In the Heat of the Night

For this year’s “Black History Movie Month,” I’m dedicating this entire month to the great Sidney Poitier. He is a great actor/director, and has done some of the best works in cinema history. Let’s start this epic month with the 1967 classic, “In the Heat of the Night.”

Sidney Poitier goes up against violent racists in smalltown Mississippi in this heated 1967 police flick.

David Jenkins said in his review, “Wow… As Dinah Washington once sang, “what a difference a day makes”. It would be disingenuous to say that Norman Jewison’s sweat-dappled southern policier gains a chilling relevance at a time when then the White House is being populated with white supremacist yahoos, because the film’s power was evident long prior to the world going very wrong indeed.”

“In the Heat of the Night” is a film of standardized racism, taking place in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi. It shows racism as a normal part of life, showing people in prison which is being supported with caring segregation and arrogant behavior. The people of the town have such large hatred that it rises a pretty, accepted part of regular southern life.

A businessman, played by Jack Teter, has been found dead on the streets, which tarnishes all plans of a new factory and economic affluence. At the request of Sheriff Bill Gillespie, played by Rod Steiger, the police are told to scout the city for suspects. Along comes Detective Virgil Tibbs, played by Sidney Poitier, who is a moody, out-of-town detective who actually is just passing through. Going against his thinking, he decides to help them look through the case once they see he’s an innocent man. By doing so, he sees that’s not simply trying to find a murderer, but to face off against a long line of racism in the city’s history. Jenkins described, “He is Sparta’s worst nightmare.”

As Tibbs, Poitier lets out a large amount of honorable moral confusion. Jenkins asks, “Should he just let the mouth-breathing, chain-swinging scum wallow in their own filth? Should he risk life and limb to deliver a peaceable humanist lesson to his slathering aggressors? And is there a happy ending for either course of action?” One of the film’s most amazing and vague elements is the suggestion that Tibbs sees racism as a normal part of violent crime, and his main suspects are all old personages whose believe were made on cotton fields and black slavery. What’s great about the film (and Poitier’s performance) is that it’s never said that he’s a hero or a savior. His status is way more vague and interesting than that.

Jenkins noted, “The film’s dutiful thriller mechanics are far less important than its politics – it has passed the test of time more for the small gestures and the iconic lines of dialogue.” One scene that is still really powerful is when Tibbs fights rich landowner Eric Endicott, played by Larry Gates. He asks whether this affirmed and evidently racist man might have had reasons for murder, and Tibbs gets slapped. The understandable reaction is Tibbs slaps Endicott back. This one part summarizes the urge to fight back. Jenkins said, “What’s most telling, though, is how physically and emotionally shaken Endicott is by the transaction.” He knows his time has ended.

This is a great movie that everyone should see, especially those who are fans of Sidney Poitier. People probably know this, but this is the movie that has the famous line, “They call me Mister Tibbs.” I have a feeling this is where Disney got the idea to spoof the line in “The Lion King” when Pumbaa said, “They call me Mister Pig.” I might be right, but I might be wrong, who knows. Still, you should see this movie because you will love it, I promise.

The success of this movie led it to have sequels, which we will look at next week in the continuation of “Sidney Poitier Month.”