MovieChat Forums > Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) Discussion > Even at the time, the film was dated.

Even at the time, the film was dated.

posted 10 years ago by avamac
3 replies | jump to latest

Reality had so quickly outrun the middle class, straight world of Hollywood you could hear the eyes roll in any theater above the Mason-Dixon Line. I don't imagine the film was shown much below it.

Still it was heralded as a brave and revolutionary film in the day, and shocked some in the same way that having old friends suddenly, out of the blue, advocate for gay marriage would today. As Tracy states, racial intermarriage was still ILLEGAL in 16 states.

This was the period of Radical Chic, when the Hollywood smart set threw cocktail parties for the Black Panthers.

I rolled MY eyes over the ridiculous perfection of the hero...how OVERqualified could he be. And the constant pontificating, The utter predicability of it all.

And finally, how 60s to base the whole premise on S-E-X. Tracy finally gets it when he remembers just how hot it was between him and Hepburn. Oh, right...it was L-O-V-E, wink wink nudge nudge....

[–] wylierichardson-966-922691 8 years ago

Why do you think it was so popular, though? You are not providing much insight into that.

[–] hachmom-1 8 years ago

I think it was necessary in the film for the doctor to be "perfect". There couldn't be any possible objection to the relationship except that he was black. I have to say looking at the film today, I admire it far more for the many fine acting performances than for its politics. And sadly the film often reminds me of the progress we have failed to make. One specific moment always sticks with me. When Sidney tells his father "You see yourself as a colored man. I just see myself as a man." I don't think we have even begun to approach the promise of that speech. On the other hand the film is surprisingly mature in its talk about sexual relations, especially in the scene between Spencer Tracy and Beah Richards.

And when all is said and done, the movie is worth it for all those fine performances, and especially for the wonderful last monologue by Spencer Tracy. What he says about relationships and love is timeless and true.

It is not our abilities that show who we truly are...it is our choices

[–] louiseculmer 8 years ago

I agree, the hero is an improbably marvellous man to be marrying this rather ordinary young girl. The girl is the weak link in the story I think. She should have been made someone more mature and sophisticated, more of an equal match for Poitier. Either that, or they should have made the boyfriend more ordinary, a fellow student of the girl, rather than this brilliant doctor. They are an unlikely and awkward couple, and would be if they were both the same colour.