In The Heat of the Night (1967)

Set in a small town in Mississippi, In the Heat of The Night is the story of how a black police detective from Philadelphia ends up having to solve a murder mystery which he doesn’t feel too optimistic about, especially after being viewed as a suspect himself! To add to his problems, he also has to deal with a very racist residence that doesn’t seem to want to answer questions from whom they consider as an intruder. There is hope for Virgil Tibbs though as the murder victim’s wife sees how much of a laughing stock the local police are and threatens to stop work on the much needed factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. With skilful acting and a well written plot, In the Heat of The Night gives us a notable reminder that are prejudgement can often let us down and can have future consequences when people come to prejudge us. The southern states of America have always been a place of hardship for blacks from the Caribbean and Africa. The first black slaves were brought here in the early seventieth century by Europeans as part of the slave trade. Despite slavery being abolished and black's fighting many wars for America, the southern states have never seemed to get used to the idea that people with different coloured skin have the same rights as each other. Even after thousands of American deaths in the biggest and bloodiest war ever fought on American soil, the southern states population still do not view blacks as equals. In the Heat of the Night shows us just this when the local police are stunned that a black detective is getting paid far more generously than themselves. However, eventually they begin to get used to Tibbs and help with his investigation. I thought that Sidney Poitier gave a brilliant performance in a film made during a time of difficulty and change for blacks in America. In 1967, the year that In the Heat of the Night was released, the Civil Rights movement was well under way. Overnight this film became a box office hit, mainly due to the Civil Rights beginning to take hold and the excellent performances of Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Although Sidney Poiter gave an excellent performance, I thought Rod Steiger gave an Oscar Winning performance. Rod Steiger was a well known actor in the second half of the twentieth century with his roles in films such as Oklahoma!, Doctor Zhivago and one of my favourite war films, Waterloo as the legendary, admirable and one of history's greatest military tacticians and commanders, Napoleon Bonaparte. He has won several awards including best actor. He won an Oscar for In the Heat of the Night but I thought he should have won two! His attitude to Tibbs and his perspective on how black people should be treated completely changes throughout the course of the film, from him being a racist southerner to an admirer of Tibbs. This is one of the reasons why I thought he gave such a brilliant performance because it’s hard to be relaxed and calm at one minute whilst being on Tibbs side and then mad and racist during another when questioning Tibbs view. Overall, with amazing performances, a superb plot and an essential reminder of what people can be like to one another, In the Heat of the Night ranks as one of my favourite and admirable films to date.