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A movie influence US families

一部影响美国家庭的电影

The 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner by director Stanley Kramer broke ground on racial issues. Mike O’Sullivan spoke¹ with the late director’s wife about the impact of the film, newly re-released on a 40th anniversary DVD.

1967年由导演斯坦利·克雷默执导的电影《猜猜谁来吃晚餐》首次探讨了种族婚恋问题。在该片推出40周年之际，记者迈克·奥沙利文采访了已故斯坦利·克雷默的遗孀，谈到了这部电影40年来所产生的影响。

In 1967，16 states still had laws against interracial marriage, but attitudes were changing. In July of that year, the US Supreme² Court overturned those state laws.

1967年，尽管美国还有16个州禁止异族通婚,但是人们的态度却在悄悄改变着。1967年7月，联邦最髙法院推翻了那些州的法律。

The film came close to not being made, says Karen Kramer, who worited with her late husband Stanley behind the scenes on the movie.

凯伦·克雷默是该片导演、已经过世的斯坦利·克雷默的遗孀。她和丈夫一起拍摄了这部电影。她说,这部电影当时差点就拍不成了。

Kramer enlisted³ actors Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, and Sidney Poitier, and actress Katharine Houghton, who was Hepburn’s niece.

克雷默夫妇说服凯瑟琳·赫本、斯宾塞·特雷西、西德尼·波蒂埃以及凯瑟琳·赫本的侄女凯瑟琳·霍顿加盟演出。

The story concerned a young African-American doctor, played by Poitier, who wants to marry Houghton, a young white woman. They have not known each other long, but he is an ideal prospect⁴， respected in his field and well mannered. But parents Hepburn and Tracy must deal with the fact he is black at a time when interracial marriages were frowned on.

影片讲述的是一位由波蒂埃扮演的年轻非裔医生，希望能和由霍顿扮演的白人女孩结百年之好的故事。两个年轻人认识的时间不长,但是年轻的非裔医生却是一个理想的人,他在工作中广受尊重,而且彬彬有礼。但是赫本和特雷西扮演的父母却必须得面对现实，因为这个小伙子是黑人,而当时异族通婚不为人所接受。

Poitier's character’s parents are also opposed to the marriage. In one scene, the doctor’s father tries to dissuade⁵ him: “Have you thought what people would say about you? Why, in 16 or 17 states, you would be breaking the law. You would be criminals. And say they changed the law, that don’t change the way people feel about this thing.”

小伙子的父母也反对这桩婚事。有一个场景是小伙子的父亲希望说服儿子放弃白人女友。父亲说:“你有没有想过人们会怎么议论你?在禁止异族通婚的十六七个州里,你这样做是犯法的,你会成为罪犯。就算他们改变了法律,人们对这种事情的看法也是不会改变的。”

Karen Kramer says at the time, the topic wsis sensitive and the director did not tell the studio what the story was about as the film was being made. “He knew that if Columbia pictures knew what the subject matter was, they probably would not have allowed him to make it. So they kept asking him, ‘Stanley, what is this film about?’ Well, it is a love story, he would say. Well, it is a love story.”

凯伦·克雷默说，当年这类话题非常敏感,拍摄电影的时候,作为导演的斯坦利·克雷默没有 告诉电影公司他到底在拍什么电影。她说斯坦利知道,一旦他告诉了哥伦比亚电影公司他在拍什么,公司可能不会让他继续拍下去。所以每次公司问他：‘斯坦利，你拍的这部电影到底是讲什么的？斯坦利就说：噢，就是一部爱情片而已。是啊，就是一部爱情片。”

They started filming in San Francisco. “We had a week up in San Francisco to shoot all the exterior⁶ shots, and then everything was really shot right here in Los Angeles at the old Columbia Pictures.But when we were in San Francisco, the studio demanded to see the screenplay. And once they read it, they canceled the film/’ she said.

克雷默当时在旧金山开拍这部电影。凯伦·克雷默回忆说我们花了一个星期的时间去旧金山取外景,其他的就是在洛杉肌哥伦比亚电影公司的旧的影棚里拍摄的。我们在旧金山的时候，电影公司要求看剧本。看完后，公司就停止了电影的拍摄工作。”

The studio said it was canceling the film because star Spencer Tracy was in failing health, and if anything happened to him, they would lose their investment.

当时电影公司的理由是,片中主角之一特雷西健康状况不好,如果他出了什么事,公司的投资就打水漂了。

“We all came home, and Stanley was devastated⁷. He did not know what to do. But he siiddenly got an idea. He grabbed me by the hand, put me in the car, and we rode over to see Katharine Hepburn. And he said, (Kate, look, you and I both know that this is not the reason why they are canceling this film. It is subject matter,’’，she said.

她说:“我们大家都回家了,斯坦利非常沮丧,他不知道接下去该做什么。不过很快他想到了一个主意。他抓着我跳上了车,我们一起跑到凯瑟琳·赫本家里。他对凯瑟琳说,我们都知道公司停止拍摄工作的真正理由不是这个，而是题材的问题。”

Kramer and Hepburn put their salaries up for collateral⁸ and ensured the film was finished.

克雷默和赫本用他们的工资作为担保,使影片拍摄得以完成。

It opened quietly at a small theater in Los Angeles.

《猜猜谁来吃晚餐》低调地在洛杉矶的一家小剧院里上演。

“And the minute the doors opened, there were lines around the block. I do not mean two blocks.I mean 15 blocks long. And the people just never stopped coming. And it still remains⁹ today as one of the highest grossing films of all time for Columbia Pictures，” she said.

凯伦克雷默回忆起了当时的情况，她说电影院的门一打开,我们看到人们已经排起了长龙。这条长龙不是一两条街，而是婉铤了15条街那么长。观众陆续不断地来。一直到今天,这部电影仍然是哥伦比亚电影公荀历史上收益最好的电影之一。”

Some critics loved the film, while others did not, one calling it sanctimonious¹⁰ drivel. Some viewers were outraged¹¹ by an interracial kiss.

影评人士对影片褒贬不一。有的说这部电影假装神圣，有的观众对电影中异族男女接吻的镜头表示非常愤怒。

But attitudes were changing, like the changing attitude of Katharine Hepburn in the film, as she talked with Spencer Tracy about their love-struck daughter.

但是态度在慢慢发生改变,就像影片中赫本和特雷西谈过他们陷人爱河的女儿之后，态度发生转变一样。

Karen Kramer says young people, in particular, responded well to the film when it previewed at Stanford University and after it opened,

不过,凯伦·克雷默说,当时电影在斯坦福大学首映以及后来全面上映后，年轻人对该片都非常肯定。

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

3 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

6 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

7 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

8 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 sanctimonious   

adj.假装神圣的，假装虔诚的，假装诚实的

参考例句：

• It's that sanctimonious air that people can't stand.人们所不能容忍的就是那副假正经的样子。
• You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.您不必如此伪善。

11 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。