Filming Locations: Columbia/Sunset Gower Studios - 1438 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
Earnings
Budget: $4,000,000
Gross: $56,700,000 (USA)$70,000,000 (Worldwide)
Cast
Actor
Character
Spencer Tracy
Matt Drayton
Sidney Poitier
John Prentice
Katharine Hepburn
Christina Drayton
Katharine Houghton
Joey Drayton
Cecil Kellaway
Monsignor Ryan
Beah Richards
Mrs. Prentice
Roy Glenn
Mr. Prentice
Isabel Sanford
Tillie
Virginia Christine
Hilary St. George
Alexandra Hay
Carhop
Barbara Randolph
Dorothy
D'Urville Martin
Frankie
Tom Heaton
Peter
Grace Gaynor
Judith
Skip Martin
Delivery Boy
John Hudkins
Cab Driver
Natalie Core
Small Role (uncredited)
Jacqueline Fontaine
Singer (uncredited)
Timothy Scott
Small Role (uncredited)
Yuki Tani
Japanese Waitress (uncredited)
June Whitley Taylor
Edie (voice) (uncredited)
Did you know?
Trivia
Like Katharine Hepburn, the film's producer and director Stanley Kramer also put his salary in escrow as backing in order to placate the studio who was nervous about having Spencer Tracy star due to his poor health.
Spencer Tracy received a posthumous Best Actor Academy Award nomination for his film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967). His widow Louise attended the ceremony in the event that he would win. However, the award went instead to Rod Steiger for In the Heat of the Night (1967) which also starred Sidney Poitier.
When Joey turns on the kinetic sculpture, the switch seems to be on the right side (as viewed from the gallery entrance), but when John turns it off at the end of the scene, he reaches to the left side (and perhaps a bit to the back).
When Matt is dressing before dinner and talking to Monsignor Ryan, he begins to tie his tie. When the camera switches to a front view of him, he hasn't begun to tie it yet and is still buttoning his top button.
When Mrs. Drayton and Mrs. Prentice go out to the terrace and begin to speak, you can hear their voices echoing, indicating that the actual location was inside of a studio.
What did Joey mean when she likened her parents to the governor of Alabama?
A
Joey is referring to Governor George Wallace, elected in 1962. He tried to stop desegregation of schools. Term limits in Alabama prevented Wallace from running for a second term in 1966. Wallace's wife Lurleen Wallace, ran for the office and was elected in 1966, making George Wallace the "First Gentleman of Alabama."
Q
Is "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?" based on a book?
A
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? is based on an original screenplay by American screenwriter William Rose. A reverse remake (black woman about to marry a white man), Guess Who, was released in 2005.
Q
Where did John and Joey meet?
A
Dr John Prentice (Sidney Poitier) was in Hawaii to deliver a medical lecture when he met Joanne "Joey" Drayton (Katharine Houghton), who was on vacation.