Original Episode: #8 In the Heat of the Night (1967) (released April 16, 2020)
New Episode: #242 In the Heat of the Night (1967) Revisit (released December 25, 2024)
Cast:
Norman Jewison, Director
Sterling Silliphant, Writer
Quincy Jones, Music
Sidney Poitier as Detective Virgil Tibbs
Rod Steiger as Police Chief Bill Gillespie
Warren Oates as Officer Sam Wood
Lee Grant as Mrs. Colbert
Larry Gates as Eric Endicott
James Patterson as Lloyd Purdy
William Schallert as Mayor Schubert
Beah Richards as Mama Caleba
Recognition:
Based on the novel by John Ball, In the Heat of the Night would release on August 2, 1967.
On a shoestring budget of $2 million, the film would go on to gross roughly $24.2 million to finish #13 at the worldwide box office for 1967.
The film was widely praised across the industry and critics alike, and would eventually receive 7 Oscar nominations for Best Director (Jewison) and Sound Effects, and winning Best Picture, Actor (Steiger), Screenplay (Silliphant), Film Editing (Ashby), and Sound.
In 2003, In the Heat of the Night was selected by The New York Times as one of the 1000 Best Movies Ever Made.
The film has been recognized by the AFI on the following lists:
In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
In the Heat of the Night currently holds a 95% among critics on RT, a 76 score on Metacritic, and a 4/5 on Letterboxd.
Plot Summary: In the Heat of the Night (1967) is a taut, incisive drama that explores the collision of justice and racial prejudice in the Deep South. Sidney Poitier stars as Virgil Tibbs, a Philadelphia detective who reluctantly teams up with a bigoted small-town sheriff, played by Rod Steiger, to solve a murder in Sparta, Mississippi.
Director Norman Jewison builds a gripping procedural around the tension between these two men, each forced to confront his own biases in the face of a shared goal. With its evocative cinematography, unforgettable moments of confrontation, and Quincy Jones' soulful score, In the Heat of the Night transcends the confines of a murder mystery. It is a film of deep moral resonance, one that holds a mirror to America's struggles with race, power, and reconciliation—while delivering a narrative as electrifying as it is humane.
Did You Know?:
Sidney Poitier insisted that the movie be filmed in the North because of an incident in which he and Harry Belafonte were almost killed by Ku Klux Klansmen during a visit to Mississippi. That's why Sparta, IL, was chosen for location filming. Nevertheless, the filmmakers and actors did venture briefly into Tennessee for the outdoor scenes at the cotton plantation, because there was no similar cotton plantation in Illinois that could be used. Poitier slept with a gun under his pillow during production in Tennessee. He did receive threats from local racist thugs, so the shoot was cut short and production returned to Illinois.
This was the first major Hollywood film in color that was lit with proper consideration for an actor with dark skin. Haskell Wexler recognized that standard lighting used in filming produced too much glare on most black actors and others of dark complexion. He toned down the lighting to feature Sidney Poitier with better results.
Rod Steiger was asked by director Norman Jewison to chew gum when playing the part. He resisted at first, but then grew to love the idea, and eventually went through 263 packs of gum during shooting.
Set in a hot Mississippi summer, but filmed during autumn in Illinois, many of the actors had to keep ice chips in their mouths (and spit them out before takes) to prevent their breath from appearing on camera during the night scenes.
Scott Wilson so impressed Sidney Poitier that he contacted director Richard Brooks and suggested Wilson for a leading role in In Cold Blood (1967). Poitier never mentioned this to Wilson at the time, who only found out about this recommendation after he had been cast.
The Stanley Rubric:
Original Legacy Score: 7
New Legacy Score: 5.5
Original Impact/Significance Score: 6
New Impact/Significance Score: 9
Original Novelty Score: 7
New Novelty Score: 7
Original Classicness Score: 5.5
New Classicness Score: 7.25
Original Rewatchability Score: 6
New Rewatchability Score: 5.75
Original Audience Score: 9.2 (92% RT)
New Audience Score: 8.7 (82% Google, 92% RT)
Original Total Score: 40.7 (#180 currently)
New Total Score: 44.95
In Memorium:
Michael Cole, 84, American actor (The Mod Squad, General Hospital, It).
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