RojoIn the Heat of the Night
‘In the Heat of the Night’ is a 60’s movie that you might see late at night and start watching. Before you know it 30 minutes later you’re still watching engrossed.
That’s how I first came about it, so as I came home on a split shift the other day and behold ‘In the Heat of the Night’ was on, so I watched.
Sydney Poitier has achieved a status in the acting world, the status of ‘the man’ and this status is due to many roles, one of which is Virgil Tibbs. “They call me Mr Tibbs”! Tibbs a black police detective is mistaken for a killer in a small southern town by the local racist flatfoots. They assume that he is the killer because of a few things. 1. He’s black, (imagine if they had hip-hop back then?) 2. He’s a stranger. 3. The cops are philistines .
Fitting the local’s criteria he is deemed to be even guiltier due to the fact he actually has money on him. Enter Rod Steiger as Police chief Bill Gillespie a bigoted oaf who couldn’t find his pistol if it was loaded and hanging from his mouth.
When Tibbs proves he isn’t the killer by calling his Captain he is ordered to assist the southern police as best he can. Thus forms an unwilling alliance between Gillespie and Tibbs to track down the party truly responsible for the murder that has occurred. As the two sleuth their way to the truth barriers are broken down, and a friendship is almost forged between the two. Tibbs also begins to shake the local’s ideas of black people with his intelligent ways and no-nonsense attitude.
Ok so that’s the plot. Beneath this is the statement the film is making. Now having been made in the late 60’s there is a lot of racial turmoil happening in the states, and due to this, this is an incredibly brave movie to have been made. Steiger character is really a house nigger to the town’s rich white folk where as Poitier comes across as a supercilious man, a law unto himself, (there is a great oh yeah moment where Tibbs slaps down the towns richest white man). He looks down at the nigh retarded southerners as they do the cotton pickers in the field. In a great scene Gillespie taunts Tibbs with this fact as Tibbs is readying himself to leave Gillespie swallows what’s left of his pride and asks him to stay and help. When Tibbs refuses he hits him with the truth, “you think you are so much better than us here how can you even dream of passing up this opportunity to prove it”.
This is a must see for all those who love film, and for those who say to themselves as I did years ago ‘I must really see older films’. A classic that gave birth to squeals that were nowhere near as good as this but still enjoyable for the Poitier factor (They call me Mister Tibbs and The Organisation).
Also a little bit of trivia concerning the cast and New Zealand. Warren Oates plays Officer Sam Woods is in ‘In the Heat of the Night’ he was also Sleeping Dogs and kiwi film staring Sam Neil directed by Roger Donaldson and including a crew member John Reid (my ex-film school tutor) who when on to make the Last Tattoo which stared Rod Steiger. (Small world).
In the Heat of the Night 8/10
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