In the Heat of the Night [DVD] [1967]

This is a story a black policeman coming to small Mississippi town coincidently.And he has to solve a murder case.People of town entirely mediocre, and of racist.Characters are fantastic, artists performances are great.Settings and dialogs are very classical; so classical great movie.

I saw this film as a teenager on black and white television, and it was memorable then, yet strangely it doesn’t seem to have had much exposure since. Prompted to view it again by Sidney Poitier’s recent passing, it was if anything more gripping than half a century ago. It was Rod Steiger who landed the best actor gong as the bigoted and incompetent police chief of a Mississippi backwater, but this film is remembered more as one if Poitier’s finest, and IMO his best by far. I confess to not being his greatest fan. Poitier often appeared to play the same character over and over again: impossibly cool, calm and collected, as emphasised by the impeccable grooming and that so elegant voice, with its carefully measured delivery, precise diction and mid-Atlantic accent. Those features are all present in homicide detective Virgil Tibbs, but subtle variations show real anger, and triumph, and also fear when he is cornered by a gang of redneck thugs in a deserted building. To judge how real this is as an illustration of the time and place probably requires an American upbringing of that era, which I do not have, but it resonates with childhood memories of travelling through Mississippi and adjoining Deep South states shortly before this film was released, an experience still recalled as trying. A great film that has lost none of its potency.

One of the best movies ever made !

Filmed when the Mississippi was not only racist, but the trains, landscape was totally correct. The acting is so top class, all thru the cast

I watched this movie some 30 years ago and remembered the red thread of the plot, but now I wanted to see it again and bought the dvd here on Amazon.Sidney Poitier is the star of the film, which focus on the race problem in America and especially in the south in the 1960:s Poitier was part of the civilrights movementand made two great movies that put the finger on the race problem in America(In the heat of the night and Guess whos coming to dinner).When I saw it now, 2012, its still a greatmovie, but the real star of the movie is Rod Steiger, the redneck sheriff in the town where Poitier happens to be at the wrong time at the wrong place. Just one example; watch the scene when Steiger finds out that the man they have arrested for murder is a "real" policeman from way up north, just watch Steigers face! Sure Poitier is good, but look out for Steiger, without him the movie would fall flat down in its sometimes too "black and white" view of the problem of racism in the south. Some things in the movie are very 60:s so to speak, but some scenes will never be outdated, they are just as real today, 2012, buy the movie and go and figure it out for yourself whereever you live. Its a very good way to spend an Sunday afternoon or evening.

This film won best picture Oscar in 1967. It was one of a number of distinguished liberal American films made at the time of the growth of the Civil Rights movement -'To Kill a Mockingbird' was another - when the US was very much a divided nation, with African Americans, as the term now is - it wasn't then - still very much an underprivileged, underrepresented sector of society. Now, when Barak Obama has just announced his intention to run for the Presidency, the film has a certain period, nostalgic feel to it (not that all the race-based problems in the US have been solved by any means). But that does not stop it from being a cracking good film. It's well plotted, very well directed and very atmospherically set. But what really sets it apart is the chemistry between Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) and the local small-town Southern sheriff (Rod Steiger), by birth and upbringing no 'nigger-lover' but at the same time intelligent enough to recognise ability and integrity when he sees them, so that the two eventually form a strange alliance against the deep-rooted prejudices of the town. Steiger in particular is terrific. Ar the end of the film, when they take their farewells of each other, their genuine respect, understated as it would be with two such men, is very moving. Anyway, every minute of this film is totally absorbing and I recommend it highly.

SP good as always. Truly gets you thinking.

One of the most important films ever about aspects of racial discrimination. Poitier is superb as the expert black policeman who is prepared to push against the system in the south for justice at some cost to his own life, and Steiger, the harassed chief of police who is up against the murder of a new businessman to the area, the encounter with Poitier, and the needs of a disparate community riven with illogical truisms about the NEGRO. It behoves us all to watch this film. In its own way, as alarming and shocking as Twelve Angry Men in the 50s film. The idea of justice as impartial and universal is thoroughly examined in both films.