In the Heat of the Night

While a sleepy Mississippi town tries its best to ignore the turning racial tides elsewhere in the nation, it’s shocked by the early-morning murder of an important businessman. A visiting Philadelphia police detective is initially suspected, primarily for being a black stranger with a fat wallet, then grudgingly enlisted to help solve the crime. In turning over clues, he also uncovers the flabby underbelly of an ugly southern society that sorely needs a kick in the pants. Many such films from the heart of the civil rights era tend to be narrow and stilted; easy morality plays with limited desire to directly confront the hard truths. This one’s an exception: there’s a tangible sense of important, uncomfortable change churning right on the surface. A tribe of middle-aged white guys, suddenly forced to challenge their lifelong prejudice. A proud, big city black man who struggles to mask his indignance in the face of slack-jawed (and loose-lipped) yokels. Both slip in the wrong direction at times, giving way to knee-jerks and outbursts, but growth often comes hard and real change is never a straight line. Though well-written, with a multitude of complex characters and a crafty mystery at the core of it all, In the Heat of the Night is really all about the performances. Key among those are the dual leads, Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, who keenly embody the roiling emotions of their parts. Poitier’s barely-contained rage is intense and understandable; a refined man doing his best to maintain his composure in an impossible situation. By contrast, Steiger’s dumpy police chief fumbles and falters his way through an awakening, grumpy and bigoted but gradually willing to see the light. Their tense arrangement never quite becomes a friendship, but it does become mutually respectful, and in the end that might be even more meaningful. An excellent, timely effort that had no qualms over pushing the limits of a very difficult, dangerous social atmosphere.

It delivers its message while telling a more than a competent story that deals with racial issues that are still somewhat relevant, considering that the film is 55 years old. It is an angry film that speaks volumes.

a **** and revealing showdown iterated in a night.. In The Heat Of Night 4 And A Half Out Of 5 In The Heat Of Night is a rare cinematic art that redefines the genre on its own terms and grasps for something that seemed beyond impossible to achieve and that is its maturity on conveying a message. The scrutiny in here is thought out with each individual character's perspective that makes not only its characters three dimensional but also a more mature and stronger plot that isn't here to merely deliver a nail-biting thriller drama but an all direction view of the black and white aspects of the truth. It may be short on technical aspects like background score, production and art design, but is utterly adequate on editing and cinematography. The adaptive screenplay by Sterling Silliphant is witty, strong, gripping and aware of the characteristics of the characters well enough to keep the audience engaged throughout the course of it and offer them thought-provoking homework, too along with that. Norman Jewison; the director, is in his A game as his pitch on the emotions and the stakes creates the anticipated impact and draws out the best outcomes from the screen. Sidney Poitier is convincing as a protagonist but the real game changer in here is Rod Steiger in his parallel role steals the show with his stellar performance. In The Heat Of Night is a **** and revealing showdown iterated in a night whose discectomy is just pleasingly ingenious to encounter

Sidney Poitier is cool. This is a well put together mystery as well. It gets a little messy weaving in some the side plots but has a satisfying resolution. It is shocking when you realize that Steiger and not Poitier was nominated and also won for best actor, not to take away from his performance as he was excellent as well, it's just more of a supporting role to me.

While the movie makes a good point, it does continuously beat you over the head with it. So much so that it interferes with the same plot. Still, I have to give it credit for style and the performances of the lead actors. If you like plot-driven movies, this is really not for you.