Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (Standard Edition)

After decades of avoiding this film believing that its premise was that a white man didn't want his daughter to date a black man - which seemed horrible and why would I watch a film about it? - I caught a drama on Radio 4 called 'That Dinner of '67" (highly recommended), which enlighten me as to what the film was really about and the feelings and thoughts behind the making of it. So I treated myself to the film and hugely enjoyed it. The dialogue is so well written and the acting is outstanding. Apparently Spencer Tracy was close to dying when the film was made but you really can't tell. Katharine Hepburn is also fantastic. And the wonderful Sidney Poitier was so overwhelmed at working with such greats that he had to perform many of his lines to an empty chair. He needn't have worried, he's as brilliant as usual too. There isn't just one black character in this film, there's five named people, all of whom have their own personalities rather than being 'the black person' and who go on their own journeys. Joey the daughter seems unrelentingly happy but I think she's a necessary counterpoint to all the anxiety and stress of the other characters, so in some respects she carries the film by balancing all the others out. Over all a very affecting and worthwhile watch. And there's some humour too.

I remember this film as being a radical and controversial production when it came out. I recently rented it to show my wife, who had never seen it. I fully expected it to be dated, tame by modern standards and possibly inappropriate when judged by today's values. It turned out to be outstanding. The acting and scripting are superb and the message is powerful. The plot is fairly predictable: a middle-class white girl falls in love with a handsome black man and her liberal parents are confused and distressed. Then the couple invite his parents over to meet the while parents - "Guess who's coming to dinner" - and the black parents turn out to be as unhappy as the whites. However, love and sanity triumph and there is a happy ending. You have to be prepared to put yourself in the shoes of someone watching in the late 60s. The lead character calls himself a Negro and blacks generally are called "Coloured". But this is how it was in the 60s and there is no point in pretending otherwise. This film was a powerful challenge to racism in its time and needs to be seen in that light. The fact that some of the scenes seem inappropriate today shows that in a small way, it contributed to the improvements we have seen.

Lovely film.

A classic film dealing with racial issues, that could actually be made again now over 40 years later, so little have we really moved on in our attitudes to issues like mixed race marriage. It is of course rather dated, the dialogue (and the final monologue) could never be in a film made today, but it does raise the issues that need to be raised, and as I said above, still do.

Lovely well written movie!

My VHS version started messing about while watching it recently so I purchased two copies of this. The copy is fine and arrived well packaged & arrived on time. A great movie, Spencer Tracy was extremely ill while making this movie, doing his lines between 9am and noon each day, he died three weeks later. Katherine Hepburn won the oscar and the BAFTA, her niece, Katherine Houghton played the daughter. Tracy won the BAFTA. Sidney Poitier was so nervous of working with Hepburn & Tracy he forgot his lines and had to do his lines in 'close up' playing to a couple of chairs. A movie way ahead of it's time, Marriage between black and white was still illegal in 17 States and the film was released 11 months before the first interracial kiss on US TV, Nov 1968 (Star Trek - Captain Kirk / William Shatner & Lt Uhura / Nichelle Nichols in Plato's Stepchildren) Fantastic movie.

This region-free blu-ray plays great on my Region "A" (North American) BR player. "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" has never looked so sharp and beautiful as to picture quality-- a very solid HD remastering-- and with several wonderful, informative extras! Also has about 20 languages for subtitles! I highly recommend this blu-ray, which is the version with the English cover art (not the Spanish one). This also has a cardboard slipcover, too. I've always loved this movie, having been a child when it came out. I feel the message is timeless. I can't agree with those who feel such a fine movie is somehow "dated." Is Shakespeare dated? "The Godfather"? "Goldfinger"? Does somebody here think they'd rather watch the latest film with Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller, or Cameron Diaz? Not me. I'll take Sidney, Katherine, and Spencer. Extremely fast dispatch and travel time from Finland seller Futuremovieshop to USA--11 days from order date including the weekend! Thanks for the great service. Arrived in perfect condition.

Love this old film so could not resist buying. Dated but fun

Formato bluray que ofrece todo a lo que estamos ya acostumbrados. La versión original es de lejos la mejor. No recordaba una imagen tan clara como la que ofrece este bluray. Una historia de amor, de aceptación, de clichés, de tolerancia, de resignación, de miedos, .. Spencer Tracy de padre, impresionante, y una Hepburn de madre! No tiene desperdicio!!! La disfrutarás desde el minuto 1. Un 10.

Et film génial. Je l'ai montré à mes élèves de seconde. Très beau film. La vidéo était parfaite. Rien à redire.

My first ever purchase from Amazon In, though I am a regular customer in their UK base. I got the delivery in flat two days which is quite impressive. Nothing special about the blu-rays, thin casing doesn't justify the high cost. The Blu-ray market in India is still a novice compared to US and Europe in terms of presentation and releases. Will wait for Amazon In to reach their prime in India. All the best.

In the end love conquers all, even parents, the liberal-minded white parents who love the idea of racial equality as long as it's "other peoples" kids, and the two more conservative black parents who never thought it would enter their lives as an issue, and don't particularly like the idea of a racially mixed marriage because of the problems it will create for the kids. The quality of this dialogue, the incredible cast, the interjection of humor here and there, all blend together to make this one of the most memorable movies I've seen. The fact was that Tracy was dying and that in life both he and Hepburn had a deep and long-lasting, loving, relationship adds a depth to their dialogue that transcends the movie, and brings it to a level not seen in other movies. Others claim we haven't moved on much in racial equality since this movie was made and I strenuously disagree. No matter what many would have you believe, in the USA alone, the idea of interracial marriage, or of a black person's ability to rise to whatever heights s/he wants is only limited by themselves which wasn't so true in the 1960s. This movie was part of what helped move the integration between the races along, in fact it may have been the first to do so. It has worked. There isn't a single area of life these days which isn't color-blind against the black person who wants the job, and interracial marriage is common enough no-one notices it or cares. These days it is the prejudiced person who stands out, not the black person. That is what this film helped create, and it would be very unfair not to give it the credit it deserves by admitting the truth that it has worked so well.

I liked that this movie shows that two people can love each other from different backgrounds and even though others may judge them in a negative manner. What really matters is their love for each other and a realistic approach in overcoming their obstacles. Not others opinions so much. I think it is a timeless classic and I collect great movies such as this so they aren’t lost to history. I recommend it to all open-minded people. 👍🏽