It's probably fair to say that Sidney Poitier was the most influential black actor to confront racial barriers in his early film career. He spent most of the 1958 picture "The Defiant Ones" shackled to Tony Curtis, challenging movie goer perceptions of black/white antagonism in a man to man relationship further compounded by their role as escaped convicts. My personal favorite is 1967's "In The Heat of the Night", where his character Virgil Tibbs returns a slap to the face of a bigoted white man, demonstrating what he proclaims to his father in THIS film - "I think of myself as a man".

Some reviewers decry the fact that Poitier wasn't nominated for an Oscar for his performance here, citing an aggrieved sense of injustice based on racial grounds, but I don't know if I'm buying that. He actually WAS nominated for a Best Actor with co-star Curtis for "The Defiant Ones" nine years earlier, a film in which he had over the title billing in his first lead role. Then again, Cecil Kellaway was a Supporting Actor nominee here with less screen time and less importance to the film, so who can say. You just can't figure sometimes.

For those who find the film dated, as many reviewers on this board have, I would like to offer that lemon a chance to make some lemonade. As a time capsule reminder of where we've come from as a society, it's interesting to note that Joanna (Katherine Houghton) uses the term 'Negro' and 'colored' to describe her fiancée, and those descriptions come up elsewhere in the story. It's only Monsignor Ryan (Kellaway) who refers to 'blacks' as a race. Interesting to note, as his character was a Catholic priest who had the most enlightened approach to racial relations of all the 'older' characters, including Dr. Prentice's parents. While the Drayton's and Prentice's were examining their own racial attitudes, the Monsignor had already leaped that hurdle, never batting an eye when first introduced to Dr. Prentice.

But like a number of reviewers, I do have some issue with the character of Joanna Drayton. Her character was written with so much goodness and light that she came across as fairly one-dimensional, and a definite lightweight compared to her fiancé's accomplishments. This was probably the main thing that distracted from my enjoyment of the picture, as Joanna could be counted on to present a happy face to everything, even though her situation presented profound obstacles to struggle through and overcome. Even if love conquers all, the challenges could have been more pronounced to make the effort more worthwhile.

What's undeniably true is Spencer Tracy's observation to the Monsignor on the state of black and white relations from the standpoint of the picture's original release date. While bemoaning the fact that his daughter marrying a black man would have no impact on the attitudes of millions of people at the time, he was also prophetic in stating that it might take 'fifty or a hundred' years to reach that point of acceptance in society. Well it's almost fifty years, and a lot of the stigma presented in the film has been dealt with and overcome. On that basis, the film did knock down some barriers on the way to racial harmony, even if the country has experienced some bumps in the road along the way.

It has been said that Spencer Tracy treated Katherine Hepburn harshly. If that was the case, it certainly doesn't show. The pair are perfect together in their last film, their acting is so good and convincing as is everybody else's(especially Sidney Poitier as John Prentice) that the whole film is well worth watching for the acting alone. The ending may hold no surprises as such, but overall, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a smart, intelligent and touching film. It has a well-constructed story about a married rich couple whose liberal principles are tested by the proposed marriage of their daughter to a black doctor, and the writing is intelligent and smart. Some touching moments don't go amiss either, while the cinematography is crisp, the score is nicely done and the direction from Stanley Krammer is efficient. Overall, if you love Tracy and Hepburn, I think you'll be in for a treat! 9/10 Bethany Cox

I wrote a review for IMDb about the film Saratoga which I got some bad criticism for. It was obvious that Jean Harlow was seriously ill making this rather pedestrian film about folks at the racetrack. No serious drama of significance here, why wasn't the poor woman getting medical attention.

Looking at Spencer Tracy it also is obvious he's in pretty bad shape, but he at 67 was two generations older than his co-star Jean Harlow at MGM in their salad days. And this final film of his and final screen partnership with Katharine Hepburn had a lot more of a significant message than Saratoga did. It's enobling in its own way to see how much faith Spencer Tracy had in the project.

Oh, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is certainly dated now. But back in 1967 it was daring enough. Tracy and Hepburn who for the fourth time in their nine films play a husband and wife from the start, get the news that their daughter Katharine Houghton is getting married to an older man who is a widower. Oh and by the way, she's marrying Sidney Poitier who's a doctor.

Getting a doctor for a son-in-law would be reason enough for celebration in most homes, but interracial marriage was still a daring topic. As Roy Glenn who is Poitier's father reminds him, he's still breaking the law in 1967 in about 17 states. The film is about how Tracy and Hepburn and Glenn and his wife Beah Richards deal with the news.

Hepburn won her second Oscar for this film and she's the character on screen most of the time. Her best moment comes when she fires Virginia Christine who works for her and rushes to Hepburn's side to express "concern" for her.

One of the things that made Spencer Tracy the great player he was, was that incredible ability he had to make the audience feel he was listening. My favorite scene of his in the film is when Beah Richards is alone with him on the porch and she compares him with her husband how the two of them have forgotten all about romance. As she speaks the two of them are profiled against the screen, Richards to the left and Tracy to the right. Though Richards is in the foreground your attention is completely on Tracy and is reactions even though we're only seeing half of his face. Stole the scene without speaking a word.

I know so many people who profess liberalism in all things, but never can quite walk the walk when necessary. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is about that, putting your money where your mouth is.

Watching my VHS copy of it again this evening, the scene with Glenn and Poitier brought home something else to me. Just like Poitier and Houghton were illegal back in 1967 in some parts of America, it was only until 2003 that gay people were illegal in and of themselves in several states. And even now same sex couples battle for marriage rights and equality.

Maybe Guess Who's Coming to Dinner isn't quite so dated at that. And maybe Brokeback Mountain is the closest thing that gay people have to a Guess Who's Coming to Dinner right now.

But can you see in a few years a man or a woman bringing home a partner of the same sex to Mom and Dad and announcing they're getting married in Massachusetts?

Now that would be a great film.