Relevant elements: Interracial marriage, the trope of a child bringing home someone surprising to meet the folks
Why it resonated: Took on racial and generational issues that were roiling in the 1960s
General comments on the film: You can complain that it's too talky. You can marvel at the prescience of a white woman meeting a black man in Hawaii and dreaming that their child would become the President of the United States. You can question the probability of the existence of such a jolly, socially progressive monsignor. You can feel sorry for Katharine Houghton as she is doomed to be the dimmest presence on the screen, obliterated by the waves of charisma emanating from Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sidney Poitier. You can even be a little annoyed at yet another pervasive song being played in pretty much every scene (this time "The Glory of Love"-- the one that Bette Midler's character brassily oversings throughout Beaches, not the Peter Cetera one featured in Karate Kid II). But it's hard not to feel stirred by the film's passionate argument for the importance of peace, love, and understanding.
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