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Back in 1965, author John Ball’s mystery novel “In the Heat of the Night” was released.
The book was the first introduction to the character Virgil Tibbs and would lead to sequels “They Call Me Mister Tibbs!” (1970) and “The Organization” (1971).
Each of these books were made to a live-action film and would star actor Sidney Poitier.
The 1967 film adaptation of “In the Heat of the Night” which was directed by Norman Jewison (best known for directing this film, along with “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Moonstruck”) and would star Sidney Poitier (“Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, “Lilies of the Field”, “The Defiant Ones”), Rod Steiger (“On the Waterfront”, “Duck, you Sucker”, “The Pawnbroker”), Warren Oates (“The Wild Bunch”, “Stripes”, “Badlands”), Lee Grant (“Mulholland Drive”, “Detective Story”, “Omen II: Damien”) and many more.
The film won five academy awards including “Best Picture” and “Best Actor” for Rod Steiger.
“In the Heat of the Night” was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registery by the Library of Congress in 2002 as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
And the film would lead to an award winning TV series decades later, from 1988-1995.
The film is set in Sparta, Mississippi in which a wealthy industrialist named Phillip Colbert, looking to build a factory which would lead to many jobs in the small town area, is found dead by police officer Sam Wood (portrayed by Warren Oates).
Chief Gillespie (portrayed by Rod Steiger) leads the investigation, meanwhile Sam sees an African American man, wearing a suit and waiting at the train station early in the morning. He is arrested and immediately the police including Chief Gillespie automatically presume the African American man, named Virgil Tibbs (portrayed by Sidney Poitier), to be responsible for the murder of Colbert because he is Black.
When Chief Gillespie starts to ask him questions of what he was doing late and where he works, it is revealed by Virgil that is a police officer from Philadelphia. When the Chief calls to find out if its true, he finds out that it is true and that Virgil is one of the top homicide detectives and will be assisting Chief Gillespie, using his skills on the homicide case.
As Virgil examines the body, the doctor and his assistant are afraid to be near Virgil because he’s Black and treat him like he is a man with a disease. Virgil concludes that the death of the murder happened earlier and the killer was right handed.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Colbert (portrayed by Lee Grant) comes and Virgil tells her of the death of her husband and consoles her.
Meanwhile, the police immediately receive word that a man responsible for the murder has been caught because he had the man’s wallet. And immediately, the Chief and the police feel they caught their man, but when Virgil examines the suspect, he tells them that his not the man, because he is left-handed.
Not happy that Virgil is offering his analysis and wants him to leave town, Virgil said he is sending his findings to the FBI, the Chief then charges Virgil on concealing evidence and locks him up with the suspect.
Mrs. Colbert sees the injustice and tells the mayor that she wants the Black man to work on the homicide case or else no factory will be built in Sparta, in which the mayor then gets involved and tells Chief Gillespie, because they desperately need the Colbert factory and jobs in their town, he must allow Virgil to work with him.
So, now Virgil must work with the racist police chief to solving the homicide case but to make things worse, work in a town that despises Black people and are wanting to kill Virgil.
I decided to watch “In the Heat of the Night”, as it felt it was the right time to watch the film, considering what is going on in America today with the anger towards police brutality, police corruption, racism and the anger that has led to protests worldwide.
“In the Heat of the Night”, written by John Ball, showcased the character Virgil Tibbs and was released during the civil rights era.
It’s a powerful film as it featured a Black character who knew that he was in the racist south but would not let these racists triumph over him.
While the film was quite popular, won Academy Awards and many film critics called the film “thought-provoking”, “important”, “tense”, but it makes you wonder if film made any significant impact on Americans during the late ’60s. Because here we are 50-years later and the world is still in a dark place.
Here we are in 2020. Racial divide continues to permeate in America.
Here we are in 2020. Police brutality continues to exist.
Here we are in 2020. Karen’s in the world continue to call police on people because they fear a person due to the color of their skin or they came from another country and are not white.
This is 2020. Has America really progressed all these decades or have people just kept quiet.
Needless to say, I watched “In the Heat of the Night”, watching Mr. Tibbs, it didn’t matter that he was wearing a suit, minding his own business and staying away from trouble. Because he was Black, he was racially profiled, arrested because of the color of his skin and was branded a criminal before he could say anything. Guilty, the police say, because he’s Black and a Caucasian man is dead.
Only until he is revealed to be a police officer from Philadelphia, one of the top homicide investigators, then the racist police chief allows him to help. Until he does his examination but because police think they found their guilty suspect, ends up throwing Mr. Tibbs in jail again for concealing evidence, when Tibbs tells them he was going to send his findings to the FBI.
But then, they release him and allow him to investigate when the wife of the wealthy victim says she wants the Black man to work on the case, and under pressure from the mayor, because they want a factory built in their town, then Mr. Tibbs is given the chance to investigate.
But of course, he must deal with the racists of Sparta, a nearly all-white community that threaten to kill him because he’s Black. Even the coroner/doctor on the investigation is afraid to be in Mr. Tibbs’ presence because he’s Black and behaves that he may catch a disease from him.
The acting is convincing, the tension feels so real and I couldn’t help but think…”This is the power of the cinema”. It was like the reality coming alive onscreen and to show how messed up things were then but to have a storyline of an African American man and a racist white cop having to work with each other.
I’m sure the positive message at the time was thought-provoking and hopeful. But watching it today, 50 years later, we know that racism still continues. Sure, people of all races work together and for the sake of political correctness, they work with each other and there is a facade that everything is ok.
When things are not OK. We have seen this with New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees, a man who has given money to those in need in Louisiana, but his comments on those who don’t salute the flag, it hurt a lot of his teammates, many who are Black.
Or when thousands are trying to get the message out of #BlackLivesMatters and yet those who try to push for #AllLivesMatters but how in order to get to all lives matters, we need to face the issue affecting the African American community and know that change has to happen.
It’s important for people to understand that we have a very big problem right. It was a matter of time when “enough is enough” and people are not going to take it anymore.
When officer Virgil Tibbs is slapped in the face by a wealthy white man, he didn’t cower because the White man was rich and powerful, Tibbs slapped him right back.
This is a man who was not going to let racists get the best of him and that’s what I love about the film “In the Heat of the Night”. It shows the reality of racism with efficacy on screen but it shows a man who was not going to be deterred by the racists. Virgil Tibbs is a man that is not going to go down without fighting.
And that’s what I found inspirational. The Civil Rights Era was important and groundbreaking, but what has happened since then, band-aids have been applied on wounds from the past. Wounds that continue to accumulate, and band-aids continue to be applied but deep inside, the pain is so much to the point where people have had enough.
This is 2020. People have had enough and they can’t take it anymore.
“In the Heat of the Night” is a film that no doubt holds up well for today’s audience. There is a clear message. As clear it was back in 1967. But the question is, for the viewer watching the film, will that message reach out to you and want to make a difference, so social injustice in this country can be defeated.
“In the Heat of the Night” is a film that I highly recommend.
