Joey Drayton is bringing her fiancé, John, home to San Francisco to meet her middleclass liberal parents for the first time. They are unaware that John is black. She has also asked John’s parents, to join them for dinner. They are unaware that Joey is white.
Up until six months before its release in 1967, interracial marriage was still illegal in seventeen American states. The film possibly challenges the outright racist less than it does the smug liberal whose daily life is neatly removed from the injustices they decry. There are certainly flaws; the most cited being that John is just a little too perfect. Indeed, some said the character was just a little too “white” not to be accepted by his in-laws. And sure, it’s of its time but every film is. There is plenty of humour as well.
Sidney Poitier passed away in January 2022. Although not a prolific actor, he was significant; being the first black male to receive the Best Actor Oscar (Lillies of the Field (1963)). He was hugely talented and, hearteningly, hugely liked and respected. Also check out The Defiant Ones (1958) and In the Heat of the Night (1967). Having Poitier, Tracy and Hepburn (three giants of cinema) on screen together is a real treat. Tracy died from a heart attack seventeen days after the film’s completion.
Director: Stanley Kramer
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracey, Katharine Houghton
Certificate: U
1 hour 48 min
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