1967--In the Heat of the Night, Norman Jewison

 

1967--In the Heat of the Night—Norman Jewison

Nominated: Bonnie and Clyde, Dr. Doolittle, The Graduate, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Should have won: Bonnie and Clyde

Be sure to see: Cool Hand Luke,Wait Until Dark

“What do you mean I'm holding the wrong man? I got the motive which is money and the body which is dead!”--Bill Gillespie

     In the Heat of the Night caught my attention immediately with the visual of the train and Ray Charles' voice singing the theme. I loved this movie and one of the main reasons is the music, in particular, the score written specifically for the screen by Quincy Jones. No piece of music had already existed; every bar of music was original.

     It is a hot night in the racially tense Sparta, Mississippi, and an officer on patrol discovers a body in the street. Doing rounds in the area looking for suspects he finds a black man waiting for the 4:05 train to Memphis and arrests him as a suspect. Upon returning to the station it is revealed the man is Virgil Tibbs, Philadelphia's number one homicide expert who is in Mississippi visiting his mother. After his identity is cleared he is free to go. But when a suspect the police is positive is the killer is arrested, Tibbs uses his intellect and experience to prove the man's innocence. Rather than going home, he stays and takes the case.

     I loved every moment of this movie. Sydney Poitier is a very commanding presence. Rod Steiger rightfully won the Oscar for his performance as Bill Gillespie. His character is constantly chewing gum (it is reputed Steiger chewed 263 packs of gum during filming) examining the situations. He probably knows (but won't admit) he isn't as smart as Tibbs. He is also thankful to have someone as capable as Tibbs on his side but at the same time is concerned about his presence. The people of Sparta aren't too keen on the idea of a capable black man in town, much less running the ship, as when Gillespie saves Tibbs from a group of white men who have him cornered. I love the climax of this scene. When one of the men states what is on his mind, Gillespie slaps him around, then moves on to the next one.

     The movie was very popular with black audiences because of Tibbs and though he has many key moments the one that seems to stand out has to be “the slap heard around the world.” Tibbs finds a plant in the victim's car so he and Gillespie go to Mr. Alvacot's greenhouse. Tibbs questions Alvacot on the case and gets slapped. He immediately slaps Alvacot back. Alvacot is stunned but so is Gillespie, even when Alvacot asked what will be done about it. In 1967, it was a very powerful moment to see Tibbs strike a white man. I, of course, thought of the moment in Night of the Living Dead the following year when Ben strikes Barbara.If you've seen it, you understand.

     Who actually committed the murder, the motive, the location of where the murder took place compared to where the body ended up, and other instances in the case seem to be secondary to the performances and the racial tension. In the Heat of the Night is one of the best detective movies I've seen and though Poitier drives the film, my favorite aspect is Steiger as Gillespie. But I must say whenever he was on screen I couldn't help but picture Carroll O'Connor in his role from the television show.

     In the Heat of the Night is completely worthy of a best picture nomination, but Bonnie and Clyde is a monumentally superior cops vs. bad guys movie. By far the correct choice for what should have won the Oscar. I wonder if it was one of those cases where the award "had to" go to Heat. Just a theory but it is still very good and worth a look.