film author bill nichols states that "kramer's films continue a long-standing hollywood tradition of marrying topical issues to dramatic form, a tradition in which we find many of hollywood's more openly progressive films." among his themes, kramer was one of the few filmmakers to delve into subjects relating to civil rights, and according to his wife, karen kramer, "put his reputation and finances on the line to present subject matter that meant something." he gave up his salary to make sure that "guess who's coming to dinner" would be completed. he has not though been universally admired. film critic david thomson has written that kramer's "films are middlebrow and overemphatic; at worst, they are among the most tedious and dispiriting productions the american cinema has to offer. commercialism, of the most crass and confusing kind ... devitalised all [of] his projects."