Commentary Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is the first movie I know of to deal with interracial relationships. The story is very moving and the acting is quite good. Spencer Tracy and Kathraine Hepburn deliver terrific performances as parents torn between their liberal views and their difficulties dealing with the engagement of their daughter to a black man. Sidney Poitier and Kathraine Houghton also do a great job in this movie.
Plot Summary While vacationing in Hawaii, Joanna Drayton (Kathraine Houghton), a young American white woman, falls in love with Dr. Prentice (Sidney Poitier), a young black doctor. The two plan on getting married, but they first decide to ask their parents for their permission. The movie is mainly about the struggle faced by Joanna's parents (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) regarding the marriage. Eventually they come around to agreeing to it.
Cultural Significance Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was quite revolutionary for its time. It was made in the 1960s, just shortly after the Civil Rights Movement, when there was still a great deal of personal racial prejudice. Nowadays, interracial relationships and even marriages are no longer so uncommon. The 2005 film Guess Who is sort of a remake, but not nearly as great in light of these changing social attitudes.
Movie Clips
Here's Mr. Drayton's inspirational speech in favor of his daughter's marriange.