In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

In The Heat Of Night4 And A Half Out Of 5In The Heat Of Night is a rare cinematic art that redefines the genre on its own terms and grasps for something that seemed beyond impossible to achieve and that is its maturity on conveying a message. The scrutiny in here is thought out with each individual character's perspective that makes not only its characters three dimensional but also a more mature and stronger plot that isn't here to merely deliver a nail-biting thriller drama but an all direction view of the black and white aspects of the truth. It may be short on technical aspects like background score, production and art design, but is utterly adequate on editing and cinematography. The adaptive screenplay by Sterling Silliphant is witty, strong, gripping and aware of the characteristics of the characters well enough to keep the audience engaged throughout the course of it and offer them thought-provoking homework, too along with that. Norman Jewison; the director, is in his A game as his pitch on the emotions and the stakes creates the anticipated impact and draws out the best outcomes from the screen. Sidney Poitier is convincing as a protagonist but the real game changer in here is Rod Steiger in his parallel role steals the show with his stellar performance. In The Heat Of Night is a shattering and revealing showdown iterated in a night whose discectomy is just pleasingly ingenious to encounter.

SPOILER: While this film is typically regarded as a great film about changing race relations during the 1960s, it is never considered a "Pro-Choice" film. Looked at in that way, it's worth considering that all the consequential action in the story - the murder, Tibbs being Shanghaied off the train by Gillespie, the racist assaults and epithets and even the final solving of the crime - all come back to one 16-year-old girl needing an abortion, and no legal, private, confidential abortion service being available for her. Had abortion been legal in Mississippi in 1967, there would have been no murder, no robbery, no Tibbs-Gillespie drama, and no story.

Now here is entertainment wrapped up and delivered right to your door just like a pizza with everything on it fresh & hot ready for the eating. The actors are committed and good at what they do. The story is top notch and the directing captures every scene making this a movie that commands that you see it over and over again despite knowing how it ends. Why? It's just so well-put together. Racism is served up in a believable way and for its time allows the viewer to get a glimpse of the South and its ways and how if you go along you will get along. Today, that strategy is rejected in favor of equal rights and fair-play. Strong performances by Rod Steiger who one can count on and of course Sidney who breaks-out in this movie using his talents and skills realizing he is only black when necessary to the story. He ends up being an example and good role model for a decent human being and friend to all teaching by example too. Notice how twice in this movie, the Police Chief played by Steiger adamantly concludes that this is the way the murder happened and has his mind made up. This is why we take 13 years to execute someone on death row. We need to make sure they are guilty before taking a life. Here, they are quick to take the life and in the south, when anyone in power says you are guilty, I am afraid its so right or wrong. Shame on us for this taking place but it does. Highly recommend a nice meal when watching this and at the least, a decent snack with a tasty drink rewarding yourself completely during the showing. If I had to sum up the lessons given in this movie it would be that character says it all about who and what a human being is and should strive to be. Without this, we are beasts of the field

First off, just to get it off my chest, every small town head law enforcement person is not a sheriff. I don't understand nor will I ever understand why so many people cannot make this very simple and straight forward distinction. Heck, even the television show based on the movie just HAD to put Stetsons on the Police because they figured, "Police and CHIEF have already been established, we HAVE to do SOMETHING to show they're actually all sheriffs!" Stupid, plain and simple. An easy concept for intelligent people to grasp, they are NOT all sheriffs.Whew. Sorry. It's always eaten at me and even though I know my tirade won't wake up the lethargic, I feel better venting....again.But enough of my bellyaching.This movie stands out as one of the all time classic films on a few levels. For one, it's and examination about race relations, not just in the south, but in general and how, even if you're not trying, you just might see that the bottom line is, we're all just people. There are good, there are bad, there are misunderstood and what color your skin happens to be, is totally irrelevant. Of course, all of the bad people in this happen to be white, but it's the circumstances under which the film takes. We see the transformation of some folks once they see Virgil Tibbs for who he is, not what he is. It's always good to watch when someone is enlightened, even a little.This movie is also a decent murder mystery. I grant you, not really the focus, but the compelling main plot IS the mystery of who the killer is and why he/she did it. The racial stuff is a dynamic sub-plot. Or is it the other way around? Hmmmm.It's also a very interesting character study. CHIEF Gillespie is shown to be clearly a complicated man who, though he wants to do the right thing, feels the need to prove himself even more so. He has a difficult time with being wrong or second guessed and yet, you see him occasionally second guessing himself and questioning his, or should I say the values of all around him.Tibbs is shown to be a good and righteous man who, as Gillespie points out, is deep down, "...just like the rest of us." in that he seems fixated on 'taking that fat cat off this hill.' Tibbs has convicted Endicott prior to even proving that Endicott actually did it. Just has Gillespie has done with others. The exchange outside of Endicott's house between Gillespie and Tibbs is priceless and the look on Tibbs' face when reality is thrown at him is extremely telling. And this exchange is one of the highlights of the film, and there are plenty others.The acting is outstanding. Each and every character is pretty much flawless, the weakest acting link (for me, anyway) was Quentin Dean as Delores. She didn't get LOTS of acting jobs after this, so I'm guessing I'm correct in my belief she was not great actress. It's unfortunate that she passed on at 58 years of age. She wasn't that bad. And of course, it's simply sad she passed at a relatively young age.But Rod Steiger and Sydney Poitier are two of the best, hands down. Warren Oates, never seemed to be acting, just actually being that person he was portraying, who always seemed to be like Warren Oates! The entire cast carries this without effort. I won't name them all, too many great performances to try.The dialogue is well written as well, VERY well written.Now for a little more nitpicking, sorry, it's in my blood. Though they may nor may not be spoilers, I feel better saying they are.First off, as much an expert as Tibbs is, it's amazing he knows everything about everything. Fern root? He knows all there is to know about Fern Root? Whew, there was a stroke of luck. No doubt fern root is a major factor in many of the cases he worked in Philadelphia! LMAO.I was amazed that the FBI could get the package, examine it and get it back to Mississippi within 24 hours, especially in 1967. REALLY? Why did Federal Express even need to be established? I'll close here. This movie is timeless, not 'dated'. It takes place when it takes place and when it takes place was a tough time for America for so many reasons, not that today is a walk in the park. But we see people for who they were then, and how some are now. Not all good people are white or black; nor are all bad people. (I'm not ignoring any other group, but this movie doesn't address any other groups, please hold off on any complaints about my lack of inclusiveness. Thank you.)