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| Big city detective Virgil Tibbs VS. racist small town Sparta, Mississippi. Note the telling sign. |
When
In the Heat of the Night was released
Aug. 2, 1967, racial strife was rife across the U.S. That summer, my family was
living in Milwaukee, WI, where citizens were under curfew, enforced by The
National Guard. This prompted my small town, white parents to move us back to
Upper MI. I was only 7 and had no idea until my mother mentioned it recently,
in reference to current racial tensions. Watching In the Heat of the Night in 2020 makes me realize how the film
still resonates, and that moving or looking away is no longer an option.
On
April 10, 1968, In the Heat of the Night
won five Oscars. With tragic irony, the Academy Awards were postponed two
nights, in honor of the funeral for the assassinated Martin Luther King. Heat won the Best Picture Oscar for 1967.
Veteran actor Rod Steiger won for Best Actor against tough competition, for his
nuanced portrayal as Police Chief Gillespie. Future director Hal Ashby got the nod
for best film editing, as did Stirling Silliphant for best adapted screenplay,
and Heat also scored for Best Sound. Amazingly,
Sidney Poitier received no Oscar nomination for 1967, despite or because of the
fact it was his biggest year in film: In
the Heat of the Night; To Sir, With
Love; and Guess Who’s Coming
To Dinner?
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Rod Steiger as Police Chief Bill Gillespie. Known for his "big" performances, Steiger shines in his small moments.
Here, the small town cop reacts to Tibbs engaging the suspect. |
Heat
gets the rap in some quarters for winning Best Picture Oscar over the
innovative and iconic The Graduate
and Bonnie and Clyde. Certainly,
those two films broke ground and spoke to its then-younger generation. Heat was also more of a genre picture
than the other two, but it too pushed the envelope, in its depiction of racial
tensions. Over 50 years later, in terms of storytelling, I’d say that In the Heat of the Night holds its own
just fine, and it isn’t dated at all. In fact, one recent review I’ve read
aptly described Heat as ‘once timely,
now timeless.’
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| Chief Gillespie & Virgil Tibbs try to make lemonade from lemons with their uneasy alliance. |
Except
for a few well-chosen tweaks, In the Heat
of the Night is a faithful version of the John Ball novel. The Oscar-winning
screenplay by veteran Stirling Silliphant is taut and tough. The story of a
murder in a small southern town, with a white police chief grudgingly asking the
help of a black Philadelphia detective who’s passing through, is precisely
told. There’s hardly a wasted moment in Heat.
And as the local racial tensions mount over the visiting black cop going
through their dirty laundry, screenwriter Silliphant’s dialogue doesn’t pull
any punches.
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| Warren Oates offers wonderful comic relief as Sam Wood, the Barney Fife of Sparta. |
While
Heat’s mystery is intriguing and the
racial element most direct, what makes this movie especially watchable is its
character study of small town life—southern gothic, really. The small town
folks, when it faces a controversial crime, reminded me a bit of Anatomy of a Murder. As someone who grew
up in one, these characters are quirky, flawed, but totally real. Director
Norman Jewison caught the disparity of small town life beautifully. He
juxtaposes the black and white, the rich and poor, rural with “progress,” good
ole boys and bad girls, and all the folks in between, uneasily living together.
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Anthony James as Ralph, the diner employee who may be Sparta's quirkiest resident!
James, memorable as the creepy chauffeur in 'Burnt Offerings,' passed away in May, 2020. |
The
strong characters are reinforced by a stellar ensemble cast, one of In the Heat of the Night’s many strengths.
Poitier makes a terrific leading man and Steiger is a dynamic star character
actor. Sidney was 40 at the time and didn’t look it, but I was shocked that Rod
was only 42 as the aging, small town cop! Carroll O’ Connor was 64 when he
reprised the role on television in 1988. Rod Steiger chews gum like Bugs Bunny
munches carrots throughout this film, and gives me TMJ just watching him!
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| Steiger's Chief Gillespie may not be a crime solving genius, but he's got Virgil's number. |
I
am not a fan of Rod Steiger. I think he's talented, but for me, he’s the male
version of Shelley Winters—a gifted actor who was too often an outrageous ham.
That said, I think Steiger strongly deserved his Oscar. Except for a few scenes
where he goes loud and does his motor mouth bit, I was so engrossed in the police chief's character that I at times forgot I was watching Rod Steiger. Gillespie,
while a slightly scary and tough character, is ultimately decent, and most
affectingly, a sad and lonely one. Steiger has some incredible moments here,
sometimes with just a sad look in his eyes, or with uncomfortable body language.
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| Poitier's Tibbs' trip back home to Philly is interrupted during a fateful stopover in Sparta. |
Sidney
Poitier as Virgil Tibbs is often the observer, watching and wondering how to
deal with all these racist locals. Richard Burton once wrote that Elizabeth
Taylor and Marlon Brando both had the gift for stillness, making each physical
movement count, and act as much with their eyes as through their dialogue. That
describes Sidney perfectly here. He has some great moments of power, like when
he's frisked, or consoles the widow, and when he shares a cell with the
suspect.
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| These superb actors plus the ensemble cast are a major strength for 'In the Heat of the Night.' |
The
tension between Poitier's Tibbs and literally the rest of the cast is
incredible. With the exception of Mrs. Colbert, the victim's wife, Virgil meets
hostility and downright hatred at every turn. Tibbs is a black man who—in the eyes
of the locals—has stepped above his subservient station, and is therefore a threat.
The only difference between then and now, it was the norm back then. Poitier
plays it cool for most of the movie, with the sense that his character has seen
this all before. From the get go, the cop picks him up at the bus station as
an instant suspect for the murder.
Virgil continues to be quiet, though not obedient, until he hits his breaking
point. It’s then Poitier pointedly proclaims his famous line: “They call
me Mr. Tibbs!”
Larry
Gates recalls his cultured professor in another small town melodrama, Some Came Running. Only here, as town
big shot Endicott, his charm is only skin deep. Gates’ lone, long scene
contains the classic slap-off between his white bigot and the black cop.
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| Larry Gates as Endicott, the town big shot bigot. Doesn't he look like Dick Cheney? |
Scott
Wilson made his film debut, as a suspect Harvey Oberst, followed up with the
same year’s In Cold Blood, in which
he was promoted to star and killer. As troubled Harvey, Wilson uses those
child-like blue eyes to great effect. Warren Oates as Sam, the Barney Fife
wannabe tough cop, is very funny and likeable, despite the fact he's not the sharpest
tool in the shed. He also gradually respects Tibbs' detective skills.
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| Scott Wilson as Harvey, a wrong suspect. In '67, Wilson starred as a real killer 'In Cold Blood.' |
Lee
Grant was back on the big screen in ‘67, after being blacklisted for more than
a decade. She’s fascinating to watch as Mrs. Colbert, the widow of the Yankee
who was going to start a factory to compete with local big wig Endicott—and
hire “colored people!” Grant is pent up intensity personified, and with that
distinctive husky voice to boot, though I found some her hand gestures a bit
too Actors Studio. The recently deceased (5/26/2020) Anthony James is funny and
spooky as Ralph, the diner dude, gleefully hiding pie from Oates’ cop. Quentin
Dean is feral as Delores, the tough, small town tart. Fine familiar faces
William Schallert and Beah Richards have their moments, too. The entire cast builds a most believable
world here.
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| Lee Grant, back on the big screen, here as the victim's widow & as Sharon Tate's sister-in-law in 'Valley of the Dolls.' |
Sparta,
Illinois substitutes for Sparta, Mississippi as a backdrop for In the Heat of the Night. Why? Star
Sidney Poitier did not feel safe travelling to the second Sparta, circa 1966.
The week-long stint to film cotton fields was done in Tennessee, and Poitier
slept with a pistol. However, director Jewison makes evocative use of his
locales to depict hard scrabble small town life.
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| 'Heat' catches the feel of small town life, thanks to Haskell Wexler's cinematography. |
Haskell
Wexler and Norman Jewison’s collective vision is great. Like Jewison’s first
breakout dramatic hit The Cincinnati Kid,
In the Heat of the Night melds the
visual, soundtrack, dialogue, and performances in a pleasing rhythm. Jewison
started out directing musical and musical comedy productions, including the legendary
Judy Garland variety series. Cinematographer Haskell Wexler, who just had the
job of making 33-year-old Elizabeth Taylor look 20 years older in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, now rose
to the rare task of giving a black man the star treatment, which Poitier
credited with enhancing his leading man status.
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| The look on Poitier's face as Tibbs, reacting to his fellow blacks picking cotton, is haunting. |
In the Heat of the Night
is filled with memorable shots: Sam’s bloody hand in front of the cop’s
headlights; a close up of Tibbs, framed by his arms against the wall, as he is
frisked; and Virgil’s staring at the chief, the car window a backdrop to
cotton pickers as they drive by, as Gillespie jibes that this life is not for
Tibbs. Perhaps the most classic shot is Philly detective Virgil Tibbs and
southern cop Gillespie sitting on a bus stop bench together, a spin on the
classic Nichols and May expression "proximity, but no relating."
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| Note the body language of Tibbs and Gillespie, as they reluctantly agree to team up. |
And
the cherry on this cinematic sundae is the jazzy soundtrack is by Quincy Jones,
with Ray Charles singing the title song.
A
few film writers have criticized that the eventual admiration between Tibbs and
Gillespie was too pat—in the real world, perhaps. However, the screenwriter and
director do a great job of giving subtle gradation to the breakdown in their
defenses and growing respect for each other.
Ultimately,
In the Heat of the Night still cooks
on all burners. For anyone who thinks Heat
is out of date, compare it to the same year’s instantly obsolete racial comedy,
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? Given
what’s going on in this country as of 2020, I’d say In the Heat of the Night is a hotter film subject than ever.
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| 'In the Heat of the Night's' final scene, Tibbs and Gillespie have come to respect one another. |
FYI: I put all the movie overflow on my public FB movie
page.
