I loved that movie..

I watched it recently (for the umpteenth time). What a wonderful movie...and it always make me reach for the tissues.

I love the movie and Sidney Poitier has the most beautiful voice. I loved him in 'Lilies of the Field'.

It's always nice to enjoy old movies and see them differently with the passage of time.

I was a teenager on the West Coast when it came out. I seem to remember that it was viewed as being an entertaining comedy, not a film with a deep message. It wasn't edgy or socially probing as I recall.

I also seem to remember that many of the race differences that might have been highlighted with the Poitier character were made pretty fluffy. He was a professional man - was it a physician? - and he spoke in a very educated tone. And was the setting San Francisco ? (a very open-minded city where racially mixed couples were not then uncommon)

Southern states were still fighting desegregation and civil rights legislation at the time, it could have been seen with some controversy down there. Very much not so where I was.

I love that movie. My favorite part in the movie is when Sidney Poitier says to his father "The trouble with you Dad is you think of yourself as a black man, I think of myself as a man". If we all thought like that there would be no such thing as race relations.

Snidely, thanks for sharing that. I didn't know and that's very interesting.

Georgysmom, I totally agree.

In the over 35 yrs. that I live in the US, race discrimination has been the most puzzled to me. From a foreigner borned point of view, I see it differently.

US is a country that is composed of immigrants from many many other countries. There are no real Americans except for the Native Americans which has a small population in this country at the moment.

Different people from different countries migrate here to look for a better life. Thus, it made more sense to me that this country would have the least discrimination. After all, everyone must have had learned to live together in order to have a hand in building this country as one of the most powerful and influential country in the world.

Ah yes. Then, there's the black Americans which reminded me of a true and sort of funny incident that happened at a friend's working place. At a break room, there was some debating and a bit of rivalry about discrimination between some white and black workers/employees. One of my Asian friend stepped in and firmly told the black workers to stop being bittered and complaining about the past. She further said that if not for slavery brought to the US, they would have still be living in Africa and probably died of hunger or poor health condition. Instead, they should forget about what no longer exist (slavery) and be blessed that they live here where one can enjoy the benefit & freedom this country provides. The rivalry stopped; everyone laughed & agreed.

ntt, a belated welcome. Racism is sad and seems to often cause people to do ugly and inhuman things to others.

It's hardly restricted to the US. There's lots of it in Europe and the Middle East (as we read in the news). Also lots of it in Asia, where it tends to have an ethnic base. Is your country of origin one where you think there was no ethnic discrimination or hatred?

Snidely, you're right, discrimination exists in my country too but of a different type.

The discrimination that we often see in Asian countries are mostly cultural discrimination and not of skin color. Here's what I mean. The Asian are hospitable and friendly with people of other cultures but when it involves a person in becoming one of their own family (marriage), it's a different story. They strongly want to preserve heritage/roots and a mixed marriage will dilute its heritage/roots.

Once upon a time in my origin country, the discrimination even existed among people of different regions (North, Central & South and sometime all points in between). Each region has their own food, culture, speaking accent, etc.. Mixed marriages from one region to another often are believed to cause difficulties along the road. Although, it still exist a little, we don't see as much in modern time. However, cultural discrimination from one country to another with marriages still exist but it's becoming more acceptable. It's the same with different religions & beliefs.

I can understand cultural discrimination to a certain degree but I have to say, each situation is different.... And this would bring another issue which is too much to explain.

As for myself, I grew up in different countries. I am so mixed up (cultural-wise), I love them all :)

If you like Sidney Poitier, you need to google him. He is very smart with not much education as a young person. They lived on an island when he was born and when his father saw him he left the room, the mother asked where he was going, he said to get a shoe box to bury him. Born to soon. The mother was frantic and carried the baby to a seer and who told her the boy will not die. He will be known and respected all over the world. I don't know how much of that is true but very interesting. When they wanted to cast him in the heat of the night he said, "I won't go past the mason dixon line. They found a new location to film it. At one point they asked him to take one over night trip to a location where blacks were picking cotton. They really had to pressure him. They found a hotel that would let him stay and there were people banging on his door that night.

I loved Guess Who's Coming to Dinner. The casting and acting were fantastic. The script was poignant. It was the last film that Spencer Tracy made before he died, which was right after its completion. In a way, I thought of the filming of this movie as the culmination of a real life love story between Spencer and Katherine Hepburn.

Spencer Tracy reminds me of my dad, who also had a shock of snow white hair, was of Irish ancestry like him, and had many of his mannerisms. My dad was considerably taller. As infants, they played together on the floor while their mothers, who were friends, visited.

snidely and I have had the same experience. I lived in Monterey, CA and I really didn't understand anything about mixed races being "wrong" or problematic. I just thought anyone who thought so was odd. Of course, I was a small child then. Not when the movie was out, but just a handful of years later.