Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

UPC: 043396054196

Studio: Columbia TriStar

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations, Suitable for Children]

Summary: Old-line liberals Matt and Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) have raised their daughter Joey (Katharine Houghton) to think for herself and not blindly conform to the conventional. Still, they aren't prepared for the shock when she returns home from a vacation with a new fianc?: African-American doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). While they come to grips with whatever prejudices they might still harbor, the younger folks must also contend with John's parents (Roy Glenn Sr. and Beah Richards), who are dead-set against the union. To complicate matters, the older couple's disapproving maid (Isabel Sanford) and Christina's bigoted business associate (Virginia Christine) put in their two cents' worth. While Joey is determined to go ahead with the wedding no matter what people think, John refuses to consider marriage until he receives the unqualified approval of all concerned. The closing monologue delivered by Spencer Tracy turned out to be the last scene ever played by the veteran film luminary, who died not long after the production. The film was a success in the racially volatile year of 1967 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Comedy Drama

Awards: Best Actor – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Best Actress – British Academy of Film and Television Arts United Nations Award – British Academy of Film and Television Arts 100 Greatest American Movies – American Film Institute Best Director – Directors Guild of America Best Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – null Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – null New Star of the Year - Female – null Best Director – null Best Screenplay – null Best Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Art Direction – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Director – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Editing – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Original Screenplay – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Picture – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Adapted Score – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actress – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Supporting Actor – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Screenplay – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Director – Hollywood Foreign Press Association New Star of the Year - Female – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association Best Picture - Drama – Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Features: Interactive Menus

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Format: DVD

Release Date: 02/02/1999

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DDS Dolby Digital Surround

Runtime: 100 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French

Subtitles: English,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Lisa Kropiewnicki

Nominated for ten Academy Awards, this comedy-drama achieves classic status for several reasons. The first and most obvious is its early exploration of interracial marriage, a still-taboo subject at a time when violent racial riots were igniting in cities across the United States. Director Stanley Kramer, known for dissecting serious social issues in films such as Inherit the Wind (1960) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), as well as for his sense of humor in films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), blends his sensibilities beautifully. He and screenwriter William Rose (Best Original Screenplay) inject welcome humor while allowing the audience to peek into the hearts of liberal whites and wary blacks, without proselytizing. Film history is made as well: In Spencer Tracy's last film role (he died weeks after production), he delivers a monologue to Katherine Hepburn (Best Actress) about the persistence of long-lasting love that is heartbreaking considering the imminent end of their real-life romance. The collaboration represents Kramer's fourth with Tracy and second with Sidney Poitier, who brilliantly portrays Dr. John Prentice's perfect gentleman with humor, grit, and charisma. In the same year, Poitier starred in To Sir, With Love (1967) and In the Heat of the Night (1967), which won Best Picture. Film newcomer and Hepburn's real-life niece Katharine Houghton is a delight as Tracy and Hepburn's bright and independent daughter whose love for Dr. Prentice is fierce and fearless, if a bit naive. Isabel Sanford, Cecil Kellaway, and Beah Richards lead a rich supporting cast in a film that, like so many works of art that broke new ground, has come to seem dated in its cautious, watered-down attitude, but which deserves to be applauded and celebrated for its courage, incendiary in its time. ~ Lisa Kropiewnicki, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Thomas Heaton  Actor 
Frank De Vol  Composer (Music Score) 
Stanley Kramer  Director 
Stanley Kramer  Producer 
William Rose  Screenwriter 
Spencer Tracy  Actor 
Katharine Hepburn  Actor 
Sidney Poitier  Actor 
Katharine Houghton  Actor 
Beah Richards  Actor 
Roy E. Glenn, Sr.  Actor 
Isabel Sanford  Actor 
Cecil Kellaway  Actor 
Virginia Christine  Actor 
Alexandra Hay  Actor 
Barbara Randolph  Actor 
D'Urville Martin  Actor 
Grace Gaynor  Actor 
Skip Martin  Actor 
John Bear Hudkins  Actor 

Country: USA