Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967)

A couple's attitudes are challenged when their daughter introduces them to her African-American fiancé.

Director:

Stanley Kramer

Writer:

William Rose

Stars:

Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn

Won 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Spencer Tracy	...	Matt Drayton
Sidney Poitier	...	John Prentice
Katharine Hepburn	...	Christina Drayton
Katharine Houghton	...	Joey Drayton
Cecil Kellaway	...	Monsignor Ryan
Beah Richards	...	Mrs. Prentice
Roy Glenn	...	Mr. Prentice (as Roy E. Glenn Sr.)
Isabel Sanford	...	Tillie (as Isabell Sanford)
Virginia Christine	...	Hilary St. George
Alexandra Hay	...	Carhop
Barbara Randolph	...	Dorothy
D'Urville Martin	...	Frankie
Tom Heaton	...	Peter
Grace Gaynor	...	Judith
Skip Martin	...	Delivery Boy

Storyline

After a period of vacation in Hawaii, Joanna "Joey" Drayton returns to her parents' home in San Francisco bringing her fiancé, the high-qualified Dr. John Prentice, to introduce him to her mother Christina Drayton that owns an art gallery and her father Matt Drayton 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 and Mrs. Prentice 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, who is friend of her family. Along the day and night, the families discuss the problems of their son and daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

interracial relationship | miscegenation | racism | social commentary | interracial marriage | 

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Taglines:

a love story of today

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this movie, Sidney Poitier plays Dr. John Prentice, a black man who had been previously married to a black woman with whom he had a child. His second marriage will be to a white woman named Joanna. In his real life, by the time Poitier filmed this movie, he was divorced from his first wife, Juanita Hardy, a black woman with whom he had had children; and he was still about a decade away from marrying his second wife, a white woman named Joanna. Interestingly, the name "Joanna" is one of the English equivalents of the Spanish name "Juanita" (both are feminine forms of the male name "John"/"Juan").

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Goofs

The car that Tracy backs into already has a dent in the front door panel. During the accident the relative position of the two cars and the number of dents in the side panels change with each change in shot.

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Quotes

[first lines]
John: You know, I just had a thought. Why don't I go check into a hotel and get some rest, and you go find your folks?

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Alternate Versions

When Monsignor Ryan is added to the guest list, Joey goes to tell Tillie. Joey asks "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" and Tillie replies "Reverend Martin Luther King". Following the assassination of King, this was removed - Joey says she'll tell Tillie but we see nothing more. Several months later, this gag was restored.

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Connections

Referenced in Everybody Hates Chris: Everybody Hates the Ninth-Grade Dance (2008)

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Soundtracks

Glory of Love
(1936)
by Billy Hill
Sung by Jacqueline Fontaine at the restaurant
Sung offscreen by a chorus during opening and closing credits
Played in the score often

User Reviews

One of the must see movies of all time...

Here's a great way to spend an afternoon: watching some of the greatest actors of all time in a film that still has relevance today. Such a cast! Hepburn is wonderful as always, very energetic, with no trace of the shakiness of her later years.

Tracy, gruff, the way most probably remember him - sort of a ratcheted up version of the roles he played with Hepburn in earlier years. His ill health is obvious though to the careful observer: voice a little weak at times, and Tracy's step missing the "spring" of his earlier films. The fact that this his last film was so memorable, and of such quality just adds to his legend.

Potier of course turns in a great performance, impeccable as always.

Watch for Isabel Sanford, ("The Jefferson's") particularly the one memorable scene where she explains to Potier's character just what "black power" really is.

Cecil Kellaway sparkles as Monsignor Ryan, and Beah Richards and Roy Glenn, as the parents to Potier's character, mirror Hepburn and Tracy.

Indeed, there is so much real honest-to-god acting talent concentrated in this movie, it seems almost unfair, what I'm about to say: Katharine Houghton, as 'Joey' is the only character with only 2 dimensions. She's the ever-smiling, but clueless daughter and object of Dr. Prentice' affection. She's such a Pollyanna, and remains oblivious to the drama going on all around her, and everyone else conspires to keep her in the dark throughout the entire film. (No wonder her father is concerned.) I think it's fair to say that Houghton's character is the one weak spot in this otherwise excellent film.

That said, this is a wonderful film that I will always watch when it comes on. It's such a treat to watch these legendary actors at work. I highly recommend it.

By the way, there's no glass in Spencer's eyeglasses during the ending monologue, is there – he's wearing only frames, right?

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1967 (USA)

Also Known As:

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Filming Locations:

Maxwell Galleries, 551 Sutter Street, San Francisco, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$56,666,667

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$56,666,667

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1