tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post5371132958071692848..comments2024-03-27T21:42:56.131-05:00Comments on 1001plus: Guess Who's Coming to DinnerSJHoneywellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-44768301159000759512014-02-12T19:19:06.761-06:002014-02-12T19:19:06.761-06:00I agree that Katharine Houghton is a weak point, b...I agree that Katharine Houghton is a weak point, but it's so glaring in the company of that many previously-won Oscars that I thought it was piling on to say it. But there, I said it. She's very much out of her depth in the company of the others on screen (four of whom were nominated for this film).<br /><br />Yeah, I remember Tracy's line. It's important for the plot at the time, but it does push the film into the realm of non-believability. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-87018330027278701092014-02-12T18:43:52.129-06:002014-02-12T18:43:52.129-06:00I agree with most everything yuo wrote. I did fee...I agree with most everything yuo wrote. I did feel that the actress playing the daughter was a weak link, but when the other three people are Tracy, Hepburn, and Poitier most everybody would pale in comparison. In regards to your comments about Poitier's character being too perfect, I still remember Tracy's character saying in frustration, "the man's a goddamn saint!"Chip Laryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00787403805554027107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-51638884182302670532014-02-12T11:44:36.897-06:002014-02-12T11:44:36.897-06:00Kramer made Inherit the Wind, which happens to be ...Kramer made <i>Inherit the Wind</i>, which happens to be one of my 10 favorite movies. I give him a hell of a lot of credit for a lot of what he did. That's a movie that, unlike this one, is even more relevant now than when he made it. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-57464088762364694522014-02-12T09:43:45.401-06:002014-02-12T09:43:45.401-06:00And you got to give Stanley Kramer credit (At leas...And you got to give Stanley Kramer credit (At least I do) for making movies on non-commercial subjects throughout his career. It's interesting that Guess Who's Coming to Dinner proved to be the biggest hit of his career.Chris, a librarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14417028033965524687noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-25263854329248250292014-02-12T06:38:16.113-06:002014-02-12T06:38:16.113-06:00I was similarly unaware of that tirade/conflict in...I was similarly unaware of that tirade/conflict in <i>Star Trek VI</i>. It's an interesting point. Perhaps (and this is just perhaps) it's the sort of thing that needs to happen sometimes. It may well be a sign of racial progress when a minority actor can deliver such a speech with less irony.<br /><br />It also reminds me in that way of the movie <i>Alien Nation</i>. James Caan was told that his character was a racist, and then was given a black partner at the start of the film. It threw him completely, because he figured "racist" and the intent was "speciesist."<br /><br />I don't see a reason not to give Meyer some credit. It might be a faux pas, and it could be simple naivety. SJHoneywellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13550007053995112090noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-44184407062649177132014-02-12T03:02:33.106-06:002014-02-12T03:02:33.106-06:00Oh, yes, almost forgot: I stumbled upon some Wiki...Oh, yes, almost forgot: I stumbled upon some Wikitrivia while looking up something about Star Trek: in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," Uhura was originally supposed to say "Guess who's coming to dinner" in reaction to the Klingons' arrival on the Enterprise, but given how racially freighted the line was, Nichelle Nichols refused to say the line. The solution: the line was kept, anyway, but it was given to Mr. Chekov (Walter Koenig) to say. <br /><br />Speaking of race and Trek: Brock Peters, the African American who played the turncoat Admiral Cartwright, also had such trouble denigrating the Klingons as "the alien trash of the galaxy" that he required more than the usual number of takes to get through that tirade, which the actor found odious. Somehow, Nick Meyer convinced him to soldier through it, perhaps to emphasize the irony that a minority might speak in such racist (speciesist?) terms about another marginalized group. <br /><br />So did Meyer pull a Spike Lee and do something to provoke intelligent discussion, or was this simply a sloppy racial faux pas? I admit that, when I sat through the film for the first time, Cartwright's "alien trash" tirade passed right over me. I didn't for a moment ponder the race of the actor saying those lines. It never would have occurred to me that that speech might have been hard for an actor of color to recite. But I was younger then.Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3166297507174717122.post-713604134485520012014-02-11T23:16:04.811-06:002014-02-11T23:16:04.811-06:00Half-breeds everywhere celebrate!Half-breeds everywhere celebrate!Kevin Kimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01328790917314282058noreply@blogger.com