99. Guess Who's |
 |
My Thoughts Before I Watched It
It seems like most movies with questions for titles turn out to be mysteries, like Who Is Killing The Great Chefs of Europe? and What About Bob?, but I was pretty sure this wasn't a mystery. All I knew for sure was that a white girl brought Sidney Poitier home for dinner and trouble ensued.
The PremiseA white girl brings Sidney Poitier home for dinner and trouble ensues. Both sets of parents and the angry maid have conniptions and are forced to come to terms with their own prejudices.
Notes and Stuff- The tone of surprise and racial flip-flopping of stereotypes is established early when John and Joanna are driven from the airport by a white cab driver. I almost lost my suspension of disbelief.
- I guess Joanna's parents are liberals; having a framed photo of FDR on the desk is a funny sort of cinematic shorthand, though.
- It's kind of funny when you finally get around to actually seeing actors that you feel like you've seen. For example, this is the first Katherine Hepburn-Spencer Tracy movie I ever saw, and you know what? They're pretty good.
- Some elements of this movie (the bopping delivery boy, the drive-in snack bar) seem more dated than Madonna in high school.
- "The Story of Love" has got to be one of the most irritating pieces of music ever recorded.
- Sidney Poitier is a very talented actor; however he's fallen into that abyss of being the Important Black Actor, which means he can't really play any roles other than those of Important Black People. It happened to James Earl Jones, too.
- Some great writing and direction in the scenes where everyone splits off to have discussions with one another.
- I didn't realize till after I saw this that a)this was Spencer Tracy's last film; b)he died shortly after making this movie; and c)The scene where he gives his speech at the end was basically the last thing he did in life. If you weren't amazed by his speech before, watch it again with this knowledge. Wow.
- I guess Joanna's parents are liberals; having a framed photo of FDR on the desk is a funny sort of cinematic shorthand, though.
"Less than 12% of this city is made up of colored people and I can't even go out for a dish of Oregon boo-senberry without running into one!"
SummaryA surprisingly good movie, that makes its point without resorting (too much) to stereotyping or getting too preachy. It is an interesting look at the prejudices of the Sixties; after all, aren't racial tensions in this country all solved now? Ha ha. But Guess Who's Coming To Dinner handles the topic quite well. (By the way - they never do eat dinner; just drink a lot.)
CastSidney Poitier as the colored doctor who is the source of all the trouble, Katherine Houghton as the dizzy white girl, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn as Mom and Dad, Roy Glenn Jr. and Beah Richards as the doctor's parents, Cecil Kellaway as the hard-drinking Monsignor, and Isabel Sanford as the outraged maid.
