Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Page #3

you were the governor of Alabama...

I mean, if Mom were.

Tell him, will you?

Tell John if you have any objections

and then you could go play golf.

Well, what is it

you expect me to say?

If you want me to think about this,

you'll have to give me time to think.

The doctor says you have a problem.

You certainly have.

If you're expecting a sensible

statement, you'll have to give me time.

Does that sound reasonable?

It's reasonable, Mr. Drayton,

but not quite practical.

You see, Matt...

there's sort of

a special problem.

See, I've got to fly

to New York tonight...

and on to Switzerland

tomorrow night.

Yes, and what Joey wants...

what she proposes...

is to go to Geneva herself

so they can be married...

within the next couple of weeks.

What the hell is all the rush?

We know that we want

to get married.

And unless somebody does have any

objections, why should we waste time?

John and I aren't gonna

change our minds.

Are you saying...

Are you telling me...

that you want an answer today...

about how your mother and I feel?

Of course. We want you and Mom

to state absolutely clearly...

that you have

no objections whatever...

and that when we do get married,

we'll have your blessing.

Now, are you gonna play golf

or not?

No.

I'll just call it off.

Excuse me, Doctor.

And that's my dad.

Do you like him?

- I don't know. Does he like me?

- I don't know either.

When he puts on

his American eagle face...

nobody can tell what he's thinking,

except Mom.

I don't think he liked any of us

after the silly way we began.

Excuse me, will you?

Give John some more coffee.

She's beautiful, Joanna.

She's even better looking than you.

You know that?

Hello, Edie?

Two things, Edie.

Both of them urgent.

Call up Monsignor Ryan and tell him

I can't play this afternoon.

Tell him something's come up,

something personal at home.

Then call the library...

and see if they've got any dope

on a John Wade Prentice.

Prentice. He's a doctor of medicine.

Fellow about 35, 36...

- Oh, Matt.

- He's a colored fellow.

Yeah.

If they haven't got anything...

call up the medical association

and see what they've got.

Get anything you can, will you, Edie?

All right. Hurry and call me back.

Surely there can't be

any necessity for that.

- It can't do any harm, either.

- But Joey said he was lecturing...

at the university in Hawaii.

Tell me something. This ever occur

to you that this might happen?

Never occurred to me either.

Not once.

Can you tell me your reaction?

- How do you feel about it?

- Oh, I don't know.

I was shaken at first.

I still am, I suppose.

But, Matt, they're serious.

They mean what they're saying.

Both of them.

They know what they're doing.

No, they may mean what they're saying,

I accept that.

But they don't know what they're doing.

I won't accept that.

If I'm not intruding...

Of course not.

Please, come in.

I'd like to have a couple of minutes

with the two of you, if I may?

Sure, Doctor.

Come on in.

There's something you both

ought to know. I made a decision.

Joanna doesn't know about it,

and I don't see why she should.

What is it, Doctor?

Joanna thinks she's committed...

and that our whole future

is settled...

but there is no real commitment.

And up to now,

nothing is settled at all.

I don't understand.

Joanna said you're going to be married

no matter what we think about it.

Well, that's not the case.

Unless you two approve...

and without any reservations at all...

there won't be any marriage.

Well, why, John?

Why have you decided that?

Well, Mrs. Drayton...

this thing has happened so quickly...

I'm just as startled

as you must be.

Two weeks ago, I would have said

such a thing was inconceivable.

But two weeks ago...

I had not met Joanna.

She's not at all

like anyone I've ever known.

It's not just that our color difference

doesn't matter to her.

It's that she doesn't seem to think

there is any difference.

The trouble is,

this thing has come up...

at a time when I already have

all the problems I need.

And I feel that I couldn't afford

to get married...

if it meant that I would have to take

on any special problems...

in addition to those

we're obviously going to have.

When you say "special problems,"

Doctor, what do you mean?

Well...

Your attitude, Mr. Drayton...

and yours, Mrs. Drayton.

Joanna is very close

to both of you.

If, by marrying me, she damaged

her relationship with either of you...

the pain of it

would be too much for her.

I wouldn't know how to deal

with that kind of situation.

In any case,

I wouldn't even want to try.

Well, I'm glad you told us,

Doctor.

Don't misunderstand me.

I love your daughter.

There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep

her as happy as she was the day we met.

But it seems to me,

without your approval...

we will make no sense at all.

That is why I'm asking for...

the clearest possible statement

of what your attitude is going to be.

I appreciate that, Doctor.

It's almost in the form

of an ultimatum.

Not quite, Mr. Drayton.

All you have to say

is good-bye.

Well, that's where it's at.

Thank you for the opportunity

to speak my peace.

Well...

still think you ought to have someone

check on him?

No.

He's right about Joey too.

- You know that, don't you?

- Yes.

Thank God he is. That's the way I feel.

Thank God he's right.

She's 23 years old,

and the way she is...

is just exactly the way

we brought her up to be.

We answered her questions.

She listened to our answers.

We told her it was wrong

to believe...

that white people were somehow

essentially superior to black people...

or the brown or the red

or the yellow ones, for that matter.

People who thought that way

were wrong to think that way.

Sometimes hateful, usually stupid,

but always wrong.

That's what we said...

and when we said it,

we did not add...

"But don't ever fall in love

with a colored man."

Edie, Mr. Drayton.

Do you want the whole story?

- Yeah, what is it, Edie?

- He's an important guy.

Just the main points:

Born Los Angeles, 1930...

graduated maxima cum laude

John Hopkins, '54...

assistant professor,

Yale Medical School, '55...

three years professor,

London School of Tropical Medicine...

three years assistant director,

World Health Organization...

two textbooks and a list of monographs

and medical society honors...

as long as your arm.

Married Elizabeth Bowers, 1955,

one son, John Wade.

Oh, both killed in an accident

in 1959.

- There's a lot more here.

- No, that's all right. Thanks.

What's the $2.20?

He made a call to Los Angeles

to his parents.

I guess he doesn't bum

free telephone calls either.

I can certainly understand why he didn't

have much to say about himself.

Who the hell would believe him?

I beg your pardon, lady.

He loves me, he loves me not.

Tell me, what do you think? Aren't they

exactly the way I said they were?

I must admit,

they are very special people.

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