This film is believed to tell a "today's love story" and successfully sparked an upsurge against racism. Hollywood critics echoed it and called it a "prophetic film." Indeed, it has taken the lead in dealing with racism, liberalism and hypocrisy. You might even think that this is a great movie with lofty ideals. However, no one would think that "Guess Who Will Eat Dinner" tells a true story. No matter how you look at it, in the real world, John and Joey's love seems unconvincing, including a solution that everyone is happy in the end. However, the conflict faced by the little lovers is real. In 1967, although there were 16 states in the United States that prohibited interracial marriages, people's attitudes were quietly changing. In July 1967, the Federal Supreme Court overturned the laws of those states; in December, a film reflecting interracial marriages and relationships was premiered in Los Angeles. This classic film was "Guess Who Is Over For Dinner." Karen Kramer is the widow of the film’s director and the deceased Stanley Kramer. She filmed this movie with her husband. She said that the film was almost impossible to make at the time. The Kramers persuaded Catherine Hepburn, Spencer Cusay, Sidney Poitier, and Catherine Hepburn's niece Catherine Horton to join the show.
1967 is generally considered to be the beginning of the new Hollywood movie, and "Guess Who Will Eat Dinner" was the most important work of that year. In the 1950s and 1960s, traditional Hollywood movies declined rapidly. Among them were the impact of TV on movies and the revolution of movies themselves. The well-known Italian neorealism and the French New Wave had an important influence on the new Hollywood movies. In addition, in the United States in the 1960s, a series of social issues surfaced, such as murders, the Vietnam War, civil rights movements, economic recession, political crises, etc. These social issues have become important sources of new Hollywood movies.
The film tells the story of a young African-American doctor played by Sidney Poitier, hoping to have a good relationship with a white girl played by Catherine Horton. The two young people have not known each other for a long time, but the young African-American doctor is an ideal person. He is widely respected in his work, and his life and work are arranged in an orderly manner. But the parents played by Catherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy had to face reality, because this young man was black and interracial marriage was not acceptable at that time. The boy's parents also opposed this marriage. In one scene, the boy's father hopes to persuade his son to give up his white girlfriend. Father said, "Have you ever thought about what people would talk about you? In the 16 or 7 states where interracial marriages are prohibited, it is illegal for you to do so, and you will become a criminal. Even if they change the law, people will be "Guess Who’s Over for Dinner" has undoubtedly become a film that bravely confronts reality. In that era, the laws of the 16 states in the United States did not allow black people. Intermarried with white people, on the bus, black people can only sit in the last row, and in "Guess Who Is Over for Dinner", Shi Po Tian Jing is the first time a black man kisses a beautiful white girl on the screen, so it is the first in film history. A scene of a black man kissing a white man was born and was recorded in the annals of history. "This movie is not about a black man and a white man, but a story about a man and a woman."
Having said that, the film still shows a tough side. Old Matt is an enlightened journalist who opposes race. Discrimination, but when his daughter reclaims a black son-in-law, old Matt still finds it difficult to accept. What he considers is reality. If you have children, what will happen to your children in the future? The black son-in-law said embarrassingly that I hope he can become a political figure in the future, but in that era, the black man was almost a dream. Everyone will say that the situation will change, but how many years will it change? 50 years? 100 years? God never thought that after more than 40 years, black people could become presidents. Karen Kramer recalled that such topics were very sensitive back then. When the film was filmed, Stanley Kramer, the director, did not tell the film company that he was shooting. what movie. She said: "Stanley Kramer knew that once he told Columbia Pictures what he was filming, the company might not let him continue. So every time the company asked him: Stanley Kramer, you filmed What is this movie about? Stanley Kramer said: Oh, it's just a romance."
Director Stanley Clay acquiesced that, whether Hollywood admits it or not, they are all involved in politics. This is true. The reaction caused by "Guess Who Is Over for Dinner" has greatly exceeded people's predictions. The subsequent law to abolish racial discrimination has to admit that it has also been affected by the film. More importantly, it puts this social problem in In front of you, you are forced to think. This is really a film about truth, frank and direct. Almost all the people involved in the creation have been intimidated and threatened. Stanley Kramer started filming the movie in San Francisco at the time. Karen Kramer recalled: "We spent a week in San Francisco to shoot the location, and the rest was shot in the old Columbia Studios studio in Los Angeles. When we were in San Francisco, the studio asked to watch the script. After watching the film, the company cancelled the filming work.” The film company’s reason at the time was that one of the protagonists in the film, Spencer Tracy, was in poor health. If something happened to him, the company would invest in it. The water is floating. She said: "We all went home. Stanley Kramer was very upset. He didn't know what to do next. But soon he thought of an idea. He grabbed me and jumped into the car, and we ran together. Go to Catherine Hepburn’s house. He said to Catherine Hepburn: We all know that the real reason for the company’s cancellation of the filming job is not this, but the subject matter.” Stanley Kramer and Catherine Hepburn used their salary as a guarantee. So that the filming work can be completed. "Guess Who's Over For Dinner" was played in a low-key manner in a small theater in Los Angeles.
Karen Kramer recalled the situation at the time. She said: “As soon as the door of the movie theater opened, we saw people lined up. This long dragon is not one or two streets, but 15 streets. So long. The audience keeps coming. The film has achieved unprecedented success. Like a blockbuster, the audience flocked to Colombia. They would never have thought that this would be their most expensive movie. To this day, this movie is still The most profitable film in Columbia Pictures’ history.” Such a serious subject is translated into a comedy, which shows the skill of director Stanley Kramer. Sidney Poitier's steady and handsome black man is an African-American doctor and a well-known person with outstanding contributions in medicine. The white girl’s family is an enlightened intellectual family. The girl in this family is so innocent that even the actor Catherine Horton thought it was a conceptual character in a later interview, and in fact it could not exist. Hollywood is Hollywood after all, and still has to create dreams.
Film critics gave mixed reviews on the film. Some said that the film pretended to be sacred, and some viewers expressed anger at the scenes of interracial men and women kissing in the film. However, Karen Kramer said that after the film premiered at Stanford University and after it was released in full, young people were very positive about the film. Katherine Hepburn won another Oscar for playing Christina Drayton, but she really deserves it. From knowing that her son-in-law is a black, her performance is impeccable. She remembered her youth and love, and she was very happy to see her happy daughter. She understands the plight of her daughter and son-in-law, and the possible terrible ending, even though Joey hasn't realized it yet. It is worth mentioning that this is also the last film that Spencer Tracy and Catherine Hepburn have collaborated with. From the beginning of filming, everyone in the group was in a gloomy mood, because everyone had a premonition of Spencer. There was not much time in the game. He was old and sick, and once refused to perform the film. Director Stanley Kramer wandered hard and said: "Did you choose to die on your sofa and wait for the body to rot, or choose to come over and let the corpse rot? Let's do something different together?" Spencer Qusay stood up and said, "Ok, I'll do it!" For this reason, we were able to invite this old drama player to join this historically significant movie. The father's confession at the end of the film is also the last speech of Spencer Qusay's acting career, and it is also the words he wants to tell Catherine Hepburn. Catherine Hepburn's flashing tears come from the heart.
Catherine Hepburn always stayed true to Spencer Qusay during filming, not only for the lines but also to take care of her, because Catherine Hepburn probably knew that time would not stay too much on her and Spencer Qusay. Spencer Cusay barely supported his weak body and insisted on performing that long monologue. The whole crew was moved to tears. Stanley Kramer stepped forward to hug him, but Spencer Cusay said, "I I can go home now, maybe I will die, but you got this film, no matter what, we did it." Two weeks after the film was completed, the lovely old man passed away. It was not until long after the death of Spencer Tracy that Catherine Hepburn vaguely revealed the details of their lives together in an interview with a magazine: During the many years that Catherine Hepburn accompanied Spencer Tracy, he Still an alcoholic, he beats and scolds Catherine Hepburn from time to time. Catherine Hepburn has been helping him to quit drinking, and almost all of his life is arranged around Spencer Qusay. In the last part of Spencer's life, Catherine Hepburn even gave up her job and stayed with him.
If this is a movie about racism, the ending is difficult to accept, because love seems to conquer everything. Of course, you can say that this film involves racism. There is nothing wrong with it, but it is only “involved” and it has not reached the level of “testing”. "Guess who will have dinner" is not a "today's love story", it belongs to yesterday, today, tomorrow, or any day, it is just a love story. The American Film Institute listed "Guess Who's Over for Dinner" as one of the 100 best film works of the century.
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