Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (5 stars)

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, from 1967, is a racial issues romantic drama starring Spencer Tracy, Katharine, Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier.  Produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, this bold (for its time) film garnered ten Academy Award nominations, coming away with two wins, including a Best Actress statue for Katharine Hepburn.  In celebration of Mr. Poitier's February 20th birthday, I recently enjoyed a first-time viewing of this film.

Joanna Drayton (Katharine Houghton) has arrived home unexpectedly from a trip to Hawaii; as if her earlier-than-planned arrival isn't unsettling enough, the white Joanna has a black man in tow with her...and he's not just any black man.  He is Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), a man she met ten days ago and whom she intends to marry.  Having been raised by parents who have always loathed racial discrimination, Joanna is sure her parents will welcome John into their lives with open arms.

Surprisingly to Joanna, her parents (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) are speechless at first, and it is not just because of the suddenness of her marriage plans.  Quite honestly, Joanna marrying a black man was something they had never even considered.  While her dad says his concerns are about the difficulties the multi-racial couple will encounter, is it more than that?  Does he really believe in equality as much as he has always claimed?

For his part, John, who has told his parents about the upcoming nuptials over the telephone, intends to inform them of his intended's race via a letter.  However, that plan changes when they decide to make the short flight from Los Angeles to San Franciso in order to meet their future daughter-in-law.  Their reaction is not much different than Joanna's parents' reaction, and as the two families, along with the Drayton's priest friend (played by the delightful Cecil Kellaway), prepare to have dinner together, there are sure to be fireworks.

While John and Joanna are adults and don't need their parents' permission to marry, they do desire to have their blessing.  In fact, John has vowed that unless Mr. and Mrs. Drayton give their approval, the wedding will not take place, as he doesn't want to be responsible for bringing estrangement to their always-close relationship.  How everything works out is the balance of the film.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a wonderful movie and quite bold and ground-breaking for its time.  While the majority of people nowadays have zero problem with inter-racial marriage, audiences of the mid-to-late 1960's were definitely not on that page.  This had to be one of the most controversial films of the decade, and I would imagine that many people were furious at this film's message.

Not only is the subject matter of the film powerful, but so is the acting.  Both Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn received leading actor/actress nominations, and Cecil Kellaway and Beah Richards (who portrayed Sidney Poitier's mother) received supporting actor/actress nominations.  Quite honestly, I'm not sure why Mr. Poitier was overlooked...he was totally fantastic in his role.  In my opinion, though, this really was Spencer Tracy's film (more than Poitier's or Hepburn's), and he's the one I think ought to have come away with the win.  He was beyond sensational in his role.  The expression he had on his face for the majority of the film was priceless.  And, wow, the look in Katharine Hepburn's eyes as Tracy gave his grand speech at the end of the movie was amazing.  Her eyes were glistening with tears, and it was easy to believe that it was her real-life love for Spencer which was spilling forth.  Very touching!!  The score of the film was beautiful as well.

This film is a little heartbreaking to watch because of the knowledge that it was Spencer Tracy's final role; in fact, he passed away just 17 days after filming had been completed.  Yes, he definitely went out on top, but seeing him so old and so close to death makes the film a bit sad for me.

One final thought...at one point, Sidney Poitier says to his father, "Dad, you think of yourself as a colored man.  I think of myself as a man."  I've said this before and I'll say it again, every single Sidney Poitier film I've seen, he is defined by his race.  Instead of simply portraying a man, he has always portrayed a black man, a man whose race is the overwhelming focus of the movie.  I wonder if he ever grew weary of those kinds of roles.  I wonder if he ever wished he could, like his character said, "just be a man."

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is out on DVD, so it should be very easy to track down.  Additionally, it is on the TCM schedule for Saturday, May 12th.  I hope you get a chance to see it, because I think it is a definite must-see film.

Happy viewing!!

The Defiant Ones (4 stars)

The Defiant Ones, from 1958, is an exciting racial/prison drama starring Tony Curtis and Sidney Poitier.  Produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, this film was originally supposed to have Marlon Brando in the Tony Curtis role; however, according to what I learned from Robert Osborne, Mr. Poitier was Mr. Kramer's absolute first and only choice for the role of Noah Cullen.  Because Poitier had another commitment at the time, filming had to be delayed; by the time they were ready to begin shooting, Brando was unavailable, so the role went to Tony Curtis, who, I think, did a totally fantastic job.

A truckload of convicts is being transported to a work farm, where the prisoners will work as part of a chain gang.  Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier), a black man serving an 8-year prison sentence for assault and battery, and John Jackson (Tony Curtis), a white man serving a sentence for robbery, are shackled together.  Though the two men completely despise each other, the right arm of Cullen and the left arm of Jackson bind them together; when the truck they are riding in is involved in an accident, the two men make their escape. 

Try as they might, Cullen and Jackson are unable to break the chain binding them to one another; therefore, though each man would prefer to travel in a different direction, they have no choice but to compromise and work together.  Over and over again---as they navigate a fast-moving river, as they climb up from a deep pit, as a lynch mob comes at them, as the lawmen hunting them grow ever-nearer---the two men must put aside their racial differences and support one another.  Eventually, as the men grow to respect each other, a friendship is formed.

This is an amazingly acted film.  Both Sidney Poitier and Tony Curtis were wonderful in their roles; in fact, both men received a Best Actor Academy Award nomination for their work---a first nomination for each man.  It certainly seems to be that the loss of Marlon Brando was absolutely not a detriment to this film.  It worked beautifully with Tony Curtis in the white man role.

When the credits appear at the beginning of the film, both Curtis and Poitier's names are listed before the film title.  According to Robert Osborne's wonderfully informational snippets, this was the first film of Mr. Poitier's in which that happened.  And it happened at the request of Tony Curtis, who felt that Poitier's contribution to the film was just as great as his own.  Perhaps that seems like a no-brainer to us now; however, back in 1958, with the racial situation being far different, it was probably quite unexpected for Mr. Curtis to have made that request.  I'm glad he did, though, as he was correct---Sidney Poitier was just as much the star of the film as Tony Curtis was.

The Defiant Ones is really an amazing movie---well-acted, well-directed, and featuring the kind of bold storyline to which I tend to gravitate.  I definitely highly recommend it.  Although I'm not entirely certain the film is out on DVD, TCM will be airing it Friday, February 17th, at 2:30 p.m. (EST).

Happy viewing!!

Not As a Stranger (4 stars)

Not As a Stranger,  from 1955, is a medical drama starring Robert Mitchum and Olivia deHavilland. The directorial debut of Stanley Kramer, Not As a Stranger features an excellent supporting cast--- Frank Sinatra, Gloria Grahame, Broderick Crawford, and Charles Bickford.

 Ambitious, self-righteous Luke Marsh (Robert Mitchum) is attending medical school; however, Luke's financial status isn't the best, and in order to make extra money, he cleans the pathology lab.  Even with that job, though, he is behind on his tuition payments.  A trip to his drunken father gets him nowhere---not only does his dad not have any money for him, but he also tells Luke that he will never be a doctor because brains are not enough...he has to have a heart...and that he does not have.  Luke is aware that should he not come up with the $400 payment, he will be out of school, so he asks one of his instructors and one of his friends for some help.  Still, though, Luke is short, and he is told that he has 30 days in which to make the payment or else he's out.

One of the nurses at the hospital, Christina Hedvigson (Olivia deHavilland), an unsophisticated Swedish girl, invites Luke and his friend Al (Frank Sinatra) to dinner at her apartment.  Through their dinner conversation, Luke discovers that Christina has put into savings half of every paycheck and that she has a sizeable nest egg available to her.  The wheels begin turning, and before long, though he is not attracted to her, Luke begins dating Christina.  (One fun thing about their date---they went to a movie---the Humphrey Bogart/Ava Gardner flick, The Barefoot Contessa.  I always think it's fun to see other classic movies showing up in a classic movie.)  Knowing that Christina loves him, and wanting use of her money, Luke tells Christina he loves her and asks her to marry him.

Because he knows Christina's gauche, unsophisticated ways are not for Luke, Al realizes Luke is marrying her for her money, and he calls him on the carpet for that.  Luke responds that Christina will never know he doesn't love her, and he goes through with the marriage. He seems disgusted on their wedding night, though with himself for marrying a woman he doesn't love, or whether with Christina's lack of sophistication, is not clear.

Able to pay his tuition, Luke completes medical school, all the while being argumentative and arrogant.  He is intolerant of mistakes...he blasts anyone who is not as perfect as he is.  Even Christina...in one heated argument, he lets her know that he thinks she's stupid.

Eventually, Luke begins practicing with a small-town doctor, and it is there that he begins an affair with a young widow (Gloria Grahame).  Christina, however, has had enough---the cheating, the condescending attitude, the intolerance of anything less than perfection.  She wants nothing more to do with Luke, and it is only afterwards that Luke understands that he, too, is imperfect, that he, too, is capable of making a mistake.

Does Luke ever get down off his high horse and humble himself?  Does Christina take him back?  These are the questions that will play out in this film.

Not As a Stranger is a bit on the long side---over two hours and fifteen minutes---and there were a couple times it dragged a tiny bit. However, that dragging wasn't enough to lower the star rating to a 3.  I thought it was a powerful story, with good acting by both leads, especially Olivia deHavilland.  It was a bit odd hearing her talk with a Swedish accent; and it was even more odd to see her as a platinum blonde.  Another funny thing in this film are the hospital scenes.  Patients smoking in their hospital beds never cease to amuse me.  Definitely, a dated movie in that regard.

Anyhow, I think this film is a very worthwhile couple of hours, so I hope you get a chance to see this.  I'm not certain it's out on DVD, but I do believe it is.  You might also be able to track it down on YouTube (it is sometimes there, sometimes not). Having caught this on TCM a couple years ago, I have it recorded to disc, and I'm always willing to loan my movies to my classic movie friends, so don't hesitate to ask.

Happy viewing!!