TCM serves an Oscar-winning ‘Dinner’
The film “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” was part of a banner movie year that Sidney Poitier had, but its latest television showing is more in tribute to one of his fellow stars. Katharine Hepburn earned her second of four Oscars for best actress for director Stanley Kramer’s 1967 comedy-drama about then-contemporary race relations, being shown Thursday, June 15, by Turner Classic Movies as part of its “Star of the Month” tribute to Hepburn. The film marked her last teaming with Spencer Tracy, who was hugely significant to her both on and off the screen. They play a supposedly liberal couple whose open-mindedness gets put to the test unexpectedly. Their daughter (Katharine Houghton, Hepburn’s real-life niece) makes a surprise trip home with some big news: She intends to marry a brilliant doctor (Poitier) she met while vacationing, and since they intend to tie the knot soon, that doesn’t give the parents much time to ingest the situation and weigh in with their true feelings about it. That doesn’t go only for her parents, but his as well. Played beautifully by Beah Richards and Roy E. Glenn Sr., they’re traditionalists who love their son, but definitely have reservations about the union he plans to enter into. And that also pertains very strongly to Tracy’s character where his daughter is concerned, though his wife tries to maintain a moderate view, not wanting to exacerbate her offspring’s rebellious streak. Other valued cast members in “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” — which has an Academy Award-winning script by William Rose — include Isabel Sanford as Tracy and Hepburn’s opinionated housekeeper, and Cecil Kellaway as a clergyman who’s a longtime friend of the couple. For most moviegoers, though, it was the Hepburn-Tracy’-Poitier triumvirate that held the most interest upon entering the theater. Poitier himself was a fan, saying that even on days when he wasn’t scheduled to work, he would do go to the set just to watch screen legends Tracy and Hepburn do their thing. Professional as he is in his performance here, you can detect his awe toward his fellow players at certain moments. In the other direction, the clear respect shown to him by them remains a huge pleasure to see. (A tremendous scene for the elder duo: an impromptu trip to a drive-in restaurant.)