Sidney Poitier, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Katharine Houghton star in classical Hollywood’s (in)famous tale about a newly-betrothed interracial couple.  Six months after the landmark decision Loving v. Virginia was decided in June 1967, Columbia Pictures released this social problem picture about interracial romance and marriage. Fresh from her 10-day, whirlwind romance, Joanna “Joey” Drayton (Houghton) brings home her fiancé, Dr. John Wade Prentice (Poitier), to “meet the parents,” Matt and Christina Drayton (Tracy & Hepburn). Naïve beyond words, a besotted Joey failed to mention their courtship, their betrothal, or John’s race. Consequently, commotion, confusion, and chaos abound as she introduces him to her folks, her housekeeper Tillie (Isabel Sanford), and family friends, all of whom have opinionated opinions about the engagement. Temperatures rise when John’s parents, the Prentices (Beah Richards and Roy Glenn) arrive. They are shocked to discover Joanna is white. One of the films in the 1967 trilogy, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner helped Sidney Poitier become the number one box office star in America that year, and the object of severe cultural criticism.

–Professor Mia Mask