VOA常速英语2008年-Groundbreaking US Film on Racial Issues Re-rele

By Mike O'Sullivan
Los Angeles
26 February 2008

The 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner by director Stanley Kramer broke ground on racial issues. Mike O'Sullivan spoke¹ with the late director's wife about the impact of the film, newly re-released on a 40th anniversary DVD.

In 1967, 16 states still had laws against interracial marriage, but attitudes were changing. In July of that year, the U.S. Supreme² Court overturned those state laws. In December 1967, a classic movie that looked at an interracial relationship was released in Los Angeles - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

The film came close to not being made, says Karen Kramer, who worked with her late husband Stanley behind the scenes on the movie.

Kramer enlisted³ actors Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sidney Poitier, and actress Katharine Houghton, who was Hepburn's niece.

The story concerned a young African-American doctor, played by Poitier, who wants to marry Houghton, a young white woman. They have not known each other long, but he is an ideal prospect⁴, respected in his field and well mannered. But parents Hepburn and Tracy must deal with the fact he is black at a time when interracial marriages were frowned on.

Poitier's character's parents are also opposed to the marriage. In one scene, the doctor's father tries to dissuade⁵ him: "Have you thought what people would say about you? Why, in 16 or 17 states, you would be breaking the law. You would be criminals. And say they changed the law, that don't change the way people feel about this thing."

Karen Kramer says at the time, the topic was sensitive and the director did not tell the studio what the story was about as the film was being made. "He knew that if Columbia pictures knew what the subject matter was, they probably would not have allowed him to make it. So they kept asking him, 'Stanley, what is this film about?' 'Well, it is a love story, he would say. Well, it is a love story."

They started filming in San Francisco. "We had a week up in San Francisco to shoot all the exterior⁶ shots, and then everything was really shot right here in Los Angeles at the old Columbia Pictures. But when we were in San Francisco, the studio demanded to see the screenplay. And once they read it, they canceled the film," she said.

The studio said it was canceling the film because star Spencer Tracy was in failing health, and if anything happened to him, they would lose their investment.

"We all came home, and Stanley was devastated⁷. He did not know what to do. But he suddenly got an idea. He grabbed me by the hand. He put me in the car, and we rode over to see Katharine Hepburn. And he said, 'Kate, look, you and I both know this is not the reason why they are canceling this film. It is subject matter," she said.

Kramer and Hepburn put their salaries up for collateral⁸ and ensured the film was finished.

It opened quietly at a small theater in Los Angeles.

"And the minute the doors opened, there were lines around the block. I do not mean two blocks. I mean 15 blocks long. And the people just never stopped coming. And it still remains⁹ today as one of the highest grossing films of all time for Columbia Pictures," she said.

Some critics loved the film, while others did not, one calling it sanctimonious¹⁰ drivel. Some viewers were outraged¹¹ by an interracial kiss.

But attitudes were changing, like the changing attitude of Katharine Hepburn in the film, as she talked with Spencer Tracy about their love-struck daughter.

HEPBURN: "Until today, I would never have believed that I could say such a thing, but when she fights you, I am going to be on her side."

Karen Kramer says young people, in particular, responded well to the film when it previewed at Stanford University and after it opened.

Spencer Tracy died just weeks after filming was completed, leaving behind a body of work of nearly 80 films, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is an important part of his legacy¹². Hepburn won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in the film, one of four Best-Actress Oscars she won in her career.

The American Film Institute has included Guess Who's Coming to Dinner among the top 100 films of the 20th century.

The anniversary release is included in a new DVD set with four other Kramer films, including another classic, The Wild One, with Marlon Brando.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

6 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

7 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

8 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 sanctimonious   

adj.假装神圣的，假装虔诚的，假装诚实的

参考例句：

• It's that sanctimonious air that people can't stand.人们所不能容忍的就是那副假正经的样子。
• You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.您不必如此伪善。

11 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

12 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。