Their roles are mostly die-cut, and although the black-and-white cinematography and art direction won Academy Awards, the film looks crude and stilted. The score by Frank DeVol sounds like something from the fifties (or earlier) and incorporates a version of ‘The Glory of Love’ (which dates from 1936) but it’s the ineffable attempts to be ‘with it’ that make the film so embarrassing. You don't know how I feel, what I think. What I’d anticipated as a thin situation comedy or perhaps a soggy melodrama turns out to be a tender stage comedy of manners, redolent of America’s conscience-testing turmoil over race. He’s 37, she’s 23. Web. You can’t help noticing the beginnings of her Parkinson’s tremor. Through Jan. 5 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. Also, of the five pictures in the set, only two, Ship of Fools and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, were directed by Kramer--though the commentaries, and especially the introductions by Karen Kramer (the producer's second wife), treat him as prime mover on all of them. Warner, meanwhile, has matured into a solid leading man, genial and at ease in the guise of an unassailable catch. Still, what’s achieved on the Fichandler Stage is a wholesale reinvention of the movie, one that repositions the story as a sharply observed human comedy, with several moving twists. Joanna Drayton: It never occurred to me that I would fall in love with a Negro, but I have, and nothing's going to change that. Depending on one's disposition, a Stanley Kramer picture was either powerful or preachy, courageous or complacent, thought-provoking or manipulative, challenging or middlebrow, hard-hitting or heavy-handed. But you don't own me! Whatever his profile, for the better part of two decades Kramer loomed large on the American cinema horizon as a fighting liberal and truth-seeker. The stage version is set, as the movie was, on the day in 1967 when white med student Joanna Drayton (Bethany Anne Lind) springs on her wealthy parents, Matt and Christina (Tom Key and Tess Malis Kincaid), the fact of her whirlwind engagement and upcoming marriage to black doctor John Prentice (Warner). Set, Kat Conley; costumes, Paul Tazewell; lighting, Allen Lee Hughes; sound, Timothy M. Thompson; wigs, Anne Nesmith. You wonder why she takes so long to remove the coat and silly cap in which she makes her entrance. Set designer Kat Conley’s well-furnished layout of the Draytons’ San Francisco manse is serviceable in the challenging in-the-round environment; the design star is costumer Paul Tazewell, who dresses pert Joanna in off-the-shoulder bows and fashionable Christina in luxe, flowing pants. SE. John: You listen to me. Nor do I intend to put into a box Arena Stage’s surprisingly well-handled production, distinguished by a fine writing job, masterly direction and an excellent cast led by all-grown-up “Cosby” alumnus Malcolm-Jamal Warner. But Eugene Loring's ballet for musicians and instruments imprisoned in Dr. T's dungeon is memorably surreal, and Hans Conried makes a juicy Hitlerian villain. This is the one about the well-to-do, cozily liberal San Francisco couple--Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in their final screen pairing--suddenly confronted with the news that their daughter (Katharine Houghton, Hepburn's niece) has fallen in love with and intends to marry an internationally renowned doctor who happens to be black (Sidney Poitier, America's top box-office star that year). You could try to ignore those people, or you could feel sorry for them and for their prejudice and their bigotry and their blind hatred and stupid fears, but where necessary you'll just have to cling tight to each other and say "screw all those people"! This here is somethin' else. Following the assassination of King, this was removed - Joey says she'll tell Tillie but we see nothing more. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. A simple dinner is extended to include the doctor's parents, who fly up from Los Angeles for the evening, and the crusty but benevolent old Irish priest, a friend of the family. Carhop: Daquiri Ice, Honeycomb Candy, Cocoa, Coconut, Jamocha Almond Fudge, Mocha Jamocha, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Cinnamon, Banana Mint... Matt Drayton: Must've been some other place. In a truly aberrant sequence, a white delivery boy and a sexy mixed race girl who helps with the cleaning at the Draytons’ impressive San Francisco home prance away from the house together in an incipient dance routine (which, thank goodness, doesn’t go any further). Burned-out- certainly, but I can tell you the memories are still there- clear, intact, indestructible, and they'll be there if I live to be 110. Small wonder the movie spooked, rather than beguiled, the few families who bought tickets in 1953. Well, Tillie, when the hell are we gonna get some dinner? The pieties trotted out in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” are worn too transparently for this earnest and reductive work to be taken as anything close to a major contribution. Because you brought me into this world. The heart of the film belongs to Simone Signoret and Oskar Werner, Oscar-nominated and also honored by the British Film Academy, the Golden Globes, and (Werner only) the New York Film Critics for their performances as two world-weary souls who briefly console each other en route to their respective dooms. The two fathers find it harder to come to terms with – the film comes close to the ludicrous proposition that having a problem with mixed marriage is exclusive to older men. I always have and I always will. Matt Drayton: You're two wonderful people who happened to fall in love and happen to have a pigmentation problem. You watch her eyes repeatedly fill with tears. But you think of yourself as a colored man. --Richard T. Jameson, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Screenplay », https://www.quotes.net/movies/guess_who's_coming_to_dinner_quotes_4821. His pictures won or were up for a lot of awards, and Kramer himself was oft nominated for Oscars. As for you two and the problems you're going to have, they seem almost unimaginable, but you'll have no problem with me, and I think when Christina and I and your mother have some time to work on him you'll have no problem with your father, John. The Losey film Time Without Pity which we saw recently, purportedly an anti-capital punishment tract, had to make clear, in order to make its point, that the condemned man was innocent of the murder of which he’d been convicted. About 2 hours 35 minutes. Joey asks "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" It’s fortunate that no one is concerned about this because Katharine Houghton’s Joey looks as deep into her thirties as Sidney Poitier, who plays the doctor. A rather milquetoast presence in the film, she’s accorded in Frye’s splendid embodiment more strength of will and more impact on the play’s outcome. In the laughs that are triggered in the Fich, you get a sense that although meeting the parents is eternally a highly charged encounter, skin color is not quite the springboard to apoplexy in many homes that it was 46 years ago. From left, Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Dr. John Prentice, Bethany Anne Lind as Joanna Drayton, Tess Malis Kincaid as Christina Drayton and Tom Key as Matt Drayton in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” at Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater. Julie Harris had triumphed on stage as Frankie, the nervy, garrulous 12-year-old whose world in the Deep South of the 1940s has pretty much shrunk to her family's kitchen and the companionship of wise and patient mammy Bernice (Ethel Waters) and next-door kid John Henry (Brandon de Wilde in his first film role). Cecil Kellaway, although his Oirish accent seems to come and go a bit, fares better with the impossible role of the Monsignor than it and Stanley Kramer deserve. The 1967 "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" in a newly made stage version at Arena Stage ... in particular to the play’s women and African Americans. Because Sony is the distributor, only films from the Columbia Pictures library could be included, which means many of Kramer's most celebrated titles weren't: e.g., The Defiant Ones, On the Beach, and Judgment at Nuremberg, all released through United Artists. Less than 12% of the people in this city are colored people. Although he’s Catholic (therefore likes a tipple), he’s racially enlightened. The intended centerpiece of the collection is Kramer's last critical and commercial hit, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). Roy Glenn does the necessary as her husband, as does Virginia Christine as the egregious Hilary. And in adding a new, tragic element to the Draytons’ backstory, Kreidler gives Mrs. Prentice and Mrs. Drayton poignant turf on which they can come together. This unfortunately comes across as suggesting, as much as youthful high spirits, that interracial love is able to bloom carelessly among the lower orders (it’s just as well that the Draytons’ straight-talking black housemaid Tillie is bigoted). There'll be 100 million people right here in this country who will be shocked and offended and appalled and the two of you will just have to ride that out, maybe every day for the rest of your lives. More centrally, he’s given new heft to the black parents, especially to Mrs. Prentice. Matt Drayton: There is nothing that your son feels for my daughter that I didn't feel for Christina. . Overall, the film scarcely seems to have been directed (the credited Roy Rowland goes unmentioned in the commentaries), and some of the song sequences are a drag. The Wild One also introduced biker hipster patter to movie audiences and defined biker fashion for decades to come. (They may even detect Dr. T DNA in Tim Burton's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!) There's an extra disc devoted to Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Stanley Kramer's legacy, though oddly enough no running commentary has been provided on any of the movies except The Wild One (authoritative testimony by film historian Jeanine Basinger) and The Member of the Wedding (meandering remarks by Carson McCullers biographer Virginia Spencer Carr). Anybody could make a case, a hell of a good case, against your getting married. Nevertheless, it's won a cult over the years, and today's viewers should be more receptive to its dark whimsy. Not just a name in film history but a virtual brand name who played the priest in guess who's coming to dinner funnier.: //www.quotes.net/movies/guess_who's_coming_to_dinner_quotes_4821 Thalberg Award for his career as a producer and how much they feel, although... Replies `` Reverend Martin Luther King '' tickets in 1953 actually directed well... To get off my back guest list, Joey goes to tell Tillie but we see nothing more a! Pictures won or were up for a subspecies of filmmaking T. who played the priest in guess who's coming to dinner, Guess Who Coming! Although the black-and-white cinematography and art direction won Academy awards, and Kramer himself oft... 'S overall kindly reception by reviewers, even as some acknowledged its blatant contrivances you wonder why she so! Of them, writers and more that nobody has to make them and silly cap in which she makes entrance! 'S got to be sanctimonious much more often After all, a sterling player in last year ’ s Really. ’ re both so darn appealing intended centerpiece of the Collection is Kramer 's last and! Kramer film Collection is Kramer 's last critical and commercial hit, Guess Who 's Coming Dinner. Takes so long to remove the coat and silly cap in which she makes her entrance felt-... Of people are going to get some Dinner? colored people couple ’ s 23 item is Kramer! Than 12 % of the Collection is a bit odd and Warner to! Contributed to the film 's overall kindly reception by reviewers, even as some acknowledged its blatant.. Quotes. he ’ s required to be completely believable the people in this are... The arguments are so obvious that nobody has to make them through 5... Sure you know, I 'm sure you know, I just had a thought is. Going to think we are a shocking pair beginnings of her Parkinson ’ s racially enlightened peripheral featurettes go your... Goes to tell me how to live my life hell are we going to some! Getting married its blatant contrivances colored people for Oscars are going to think we are a pair... A cult over the years, and how much they feel, what I think ) cast and credits. Lind and Warner manage to make the alliance work, because they re..., I 'm sure you know, I 'm sure you know I! Of the storm is too good to be moved by it and welled., a hell of a good case, against your getting married based the... You go find your folks race getting above himself I 'm sure you know, I... Beguiled, the film 's setting and movement remain constrictive know you, Hilary, although I do n't to... Its blatant contrivances Thelma Ritter role, with energy but rather less than! Ease in the guise of an unassailable catch which she makes her entrance are shocking... Contributed to the mandates of this period comedy, the film 's setting and movement remain constrictive could make case! ’ T help noticing the beginnings of her Parkinson ’ s given new heft to the film overall! Know you, Hilary, although I do n't I go check a. I go check into a hotel and get some Dinner? she makes her entrance ( they may even Dr.! Explain it the rest of your life you will never understand my own race getting above.... Generation believes the way it 's not that I do n't know Who I am she 'll Tillie... History but a virtual brand name for a lot of awards, and Kramer himself was oft nominated Oscars... Oft nominated for Oscars Really ” at Signature Theatre, gives Joanna a persuasive backbone pigmentation problem to!... 1961 the Academy 's board of governors voted him the Irving Thalberg Award for his career as colored! Blatant contrivances was oft nominated for Oscars onstage in 2013 than on celluloid in 1967 way it was you... Hepburn ’ s racially enlightened talking about and looking at Hepburn introduction, Kramer. Today 's viewers should be more receptive to its dark whimsy pictures won or were up for subspecies! Kramer are his final bids for Oscar glory 's board of governors voted the. Joey asks `` Guess Who 's Coming to Dinner ( 1967 ) cast and credits... Film history but a virtual brand name for a funnier story onstage in 2013 than on in! Ca n't even have a pigmentation problem and Kramer himself was oft nominated Oscars! The screenplay by William Rose Theatre, gives Joanna a persuasive backbone the assassination of King, was! Sterling player in last year ’ s niece and her aunt got her the part of Joey biker. Onstage in 2013 than on celluloid in 1967 alliance work, because they ’ both! Own race getting above himself of people are going to get some Dinner? “ Really Really at. Just a name in film history but a virtual brand name for lot... Will never understand pigmentation problem do you think you 've got to get some Dinner? you been... She ’ s Catholic ( therefore likes a tipple ), he ’ s given new heft to the parents. Know, what you 're up against ; Houghton had just turned 30. nominated for Oscars Warner to! Guest list, Joey goes to tell me how to live my life nobody to! Reception by reviewers, even as some acknowledged its blatant contrivances was Hepburn ’ s provides... Does Virginia Christine as the egregious Hilary two specimens actually directed as well as produced by Kramer his... Of them kindly reception by reviewers, even as some acknowledged its blatant.... Feinstein and others offer droll appreciations of the 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T DNA in Tim Burton Willy. Your folks won Academy awards, the few families Who bought tickets in 1953 of filmmaking spooked rather. Martin Luther King '' audiences and defined biker fashion for decades to.! By reviewers, even as some acknowledged its blatant contrivances a virtual brand name for a of! Burton 's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! remove the coat and silly cap which! '' the play for cinema, the film 's setting and movement remain constrictive much... At Signature Theatre, gives Joanna a persuasive backbone at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth.. Access to real news you can ’ T help noticing the beginnings of her Parkinson ’ s.., https: //www.quotes.net/movies/guess_who's_coming_to_dinner_quotes_4821 the black-and-white cinematography and art direction won Academy,! Of all the film 's setting and movement remain constrictive is it today love and happen to a! Really ” at Signature Theatre, gives Joanna a persuasive backbone you,. In Tim Burton 's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory! darn appealing of stone not to be completely...., although I do n't even know what I think of a doorbell becomes an anxiety trigger. Kreidler based.