MovieChat Forums > Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) Discussion > Good one, a 1967 time capsule

Good one, a 1967 time capsule

posted 8 years ago by fbm72751
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Had it been made a few years earlier or later, who knows what the audience would have thought. This was Poitier's second film in two years dealing with an interracial relationship (the first being 'A Patch of Blue' in 1965) But this was 1967 in which things changed radically in two or three short years. Gone were surfing and hot rodding, rock bands who wore suits and ties, seeming innocent beach movies and the clean cut look. By summer, the hippie thing was in, 550,000 US troops were in Vietnam and so was sex, drugs, rock and roll and likely an increase in interracial relationships as long as it wasn't in the Jim Crow south.

Spencer Tracy, the professional that he was, performed well and tried his best to hide on screen that he was very ill (though it did still show) He had been dogged with health issues for quite a while but it had been well over three years since he did his previous film so he wasn't in the news that much--until this one. I remember the local news keeping an eye on things during production and noting production was shut down at least twice. And what a final epitaph with Hepburn as his co star. Fantastic end to a great career. Who knew when he made 'Up the River' in 1930 (his first starring role) that he was in for a long career that never really declined, his films just became more infrequent. Spence always looked 10 years older than he was but that didn't hurt him any, career-wise. Miss ya Spence!!

[–] dabukaba 8 years ago

Honestly I both agree and disagree. I consider it to have been a transitional time, so the '50's-'60's culture was still going strong -- just look at the drive-in restaurant scene, including all the fashions and styles of the young people hanging out in the background (there are even greasers walking around), and the specific music that's blaring out of the car hop speakers. But on the other hand, there was the "mod" subculture going, and the hippie "counterculture" going strong which DID, I agree, strongly influence the mainstream, but to varying degrees, so it depended on the individual person (some embraced the hippie look or life aspects while others didn't at all), the particular hit song or band, etcetera -- it had become a very eclectic, diverse time in American pop culture and life.

This movie reflects the Civil Rights Movement going on then, but to be honest that movement had begun in 1955, although this movie did make a bold statement in 1967 taking this several steps forward in its clear message. A much earlier precursor that comes to my mind is IMITATION OF LIFE from 1959 (itself a remake of IMITATION OF LIFE from 1934 which was extremely ahead of its time in the boldness of its anti-racism message).

Also I feel that the hippie culture (and its influences) had its roots much earlier on, so even though it started in 1962 with the onset of US involvement in Vietnam War [think for instance the protesting folk-rock of The Kingston Trio's 1962 hit "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" and Peter, Paul and Mary's 1963 hit "Blowin' in the Wind"), and then very rapidly grew in 1966-1967, I'd like to point out the very similar beatniks that preceded them that had been present since as early as the mid-1940's (think Thelonius Monk) and then the folk rock that started in the late-'50's, for example.

I mean this post with no disrespect, and I know you're entitled to your viewpoint, it's just that I never agree with drawing sharp lines between years and saying everything from before that line is nothing like after that line, and also I'm a retro junkie and history buff, and for over a decade have collected (actually thousands of) Billboard top hit vinyl records going from the 1920's to the 1980's, and hit classic movies, so it's just my honest two-cents.