Includes a conversation with actress Katharine Houghton and actress Karen Sharpe Kramer

In 1967, for the first time in film history, as Mark Harris noted in his book, Pictures at a Revolution, a black man was the number one box-office attraction: Sidney Poitier. And in another first, a black man—Poitier—was the star of two movies that were nominated for Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. One of those was Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. Producer/Director Stanley Kramer (who first worked with Poitier almost twenty years earlier in another film that dealt with race, The Defiant Ones) cast Poitier as the lead in this comedy-drama about a world turned upside down when a black doctor (Poitier) proposes marriage to a white woman (Katharine Houghton). Dinner centers on the startled reaction of her parents, a pair of crusading liberals forced to confront their own feelings: that pair was played by film icons Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The result was eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and we are pleased to be showing a newly restored version by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for a fiftieth anniversary Blu-ray release.

1967, 108 min, color, DCP | Written by William Rose; directed by Stanley Kramer; with Sidney Poitier, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Katharine Houghton

Ticketing Information

Film Independent and LACMA Film Club members can reserve tickets starting at 12 pm on Thursday, January 19. | Free; limit two tickets per membership. | Proof of member status is required to reserve tickets during advance reservation period.

LACMA member and general-admission tickets can be reserved starting at 12 pm on Thursday, January 26. | Free; limit two tickets.

PLEASE NOTE: Pre-reserved tickets for this event can be picked up at LACMA’s Ticket Office, located in the Hammer Building, on the day of the event—as early as 11 am. Tickets are for general, unreserved Bing Theater seating. Ticketed guests must be in their Bing Theater seat 15 minutes prior to the advertised start time or seat(s) may be released. Reservations do not guarantee entry, even with a ticket in hand. Entry is first come, first served, so please arrive early. Program and guest participation subject to change or cancellation without prior notice. Tickets are nontransferable and can only be picked up by the individual who purchased or reserved them.