Search - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner [Widescreen/Fullscreen] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Adult Situations, Suitable for Children Movie Release: 1967 DVD Release: 02/02/1999 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 48 mins Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Members Wishing: 26 Genres: Comedy Drama, Comedy of Manners, Message Movie, Family Drama See Also: Guess Who's Coming to Dinner [Fullscreen], Guess Who's Coming to Dinner [40th Anniversary Edition]

Old-line liberals Matt and Christina Drayton (Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn) have raised their daughter Joey (Katharine Houghton) to think for herself and not blindly conform to the conventional. Still, they aren't prepared for the shock when she returns home from a vacation with a new fiancé: African-American doctor John Prentice (Sidney Poitier). While they come to grips with whatever prejudices they might still harbor, the younger folks must also contend with John's parents (Roy Glenn Sr. and Beah Richards), who are dead-set against the union. To complicate matters, the older couple's disapproving maid (Isabel Sanford) and Christina's bigoted business associate (Virginia Christine) put in their two cents' worth. While Joey is determined to go ahead with the wedding no matter what people think, John refuses to consider marriage until he receives the unqualified approval of all concerned. The closing monologue delivered by Spencer Tracy turned out to be the last scene ever played by the veteran film luminary, who died not long after the production. The film was a success in the racially volatile year of 1967 and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Spencer Tracy - Matt Drayton
Katharine Hepburn - Christina Drayton
Sidney Poitier - John Prentice
Katharine Houghton - Joey Drayton
Beah Richards - Mrs. Prentice
Roy E. Glenn, Sr. - Mr. Prentice
Isabel Sanford - Tillie
Cecil Kellaway - Monsignor Ryan

This release from Columbia TriStar is one of the best examples of a great transfer of an older film. The disk offers a choice of pan-and-scan or widescreen, although both feature impressive gradients of color and clarity from the beginning, such as in the opening airport/gallery scenes. Viewers can also choose between two modes of sound, two- or three-channel audio. The three-channel is the original 1967 mix, which is just about as good as it gets for an older film. The sound is Dolby Digital and underlies the dialogue well, which is easy to understand without any scratchy interference. Together these two important transfer features allow for the film's most important ingredients -- its provocative premise and strong acting -- to shine through. This was Spencer Tracy's last picture (he died ten days after the film ended), so it's surprising Columbia didn't include some biographical info on him, not to mention the rest of the stellar cast. Bonus features do include the original theatrical trailer, language/subtitle choices of English or French, and rudimentary scene selection. Also included is a flimsy booklet with three or four points on the film's background history, supplemented with some quotes from the film's director, Stanley Kramer. It is by no means enough to satisfy even the least enthusiastic of audiences; more effort needs to be made to turn an already very entertaining and substantial film into a complete DVD product. ~ Marsha Mehran, All Movie Guide