Review of In the Heat of the Night (1967) by Tanvir M — 20 Jan 2013

A great, classic movie. Sidney Poitier, a bad ass detective from Philly, has to deal with a bunch of backwards, incompetent, racist white police officers and townspeople in small-town, 1960s Mississippi.

At first the cops are jerks to him, but slowly - two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward, one step back - they come to recognize not only his goodness and decency, but just the general truth that he really is a sophisticated bad ass as he uses his expertise to help them conduct a murder investigation.

It almost didn't happen, but the ginger widow of the victim trusted Sidney Poitier from the start and persuaded/pressured the local police to set aside their bias to find out what happened to her husband instead of being lazy and just settling for a scapegoat.

I'm sure the general theme was very bold in the turbulent 60s, as was the scene where a Peeping Tom cop watched a woman parade around in the nude in her house as selectively positioned props blocked certain parts of her anatomy for the cameras.

Quite the risque movie for the time... I'm sure Don Draper and company really enjoyed it. As soon as it's released for Bluray for the Criterion Collection, I will buy an edgy, pretentious copy for my very own personal collection.