Best Supporting Actor 1967: Cecil Kellaway in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Cecil Kellaway received his second Oscar nomination for portraying Monsignor Ryan in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.

Monsignor Ryan is a kindly priest who is a family friend of the Draytons who are dealing with their daughter marrying a black man. Monsignor Ryan really is not in the film very much. He shows his nice face and acts very well to the interracial couple, than questions Matt Drayton (Spencer Tracy) about his hesitations around the relationship of his daughter. There really is not much to the character of Monsignor Ryan and in turn there really is not much to Cecil Kellaway's performance.

Cecil Kellaway is charming and nice enough in his performance. He is exactly the kindly priest that he should be. When he later questions Tracy's character he again is believable in his somewhat sarcastic way he confronts him is done in an appropriately playful fashion by Kellaway. After this though there really is nothing special about his work, but at the same time there is nothing wrong with his work either. In fact it is just as it should be possibly just a little more, but certainly no less.

Kellaway does not really standout in any substantial fashion in the film, but nor is he excessively forgettable either. He is just a nice little presence in the film because of Kellaway's natural charm, I suppose Monsignor could have been less by not having the charm Kellaway has but still the performance never becomes anything that needed to be rewarded or even noted.

Posted in: 1967 Best Supporting Actor, Cecil Kellaway