastered DVD of "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in my player, sat back and enjoyed every moment. For those of you who have forgotten or never saw the film, it is the story of Joanna Drayton (Katherine Houghton) who brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier) home to San Francisco to meet her upper class parents. This puts their liberal ideas to the test. Prentice is ideal for a husband--he is internationally respected in the field of medicine, has impeccable manners, well dressed and groomed and handsome but he is as Joanna states "a Negro". The movie takes place on one day in the Drayton home and comes across as a drawing room comedy with the cross conversations between Prentice and Joanna's parents and ultimately both Prentice's parents who fly up from Los Angeles. I remember how controversial this film was when it first came out and looking at it now makes me realize how dated it is. Interracial marriage was illegal in 1967 in some places in America just as gat people up until 2003 were illegal in some parts of America and now as they struggle for the right to marry maybe that gives this movie some new importance Wouldn't it be something to have a man or woman bring home a same sex partner and announce that they are going to California to be married. That would give this movie a modern twist.
This is the last movie that Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy made together--in fact Tracy died very shortly after the movie was finished. The two are, as usual, great in the family and the expression on Hepburn's face when she sees her future son-in-law for the first time is amazing. In fact her performance is excellent throughout--so good, in fact, that she won one of her four Academy Awards for it. Tracy matches her line for line, expression for expression.
I found myself laughing aloud several times during the film. Of course there has been talk about the character of Prentice--he had everything going for him and he was so flawless that, regardless of his race, any family would have been happy to have him. I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and I bet that you will as well.

Its a great movie but there are problems too
This movie is a classic of course but when watching it again recently I had to say there were a few things that bothered me. The first one is the very short time they had known each other. Joanna met him in Hawaii while on vacation and they had only known each other a short 2 weeks. It kind of made the idea of them being deeply in love a little hard to take seriously for me,I think many people would wonder if it had been a vacation fling in a beautiful romantic place . I found the pressure to decide they put on the parents under those circumstances hard to understand. Only Sidney Poitier's maturity made it seem more believable. The second was Joanna's flower child refusal to understand that there could be any problems at all. This was the 1960's during the civil rights marches when people were actually being murdered. Their union was considered illegal in many states.And lets face it to some white men at the time a black man with a white wife would have made them very angry. Even much more then a white man with a black wife would have. I think there were some places in the south it would have been dangerous for them to go. And he worked in Africa while they had apartheid. How would the white Africans have reacted to them? Another factor not considered was his career. He is a successful and talented doctor but isnt it possible those in power would have disapproved of his choice of wife enough that he no longer received promotions? Maybe was even fired? Also the way he attacked his father and yelled at him seemed cruel to me and his mother's comment that Matthew had forgotten what it was like to be in love seemed too much considering they had only known each other 2 weeks. I would have liked to see them stay together for at least 6 months first before marriage. I guess back then if you thought you were in love you married immediately.I am glad they were flying away to europe for a while where it was safer and more tolerant. And I do admire her for loving him and standing up for it all . I just thought I would mention the things that bothered me.