GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? (1967): Love, Controversy, and Progress

Turner Classic Movies will conclude their month of Spencer Tracy today, 29 October, with an evening of the four films he made with director Stanley Kramer. GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) was Spencer Tracy's final film and will be showing at 1:30 am EST. It was the ninth film he and Katharine Hepburn had made together since WOMAN OF THE YEAR (1942). It now stands as a touching tribute to their personal and professional relationship.

The film was controversial for its time because it is a love story about an inter-racial couple. Dr. John Prentice (Sidney Poitier), the black son of a black mail man, and Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton), the white daughter of a wealthy white newspaper editor, meet while on vacation in Hawaii and immediately fall in love. They fly home to introduce him to her parents and announce that they wish to be married. Unbeknownst to Joey, John has given her parents a sort of ultimatum: if they don't approve the marriage and give it their blessing, he will call the whole thing off. The situation is intensified when John's parents, still unaware that Joey is a white girl, decide to come out and meet the girl their son has fallen in love with.

IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963): Universal Backlot Blogathon

Kristen over at Journeys in Classic Film is hosting the Universal Backlot Blogathon this weekend to celebrate 100 years of Universal Studios films:

"Have a review of a film that used the backlot (either completely or just for a scene counts)? Interested in the history of the site? As long as it pertains to Universal Studios Hollywood and the backlot it counts!"

Stanley Kramer's IT'S A MAD MAD MAD MAD WORLD (1963) is one of the most monumental cinematic achievements in film history. The film features practically every big name in comedy history, from Buster Keaton to the Three Stooges and everything in between. Although the plot is fairly simple, it touches at the bedrock of some very significant themes: primarily greed, but also fear, courage, and loyalty. Kramer shot the film at a number of locations throughout southern California, including Long Beach, Malibu, Santa Monica, and Palm Springs. Most of the movie is filmed outdoors, in the desert and on the roads, but the first scene filmed was in a makeshift hardware store on the Universal Studios Backlot. Before I discuss the making of that scene, first let's talk about the people behind this historic movie.

POLL: Who's your favorite director of Hepburn movies?