Review of In the Heat of the Night (1967) by Adam K — 06 May 2008

This is by far one of the best films I have seen recently, and it is not surprisingly the winner of the Best Picture at the Academy Awards. What is so sad about this film is that although the film received many accolades, Poitier did not win any Oscars for his performance, nor was he even nominated for Best Actor. Instead, veteran actor Rod Steiger, of Actor's Studio stock, was nominated. However, it is almost indisputable that Poitier is the main character and lead actor, and Steiger is simply a very important (and very excellent) supporting role as Sheriff Gillespie.

When Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) is mistakenly arrested for murder in a small Mississippi town, he brings to the surface all the underlying racial tension that existed and still exists in much of America. The film has so many excellent and deliciously tense scenes that it is hard not to keep watching.

Worse off, neither Tibbs nor Sheriff Gillespie feel 100% comfortable working with each other, and the situation only keeps escalating worse and worse, with Tibbs constantly watching his back for racist townspeople.

Ironically, as a successful and educated black detective from Philadelphia, Tibbs finds himself a stranger in all respects: he neither fits in with the whites nor the blacks in Mississippi. Furthermore, his calm, logical, just behavior, and his stellar job qualifications evoke much more than a little bitterness from many of the local townsfolk.

In another sense, it is a story about changing times and redemption. When the Mayor asks the Sheriff why he did not just shoot Tibbs after the black detective defended himself against wealthy plantation owner Eric Endicott, Sheriff Gillespie says nothing, and reacts with disgust, obviously aware that he is far more progressive than his local peers. And yet still, there is that certain suspicion and bitterness, the cultural loss of the South as it in once again invaded and affronted by, of all people, an intelligent, free, and well-off African American man. The theme of the South losing out to the North is further accentuated by the fact that the murder victim was a wealthy Chicago industrialist who was planning to build a factory in the small town, threatening to replace Endicott's cotton business and to provide better-paying jobs for locals, half of whom are African American field workers.

Overall, this film was groundbreaking in the way it touched on issues that were--and by some accounts still are--very sensitive. Not only is it a racial drama, but it also illustrates the dysfunction and loneliness of small town life, and the final loss of Southern economic dominance.

Highly recommended for true film buffs, but also highly recommended for anyone who just likes a good, solid drama. Just one of many stellar performances from both poitier and Steiger, but arguably their best.