In the Heat of the Night review

 Number 322 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1967 mystery-drama 'In the Heat of the Night.'

Virgil Tibbs (Sydney Poitier) is a Philadelphia police officer visiting his mother in Mississippi. When a town official is murdered, he is drafted into helping the local Chief of Police Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger.) But the racist town folks are incredibly distrustful and hostile toward Virgil Tibbs.

It can be all too easy to dismiss America's fixation on race, as a mere perverse obsession. But then you watch films like this and you are reminded that less than sixty years ago, these racist attitudes were still alive and well. I'm not talking about the actual film either. Norman Jewison partly shot the film in Tennessee where the cast and crew were harassed by the locals. Plus, Sydney Poitier slept with a gun under his pillow. 

And Sydney Poitier was the driving force behind this film. He was great as Virgil Tibbs who bore all the racial abuse with a steely determination to solve the case. Poitier played the role with a righteous determination. He was terrific.

I would argue that he was even better than his co-star Rod Steiger who won the best Acting Oscar for his portrayal of Gillespie. Out of all the police, he is perhaps the most racist, but after being forced into working with Virgil, we see his outdated views changing. Steiger played this transformation well. But Poitier was the true star.

Another thing I liked was the simplicity of the film. Often in thrillers, like in sci-fi, you have writers trying to put in twist after twist to show how clever they are, when they're just making things convoluted. There is nothing wrong with simplicity. And that's where 'In the Heat of the Night' succeeded. Virgil Tibbs wasn't trying to decode the cyphers that the Zodiac Killer left. He wasn't tracking down the likes of Ted Bundy or Jeffrey Dahmer. Instead he was solving the murder of a single man. And the solution was far simpler than anybody thought.

Finally, I enjoyed the use of prolonged silences that really upped the tension especially where Virgil was facing off against a gang of white men looking to kill him. This silence was balanced well with Quincy Jones' excellent score which included Ray Charles on the title track.

In the Heat of the Night was a great watch with terrific performances from not only Rod Steiger, but, also, Sydney Poitier.