In the Heat of the Night
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Movie Reviews of In the Heat of the Night
Movie Review: Timeless
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the great films of the 1960s, "In the Heat of the Night" hasn't dated one bit in the 38 years since its release. It now deserves to be recognized as one of the great films of all time.
The first rate direction of Norman Jewison and Haskell Wexler's brilliant cinematography make you feel the humidity in the Mississippi town in which black detective Virgil Tibbs and redneck sheriff Bill Gillespie form an unusual and often antagonistic alliance to solve the murder of an important industrialist.
As the sheriff, Rod Steiger is perfect in the role for which he won the Oscar he had earned but was denied two years earlier for "The Pawnbroker." Sidney Poitier was at the height of his popularity in 1967 with three blockbusters in release ("To Sir, With Love" and "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" were the others) but in Virgil Tibbs he found his best role and gives his finest performance. He has many memorable moments throughout, most notably his famous admonition to Steiger that became the title of the less impressive 1970 spin off: "They call me MISTER Tibbs!"
Unlike too many films dealing with important social issues, "In the Heat of the Night" makes its point without resorting to the heavy-handedness or sanctimonious preaching that often mar films with a "message." The changes that occur in the relationship between the lead characters is suggested rather than hammered-home, and is all the more powerful for its subtlety.
The supporting cast is as perfect as the stars with veterans Lee Grant, Warren Oates, and Beah Richards all providing memorable moments without overshadowing the equally fine work of newcomers Scott Wilson, Quentin Dean, and Anthony James. The score by Quincy Jones, featuring Ray Charles' rendition of the title song, captures the proper mood throughout.
In a year when the odds-makers were predicting an Oscar victory for either "Bonnie and Clyde" or "The Graduate," this beautifully atmospheric thriller with depth was the surprise victor, taking the Oscar for Best Picture, as well as four other awards (Steiger, Stirling Silliphant's screenplay, Hal Ashby's editing, and sound). Considering its theme of racial tolerance, it was an appropriate choice at a ceremony that was postponed after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. The Academy made the right choice. "In the Heat of the Night" may have been timely then, but thanks to the artistry of all involved, it remains timeless.
Brian W. Fairbanks
Movie Review: The Original "In The Heat Of The Night"
Summary: 5 Stars
1967's "In the Heat of the Night" is almost a time capsule of an earlier age. The long-running TV series of the same name has probably blurred memories of this classic, while the raw racial tensions depicted in the movie may have lost some of their edge in the intervening 40 years. However, the artistry of this Academy Award-winning movie remains vivid and intact.
In the middle of a hot summer night in the small Southern town of Sparta, Mississippi, a prominent white industrialist is found robbed and murdered in the streets. One of the town constables arrests a black man at the train depot, who seems to have more money than he should. Only at the jail, under questioning by the town sheriff (in an Academy Award-winning performanc by Rod Stieger), is it revealed that the black man is a homicide detective from Philadelphia named Virgil Tibbs (played by Sidney Poitier).
Thus begins an uneasy alliance between the white sheriff and the black detective, in a race to find the real killer before tensions in the town explode into something uglier. Along the way, the two will be forced to face their own and each other's racial prejudices. Poitier's street-savy and professional cop is quick to anger at any affront to his dignity, an attitude not much seen in Sparta. Stieger's redneck sheriff must walk a delicate line between his slowly increasing admiration for Tibb's skills and the discontent his presence in the case is causing among the townspeople. The case itself twists, turns, and doubles back on itself to a tense and surprising conclusion. In the process, the white sheriff and the black detective arrive at a subtle but touching mutual respect that is the real payoff of the movie.
The movie is blessed with a superb supporting cast, especially Warren Oates as a troubled town constable and Lee Grant as the wife of the murdered industrialist. The cinematography is unforgettable; the viewer can almost feel the stifling heat and humidity of Sparta. The detail, from the small diner with pies under glass to the sweat-stained shirt and tie and polite drawl of the town mayor, is spot-on.
This movie is very highly recommended as a classic movie experience that has lost none of its bite and its suspense over the years.
Movie Review: Very powerful in 1967 and still a superbly acted artifact of its time
Summary: 5 Stars
If you look at the pictures and actors nominated for Academy Awards in 1967, you will remember Dustin Hoffman and "The Graduate" or Paul Newman and "Cool Hand Luke" or Warren Beatty and "Bonnie and Clyde" or even Spencer Tracey and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" before you remember that Rod Steiger and "In the Heat of the Night" beat them all. Why is this? Well, the time the picture depicts was just passing in 1967 and the audience could feel comfortable about feeling superior to all those southern racists with their incestuous cracker sensibilities.
Nowadays, audiences of young people would be confused that many of the topics touched on in this film were so controversial. A girl having sex outside of marriage, pregnancy, and abortion causing so much trouble? Or a visiting cop as clearly intelligent and decent as Sidney Poitier's Virgil Tibbs causing a problem simply because of his race? And no 911 or cell phones? Still, this is a powerful drama and so well acted.
The movie seethes. There is the racism, the sexuality, the lies and hidden truths, the hypocrisies of small town life. It is filmed so that you feel the summer heat and darkness that hides so much. As you experience the film it has more the feel of a poem than a documentary.
The main characters are Tibbs (Poitier) and Chief Gillespie (Steiger). They are both decent and intelligent people who are much more sensitive than their exterior personalities will allow. They have developed a misanthropic loneliness as a protective shell and both suffer. There is a scene where they both explore behind this shell until Tibbs rebuffs the Chief's question about his experience of being lonely and the Chief instantly returns to his tough and bitter shell. So, we learn that it is an emotional exoskeleton rather than something that grows out of his heart. This allows him to like him and for Tibbs and Gillespie to part with a friendship at the end of the movie.
Did this movie deserve the Oscar? over the other films? Who knows. They are all classics and worth seeing. This movie was a creature of its time and affected its audiences powerfully. Heck, it even spawned a long running TV show that I never watched, but millions did.
Movie Review: Great film
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the decade's best Oscar winning films (but lamentably, not for its true star, Sidney Poitier). those who only know the television series which is tepid by comparison have really missed out. It is a marvelous study in race relations, driven by two of the best performances ever by Sidney Poitier (portraying a Philadelphia homicide detective called a "powerful piece of po-lice manpower by Rod Steiger, as the redneck sheriff of a small Mississippi town). They are thrust together when confronted with the murder of the most influential man in town.For some, the confronting of race in this film does not seem as dated as another reviewer suggests. It is fascinating to see Poitier, one of the only African American stars of the time play a role here in such contrast to his roles as a most polite, non threatening Negro in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and "To Sir, With Love". We can tell this is a different kind of man, from the first time he confronts the Sheriff. When asked if he will be the cause of any trouble, his response "no trouble at all" is delivered with quiet but chilling self- assuredness that lets everyone know that even in the Sheriff's office, HE is the one in control.
There is one interesting change of the original script. Legend has it that the script originally called for Poitier's character to stoically accept a slap in the face from an old Southerner he's questioning admirably portrayed by William Schallert). Poitier opined that it would be a much more powerful scene in instead of turning the other cheek, he returned the same slap. He did, and made it one of the more powerful moments in the film.
Great quotable movie line, exclaimed by Rod Steiger: "I got the motive which is money and the body which is dead!" Super supporting cast, including the aforementioned Schallert, Warren Oates, Scott Wilson, and Lee Grant. Its great right down to the title song, sung with more soul than can be contained in any one man - save Ray Charles.
A movie to be seen time and time again, and certainly one for the library.
Movie Review: Random Thoughts from a Twisted Mind
Summary: 5 Stars
From Quincy Jones' score to Haskell Wexler's cinematography "In the Heat of the Night" is worthy of inclusion on anyone's top ten films list.
But as ground breaking as the film was on the subject of 1967 race relations, the most amazing thing is how well it has held up almost 40 years later. I think it rings so true because of way they elected to play several key scenes.
Watch for the carefully orchestrated scene between Mrs. Colbert (Lee Grant) and Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) when alone in the chief's office early in the film. He has just told her that her husband has been murdered and she recoils from his first two attempts to comfort her. Given the upfront racism exhibited in the film up to that point, you assume that it is more of the same. But this is Mrs. Colbert's first scene and when she does not rebuff his third attempt to comfort her you realize that she is completely unaware of his race, she is just devastated by what he has told her and would have rebuffed anyone as she struggled to accept what she has just learned. The attentive viewer realizes that their own prejudice, kindled by what they have seen up to that point in the film, caused them to jump to the wrong conclusion about her character's motivation.
Then watch for the evolving attitude of Chief Gillespie (Rod Steiger) toward Tibbs. Early on he comes to professionally respect him (as he respects the town's black mechanic), then he comes to respect Tibbs as a man when he slaps Endicott (something no other man-black or white-would dare), and finally he comes to respect him as a human being when Tibbs reveals a lust to take Endicott down. The irony being that it is finding Tibbs capable of a higher level human weakness (not a strength) that opens Gillespie's eyes to the fallacy of racism.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.