One of my favorite dinner party scenes. It’s worth the 18 minutes to watch the whole clip from this 1935 classic, Alice Adams, starring Katherine Hepburn and Fred MacMurray. You have to set aside the inherent racism and stereotyping that was simply part of life 80 years ago – that could be an entire subject on its own, but the excruciating dinner party is the focal point here as a young woman from a working class family tries to impress a wealthy suitor.

And you thought your dinner parties were strained….