Staying Fit
Oscar-nominated films often are a reflection of society's current attitudes on topics as wide ranging as race, crime and family values. This year's Oscar night once again brings a story about race center stage: The movie Loving portrays the relationship between a white man and a black woman, and the marriage that changed America 50 years ago.
Loving arrives on DVD this month just as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner — the seminal 1967 movie about a white woman's plans to marry a black man — celebrates its 50th anniversary with the release of a Blu-ray disc set. The two releases underscore the idea that the more things change the more they really do stay the same in Hollywood.
AARP Membership— $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal
Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.
The Lovings' true story ended with victory in the U.S. Supreme Court on June 12, 1967, when all laws against interracial marriage were declared unconstitutional. Just six months later, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner began drawing crowds to movie theaters all over the U.S.
Ruth Negga's nomination for best actress is the only Oscar nod Loving received this season. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner got 10 nominations, though only actress Katharine Hepburn and screenwriter William Rose won. Loving has not been a box office hit, though it surely has made Negga a star. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, however, was a crowd-pleaser, and, as the third consecutive hit movie for actor Sidney Poitier, it cemented his star status. He also starred in another movie about race that year — the award darling In the Heat of the Night.
Clearly, Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner continues to influence filmmakers. Next up is A United Kingdom, the true story of an international crisis that was ignited by the 1948 marriage of an African prince to a white London office worker.
Both A United Kingdom and Loving are intelligent, beautifully crafted films — but the difference is they arrived in a culture that is, on the whole, sympathetic to the main characters. When Kramer and his stars set foot on the Columbia Pictures lot in the spring of 1967, the studio fully expected it would be unable to market their film in the 16 states where interracial marriage was still illegal.
In fact, as Spencer Tracy tells his screen daughter in the film's most stirring scene, "There are 100 million people in this country who will be shocked and offended and appalled at the two of you."