No, wait! Don't answer that! This isn't a guessing game and if it were, you would most assuredly guess wrong. Nor is this a rhetorical question, but simply the title of a film that includes probably one of the greatest scenes in American film history.
This 1967 movie stars Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier. The story is about an interracial couple wanting to get married. Up until June 12 of 1967
interracial marriage was still illegal in 17 states, which is why the principle actors in this film believed so strongly in this story that they agreed to do the film before even reading it's script. The basic premise to this story is:
A young lady named Joanna, who goes by the simple name Joey, meets and falls in love with an African American doctor played by Sidney Poitier. An important side note here is the fact that Poitier's character as a prominent doctor was purposely created so that the only objection to his marrying Joey would be his race. Which gets unveiled when Joey brings the handsome doctor home to meet her parents (hence the title for the movie).
The rest of the film is set during an evening where both sets of parents and a priest are gathered for dinner with the young couple, and the young couple's inevitable task of getting their parents approval for marriage.
Throughout the evening each set of parents tackle the reasons why the two young adults shouldn't get married, and deal with all of the obstacles the couple would be assured of facing. The last one to be convinced in agreement is Joey's father played by Tracy. The conclusion of this story includes one of the greatest scenes you will ever see and I will explain why after an excerpt of Spencer Tracy's famous speech:
"The only thing that matters is what they feel, and how much they feel,for each other. And if it's half of what we felt-that's everything. As for you two and the problems you're going to have, they seem almost unimaginable, but you'll have no problem with me. But you know what your up against. There will be 100 million people right here in this country who will be shocked and offended and the two of you will just have to ride that out, maybe everyday for the rest of your lives. You could try to ignore those people, be sorry for them and for their prejudice and their bigotry and their blind hatred and stupid fears, but when necessary you hold tight to each other and say"screw all those people"!"
"Anybody could make a case, a hell of a good case, against your getting married. The arguments are so obvious that nobody has to make them. But you're two wonderful people who happened to fall in love and have a pigmentation problem, and I think that now, no matter what kind of case some ***** could make against you there would be only one thing worse, and that would be if- knowing what you two have and feel- you didn't get married.
Well, Tillie, when the hell are we gonna get some dinner?"
The human emotions that are shown in this final act are what make this such a memorable scene. There is no acting involved, just the reality of each individuals heart. Throughout this final scene the director scans to each soul that is involved in this story and shows us the tears which are so incredibly visible and real.
The tears are real for two reasons:
1. Everyone involved with this project knew that this was Spencer Tracy's final role.Tracy passed away 17 days after filming. And this was not unexpected.
Insurance companies actually refused to cover Tracy during filming. The director Stanley Kramer and Katherine Hepburn put their salaries in escrow, assuring the film would still be completed if Tracy died before the film was finished.
Katherine Hepburn, who did nine films together with Tracy, took that final cut with her long time acting partner extremely hard. For the rest of her life she refused to watch that final scene.
2. Everyone in that final scene were also visibly shaken by Spencer Tracy's speech because they felt so strongly about it's message.
We've come a long way since 1967 in making strides in breaking racial barriers. But unfortunately, we still have a long way to go.
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