I kind of hate this film. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner feels like an entirely too long after school special. The plot is so contrived it hurts. They’re getting married in less than two weeks. There is no real emotion–feels more like an intellectual exercise. Everyone keeps telling each other how much the couple loves each other, but no real passion. Also the one person who vociferously opposes the match & is outright rude is the help (Isabel Sanford from the Jeffersons, woo hoo)–intentional reference because the politics of having a maid & calling her part of the family while inconsiderately adding last minute task after task to her workload without helping is not explored (twitching). I also couldn’t suspend disbelief. If there are going to be problems, though I am not an expert on the actual statistics, in my experience, the average black person may object theoretically, but in real life, is quite welcoming whereas the reverse is true for the average white person. The friendly neighborhood priest felt like the only real person as opposed to a resume because he is the only one not repeatedly described by his profession or political beliefs, but maybe that is because both are implied by his explicit role as priest so it frees the character to just be a person. The good priest is literally the opposite of my experience so for that character to resonate means that the actor, Cecil Kellaway, authentically transmits good humor, tenderness & comfort to the audience. He also gets the best lines, particularly about liberals confronted with reality of equality. Even Hepburn, Tracy & Poitier couldn’t save this one.