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 & 23 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.

---

Plot Keywords:

miscegenation | interracial relationship | social commentary | doctor | racism | 

---

Taglines:

a love story of today

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

---

Certificate:

Not Rated

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Spencer Tracy received a posthumous Best Actor Academy Award nomination for this film. His widow Louise attended the ceremony in the event that he would win. However, the award went instead to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night (1967) which also starred Sidney Poitier.

---

Goofs

When Matt is dressing before dinner and talking to Monsignor Ryan, he begins to tie his tie. When the camera switches to a front view of him, he hasn't begun to tie it yet and is still buttoning his top button.

---

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?

---

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.

---

Connections

Referenced in Kyle XY: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (2009)

---

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

Surprisingly fresh for a thirty year old, and still relevant

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.