Tagline: A love story of today
Director: Stanley Kramer
Writer: William Rose
Featuring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Sidney Poitier, Katherine Houghton
One fine day, you bring home to your parents a guy they hadn't even heard of before, and announce your engagement to him. And as if that's not enough, add the fact that you are a white girl and your fiancé is a negro.
Any parent would suffer a little shock on suddenly stumbling on the news. And when Joey brings home Dr. John Prentice, whom she met 10 days back while on a vacation in Hawaii, and announces her plans to marry him in the next week, her parents Matt and Christina Drayton are taken aback.
Matt and Christina's liberal attitudes are now put to test for although John is an ideal choice (highly respected internationally in the medical field, well mannered, and mature), he's black.
"If they know what lies in store for them and they still want each other enough to accept it, i think it's plain as anything that they love each other very much. And you'll have to agree that any two people who love each other that much deserve all the best luck in the world."
Katharine Hepburn looks lovely in the movie. This movie introduced me to her and made me want to see more of her movies. On searching online, I came to know that she is considered one of the top screen actors of all time, being ranked by the American Film Institute as the greatest female star in the history of American cinema. I wonder why i had not got introduced to her earlier. I am planning to cover more of her movies now.
Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn's acting is natural and beautiful. They share a charming chemistry on screen. I hear they were a famous pairing, with 9 movies together, and I could see why in this movie. Love seems to radiate from the screen when they are together in a scene.
Tracy's health was so poor during the making of this movie that people were doubtful if he would be able to complete the film. But, he did and a good thing too because it would be hard to replace such a fine actor. He passed away just 17 days after the completion of the project. I read somewhere that Katharine's tears were real in the final scene where Tracy makes his speech, as each one of those present knew that these might be the last words Tracy ever said on screen.
The song "The Glory of love" that plays in the opening and closing credits brings a smile to your face and creates a picture of sunshine and love in your mind.
I also came across a trivia that the main character Carl in Pixar's "Up" was based on Tracy in this movie. No wonder watching Tracy in this movie reminded me of Carl (As I had already watched Up)
I really liked this movie. Special recommendations to parents whose children want to marry for love, especially inter-caste/religion/nationality/etc..
Rating: 8.5/10
