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Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
RRP: $14.94Our Price: $8.34 (subject to change)Editorial
Product Description
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn (who won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance) are unforgettable as perplexed parents in this landmark 1967 movie about mixed marriage. Joanna (Katharine Houghton) the beautiful daughter of crusading publisher Matthew Drayton (Tracy) and his patrician wife Christina (Hepburn) returns home with her new fiance John Prentice (Sidney Poitier) a distinguished black doctor. Christina accepts her daughters decision to marry John but Matthew is shocked by this interracial union; the doctors parents are equally dismayed. Both families must sit down face to face and examine each others level of intolerance. In GUESS WHOS COMING TO DINNER director Stanley Kramer has created a masterful study of societys prejudices.System Requirements:Approx. 109 Min. Color StereoFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY Rating: UPC: 043396054196 Manufacturer No: 05419
Editorial
Amazon.com essential video
Spencer Tracy's last performance was in this well-meaning, handsome film by Stanley Kramer about a pair of white parents (Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) trying to make sense of their daughter's impending marriage to an African American doctor (Sidney Poitier). The film has been knocked over the years for padding conflict and stoking easy liberalism by making Poitier's character in every socioeconomic sense a good catch: But what if Kramer had made this stranger a factory worker? Would the audience still find it as easy to accept a mixed-race relationship? But there's no denying the drawing power of this movie, which gets most of its integrity from the stirring performances of Tracy and Hepburn. When the former (who had been so ill that the production could not get completion insurance) gives a speech toward the end about race, love, and much else, it's impossible not to be affected by the last great moment in a great actor's life and career. --Tom Keogh
guess who's coming to dinnerReview date: 2010-01-18 Rating: 8 out of 10
The movie arrived ahead of time. the dvd was not fasten in the case and had been moving around in the case and would not play on my dvd player. but i had a second dvd player that it would play own.
ReviewsAmazon orderReview date: 2009-11-29 Rating: 10 out of 10Would buy again from this seller. Item arrived quickly, and in condition described.
Thanks so much!Remember when this movie was made!!Review date: 2009-11-26 Rating: 10 out of 10I haven't seen this movie in about two years but remember it well and remember it fondly. First, how can you not like a movie with Poitier, Hepburn and Tracy? Its impossible, just flat out great casting. 2nd, this movie is ahead of its time. These things just weren't discussed in movies in the late 60s and I think the coverage is good.
I came on Amazon today only to purchase this movie for my personal collection, but after reading a few of the other reviews I decided that some things needed to be said. First, yes it is mighty convenient that Poitier's character is a well to do black man instead of a factor worker as was suggested by another reviewer. But this does not detract from the story as the family's issue is with the trouble that they will have as an interracial couple, not that he's black. Granted, at the time, the job or profession that he had could have made it easier or harder from them, I still don't think this little convenient detail is a flaw in the story. 2nd, I hate reading about the "cookie-cutter characters". This movie was made over 40yrs ago. These characters might be cookie cutters now, but they weren't then. This movie was one of the first to take on this subject, and they handled it perfectly. The characters are good characters, wonderfully played, and realistically portrayed as long as you remember that you are watching a 40yr old movie.
I don't feel like i need to go into everything that I like and enjoyed about this movie. Just watch it. I'm convinced that anyone will enjoy this movie. I just felt it necessary to address some of the reviews that I personally had an issue with. If you're looking for a feel good story, a display of wonderfully cast characters, and just an overall comedic piece of thought-provoking warmth and feeling(i'm not a movie critic, so i'm not good with the movie adjectives, but i did my best), then this is your movie. I can't wait to get my copy in the mail. Not As Daring As You'd Think, and Wonderful Performances!Review date: 2009-09-20 Rating: 8 out of 10Stanley Kramer's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", while daring in theory (tackling interracial relationships, in 1967), played it far too 'safe', treating the issue so unrealistically that neither the black nor white communities of that time considered it as all that groundbreaking. But as an opportunity to see Sidney Poitier at the peak of his career, and experience the magic of Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn a final time, the film can't be beat!
Film historians have long dismissed the social 'relevance' of the production, accurately pointing out that Poitier's character, a brilliant, wealthy young black doctor serving the U.N., was designed to be so completely unthreatening and saintly that any chance to address real issues is lost; the same can be said of Tracy's character, a wealthy, liberal white newspaper publisher who had spent his life championing civil rights. These stereotypical characters cost the film any sense of credibility, and the passionless portrayal of the romance between Poitier and Katharine Houghton (they only kiss once, viewed through a taxi driver's rearview mirror), with only her childish giggling and posturing to indicate the depth of their relationship, doesn't help, either (one wonders why he would even be attracted to this silly child!). The story hinges on Poitier's demand that without Tracy and Hepburn's unequivocal approval, he will 'walk away', and this, too, is unrealistic, designed solely to provide a platform for Tracy's climactic answer, one of the most moving speeches of his long career, and the best moment of the film. While Stanley Kramer will be remembered as a daring producer/director who tackled important social issues head-on, "Guess Who's Coming..." is, at best, a very tentative first step.
But as a showcase for three remarkable actors, this is an indispensable document. Tracy was so ill, during production (dying just 17 days after the film 'wrapped'), that he was uninsurable, with Kramer and Hepburn forced to promise to cover any losses, had he passed away before the film's completion. He was deeply touched by the gesture, and summoned up his remaining energy to give his performance the dynamic, yet thoughtful quality that characterized his best work (he would receive a posthumous Oscar nomination for the film). Poitier is almost as good, in a less challenging role, making his nearly superhuman character both accessible and sympathetic. Hepburn's role is much smaller, more in support than as a leading lady, and her 'Best Actress' Oscar was, honestly, undeserved (she would acknowledge it for what it really was; an Academy recognition of her and Tracy, both for this film and their other co-starring appearances, over 26 years). Her niece, Katharine Houghton, in her film debut as Poitier's fiance, is, honestly, little more than pretty window dressing.
For the film's 40th anniversary, an additional DVD of Special Features has been added, including a 'Making Of' feature with insights by contemporary filmmakers and surviving members of the original cast, and featuring a lovely look at the very special relationship of Tracy and Hepburn, the funny acceptance speech for the Irving Thalberg Award by Stanley Kramer, and more.
While "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" is flawed as a social document, as cinema it is well worth owning!
Love It!Review date: 2009-06-15 Rating: 10 out of 10I was very impressed how quickly this DVD came. Only two days after I ordered it! It's a wonderful movie! Excited to have it among my movie collection.
Product Details/SpecificationsActor(s):
Katharine Hepburn
Spencer Tracy
Sidney Poitier
Katharine Houghton
Cecil Kellaway
Creators:
Sam Leavitt (Cinematographer)
Stanley Kramer (Producer)
Robert C. Jones (Editor)
George Glass (Producer)
William Rose (Writer)
Director(s):
Recording label: Sony Pictures Manufacturer: Sony PicturesEAN: 9780767821483Binding: DVDISBN: 0767821483Number of items: 1Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Release date: 1999-02-02Universal product code (UPC): 043396054196Aspect ratio: 1.85:1Audience rating: NR (Not Rated)Region code: 1Running time: 108 minutesTheatrical release date: 1967-12-12Language: English (Original Language)
Language: French (Original Language)
Language: English (Subtitled)
Language: French (Subtitled)
Brand: Sony
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