Description: Starring Academy AwardÂ(r) winners* Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger and Lee Grant, this provocative mystery thriller won** five 1967 OscarsÂ(r), including Best Picture. Highlighted by an evocative score from OscarÂ(r)-winning*** composer Quincy Jones, In The Heat Of The Night is a "powerful film" (The New York Times) that delivers the "highest level of exciting entertainment" (New York Daily News)! While traveling in the Deep South, Virgil Tibbs, a black Philadelphia homicide detective, becomes unwittingly embroiled in the murder investigationof a prominent businessman when he is first accused of the crimeand then asked to solve it! Finding the killer proves to be difficult, however, especially when his efforts are constantly thwarted by the bigoted town sheriff (Steiger). But neither man can solve this case alone. Putting aside their differences and prejudices, they join forces in a desperate race against time to discover the shocking truth. *Poitier: Actor, Lilies of the Field (1963); Steiger: Actor, In the Heat of the Night (1967); Grant: Supporting Actress, Shampoo (1975) **Actor (Steiger), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Sound ***1994: Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Amazon.com essential video: Both riveting murder mystery and classic fish-out-of-water yarn, Norman Jewison's Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night represents Hollywood at its wiliest, cloaking exposé in the most entertaining trappings. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger prove the decade's most formidable antagonists. Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, an arrogant homicide detective waylaid in Sparta, Mississippi; Steiger, in his bravura Oscar-winning turn, is Bill Gillespie, the town's hardheaded, bigoted sheriff who first arrests Tibbs for murder and then begs for his expertise. As the clues and suspects mount, Gillespie and his deputies develop begrudging respect for the black officer. The first-rate supporting cast includes Lee Grant as the victim's angry widow, Warren Oates as a voyeuristic deputy, William Schallert as the pragmatic mayor, and, in his screen debut, Scott Wilson (In Cold Blood) as an unlucky fugitive. The brilliant widescreen cinematography is by Haskell Wexler, and the scat-music score is by Quincy Jones. Ray Charles wails the blues theme song. --Glenn Lovell
In the heat of the night I was very satisfied with my purchase. It arrived earlier than expected and it was in Excellent condition.
An actor's film 3.5 stars. I've heard so much about this film over the years and of course I'm from the generation who's more familiar with the television show. For the year that this film was made-yes, the writer and director took a lot of risks. Poitier and Steiger gave career making performances...but I have to tell you, I was more than under impressed with the mystery portion of the movie and I had to re-play the ending twice to understand the killer's confession. When I analyze that-it seems to me Mr. Tibbs did little more than guess. I mean how would he know the girl would try to get rid of her baby? Why not try to get rid of it BEFORE you tell your brother? It wasn't like she was showing. Like I said the mystery has holes, but the individual characters were multilayered and fascinating to watch. Another example of how great acting can save a movie.
Bad disc In the Heat of the Night is a bad disc. I can't display it. I think the regiocode is not good. Please send a new one. This is the first time I can't display a purchase by you. I am waiting for the confirmation you sent me a new one. Regards. Jos Sluis
The Birth of the Seventies Police Detective Flick! This film clearly inspired the kind of distinctive 70's era police detective films to come such as "Shaft" and "Dirty Harry" and even the great score by Quincy Jones evokes memories of the similar sounding ones connected with those two films. As a detective mystery, this film does a very good job in addition to being a social statement for viewers in the late 60's. Racism is a sign of insecurity as racists need to feel that there is a class of people worse or below themselves so that they can feel good about themselves. It was nice to see how much patience and restraint was shown by Poitier's character amid ignorance and just plain stupidity as he reluctantly goes about solving the murder and makes eventually a positive impression on the racist Sheriff.
One interesting scene was when Steiger's character invites Poitier to his home and starts out on a heart to heart with him showing how natural and possible a friendship based upon equal and mutual respect between races can be but then he catches himself when he realises that he had forgotten to keep him in his "place" and so abruptly ends a promising friendship bonding between equals to return to the "status quo" of discrimination. This poignant scene shows just how unnatural and ridiculous racism is.
The problem with this dvd version though is that the picture quality isn't restored which leaves a number of imperfections in many of the frames and the sound quality is just mono quality; also there are no bonus features at all. This is still a good police detective story and a good social statement on the absurdity of racism making it a worthy Best Picture Oscar winner. Ray Charles is also very good in his rendition of the main theme song. Do however get a better restored version of the dvd which will also hopefully be released in Blu-ray format and give this dvd version a miss.
Poitier educates a southern sheriff This was a great movie. It is a bit dated now, in the light of improvements in racial relations in the south, but north and south still have a way to go. Magnificently acted by Poitier and Steiger. But for Poitier's career, I doubt if there would be an African-American running for president of the U. S. today.
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