I would just like to say up front that I am not a particularly big fan of movies made during the 1960's. Now I'm an African-American and since this movie was made in 1967, when racism was a major issue in this country, it touched me very deeply.
A wealthy white businessman from Chicago is found dead, the victim of an apparent homicide, in a southern racist town. The police, being the bigots that they are, think they have the murderer when they arrest Virgil Tibbs(Sidney Poitier), an African-American police officer from Philadelphia who is there to visit his mother. The sheriff(Rod Steiger in an Oscar-Winning performance) laughs at Virgil's claims of being a police officer, a high-ranking officer at that. The scene where Virgil tells the sheriff of how much money he makes is a striking moment. When Virgil's identity is confirmed by the Philadelphia police, they say that he must stay in town until the crime is solved. Staying in the town, however, is not going to be pleasant as many of the local residents think that Virgil should leave while he still has a chance.
This movie is so under-appreciated by critics and the movie-going public alike. Didn't this movie used to be on the IMDb Top 250 List? I mean, what happened? Why did it get booted off? Why isn't it still on there? I'm sick of all the people who say that this movie is so overrated. Please. Sure, In The Heat Of The Night won Best Picture in 1967, but that was 1967, everybody has probably forgotten it since then. Sidney Poitier is a great actor whose performance in this movie was completely overlooked by the Academy Awards. Rod Steiger's performance here was good as well. He really did deserve the Oscar for Best Actor, but Sidney Poitier should gotten at least a nomination. This movie should also have gotten an Oscar nomination for it's hip 60's soundtrack. The Ray Charles song "In The Heat Of The Night" is a classic.
One scene I would like to personally comment on, is the scene inside the jail cell where Virgil is talking to Harvey, the guy suspected of killing the businessman. The reason is because the way the bars are casting a shadow over his face. They show separated Virgil is from everyone else in the movie.
I love this movie and I'm never, never ever going to get tired of it.
10/10
A wealthy white businessman from Chicago is found dead, the victim of an apparent homicide, in a southern racist town. The police, being the bigots that they are, think they have the murderer when they arrest Virgil Tibbs(Sidney Poitier), an African-American police officer from Philadelphia who is there to visit his mother. The sheriff(Rod Steiger in an Oscar-Winning performance) laughs at Virgil's claims of being a police officer, a high-ranking officer at that. The scene where Virgil tells the sheriff of how much money he makes is a striking moment. When Virgil's identity is confirmed by the Philadelphia police, they say that he must stay in town until the crime is solved. Staying in the town, however, is not going to be pleasant as many of the local residents think that Virgil should leave while he still has a chance.
This movie is so under-appreciated by critics and the movie-going public alike. Didn't this movie used to be on the IMDb Top 250 List? I mean, what happened? Why did it get booted off? Why isn't it still on there? I'm sick of all the people who say that this movie is so overrated. Please. Sure, In The Heat Of The Night won Best Picture in 1967, but that was 1967, everybody has probably forgotten it since then. Sidney Poitier is a great actor whose performance in this movie was completely overlooked by the Academy Awards. Rod Steiger's performance here was good as well. He really did deserve the Oscar for Best Actor, but Sidney Poitier should gotten at least a nomination. This movie should also have gotten an Oscar nomination for it's hip 60's soundtrack. The Ray Charles song "In The Heat Of The Night" is a classic.
One scene I would like to personally comment on, is the scene inside the jail cell where Virgil is talking to Harvey, the guy suspected of killing the businessman. The reason is because the way the bars are casting a shadow over his face. They show separated Virgil is from everyone else in the movie.
I love this movie and I'm never, never ever going to get tired of it.
10/10