Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (directed by Martin Scorsese) (released in 1974)

Martin Scorsese is a very famous director, famous for his style of making movies. His movie style was a combination of bloody violence, a lot of macho stuff, guilt and redemption (inspired by the Catholic background of his subjects) and locales based primarily in New York. However, Scorsese also shot a number of other movies, such as this movie - "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". Released in 1974, it is one of his earlier movies, given that he shot his first full length movie in 1967 (I Call First). In 1972, Scorsese released "Boxcar Bertha" and then released "Mean Streets" soon after, and started getting noticed. He was then selected to make the next movie for the actress Ellen Burstyn, and he came up with this story of a central female character. In fact, Scorsese was selected on the basis of Francis Coppola's recommendation, to whom Ellen had gone to find a young director.
The collaboration went well, with Ellen liking the experience, calling it one of her best experiences in Hollywood. The movie recent overall positive critical acclaim, although some critics found that the story had various shortcomings. The movie did win an award at the Academy Awards:
Academy Award for Best Actress - Ellen Burstyn (won)
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress - Diane Ladd (nominated)
Academy Award For Best Original Screenplay - Robert Getchell (nominated)



The movie is the story of the adventures of a widow in her thirties, along with that of her pre-teen son as they move from her married town in New Mexico to her hometown of Monterey, California. Life changes for housewife Alice Hyatt when her trucker husband Donald dies in an accident, and she decides to try and resume the singing career she gave up when she married. She decides to leave, has a garage sale, and heads off towards Monterey. However, she has to temporarily halt in Phoenix Arizona and take up a job as a lounge singer since she is out of money. She has an affair with a younger man named Ben, when she sees the violent nature of Ben; Ben beats up his wife when the wife confronts Alice. Alice quickly departs along with her son Tommy.
She is still out of money, so accepts a job as a waitress in Tuscon to earn more money for their trip. She starts warming to the diners where she is a waitress, and also meets the divorced rancher David, who soon realizes that getting to be with Alice means that he should try to get close to Tommy first. Does this relationship succeed ? What about her wishes for her singing career ?

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn) (released in 1967)

The 1960's was a period of racial reform in the US, with a series of court judgments having come through in the current decade and the previous decade - the aim of these judgments was to enforce civil rights for all and ensure that society was the same for all. During the 60's, there were a number of states (from the former Confederate states, from the south) that had laws related to prohibiting marriage between the races; so a marriage between a white and a black was illegal in many states. This was a movie that touched on that topic, and received positive acclaim.
The movie was also the last movie in which the on-screen (and off-screen) pair of Spencer Tracy appeared together (this being their 9th such movie). Also, Spencer Tracy was dying when the movie was being made, with Tracy dying 17 days after the filming of the movie ended. As a result, Hepburn was never able to see the movie, given her memories of Tracy - she always claimed that the movie brought back too many painful memories.
The movie earned a few Academy Awards:
Academy Award for Best Actress (Katharine Hepburn)
Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay



The movie deals with the story of a San Francisco couple, Matt & Christina Drayton (played by stars Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn), whose daughter Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton) comes home from a trip to Hawaii, and then informs that she is now engaged to a Doctor - Dr. John Prentice (played by Sidney Poitier) with the following provisions:
- The man is 14 years elder to her
- He is black, while she is white
- The Doctor will not marry her until her parents agree to the marriage
- They have only 1 day to decide, since the Doctor needs to leave for Switzerland
What follows is the story of their indecision. Matt Drayton is a liberal newspaper publisher, but this decision of his daughter shakes him to the core; the parents are worried about the problems and challenges that the couple will face. They decide to invite the Doctor's parents from Los Angeles, and the Doctor's parents are equally worried by this decision. See this movie for an interesting insight into the challenges that America was facing with respect to its racial divide.
I also compare this movie with an example from Arthur Hailey's Hotel (where there is a comparison about how the hotel finally accepts a black guest who is well educated, and the only difference is the color of the skin. What happens if the person is not so well educated, or not so well behaved, or something similar ?