In The Heat Of The Night

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Runtime: 110 minutes

Directed by: Norman Jewison

Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates

From: United Artists

Finally I can say “RIP Sidney Poitier”. It taking me over a month is admittedly not great on my part for a legendary performer like him who was the first Black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor among many other accomplishments & accolades. Then again, watching this during Black History Month when it played on Turner Classic Movies this past evening was not a bad time for me to talk about an actor/director whose most popular movie (at least on Letterboxd) was this. I never watched the TV series that was loosely based on the movie but is something I remember from it being on network TV then the reruns in syndication that probably are still on the air today.

It may sound simple at first: Virgil Tibbs is a Black detective from Philadelphia who ends up in Sparta, Mississippi and mainly because of color he was initially accused of murdering a wealthy industrialist. Due to circumstances the prejudicial police department in a town with little tolerance have to work with Tibbs on the case. Of course there are red herrings and false leads; the actual mystery is not the most complex although that is not a complaint as it was not only interesting, it made this a Southern Gothic story set in a seedy little town where-among other things-teenage pregnancy and voyeurism of a 16 year old girl takes place. “Heat” is an appropriate word as multiple scenes are rather sweaty.

What a compelling tale this was; what quality performances from Poitier, Rod Steiger as the constant gum-chewing Sheriff (he won an Oscar for his performance) Warren Oates as another police officer and Lee Grant as the murdered man's widow. It does have a boss soundtrack from Quincy Jones, angry and in your face which is appropriate for the anti-racist message of this movie while at the same time fitting of the Mississippi setting.

This also won Best Picture at the Oscars; without having watched all of the other nominees, I won't find fault with it getting the nod. Regrettably, the world presented in this movie of the South was true to life. There is a real life Sparta, Mississippi but most of it was actually filmed in the Northern town of Sparta, Illinois. Without knowing the details, the KKK almost killed Poitier and Harry Belafonte in Mississippi so filming in the state was out of the question. Some scenes had to be done in Tennessee and racist thugs did threaten his life... as a key subplot of this movie involves a mob looking to kill him, I was glad this movie was able to present a Black man as a hero despite having to do his job in such a prejudicial area or the relationship between he and the Sheriff changing throughout the film.

Thus, this was a great way for me to finally tip my cap to a legend.