Directed by Norman Jewison (Moonstruck, The Hurricane), In the Heat of the Night won five Oscars in 1967: Best Picture, Best Actor (Rod Steiger), Best Screenplay (Stirling Silliphant), Best Editing (Hal Ashby), and Best Sound. Nearly sixty years later, the film is still a powerful moral drama and fascinating character study.
The story begins when wealthy Chicago businessman Philip Colbert, in town to build a much need factory, is found dead, lying in the middle of a road in the middle of the night. Police think they have their man when they pick up Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a black stranger, waiting at the train station. Tibbs has an impressive amount of cash in his wallet, and racist police Chief Bill Gillespie (Steiger) quickly decides that Tibbs must have stolen the money from the murder victim. Gillespie and his officers are shocked and embarrassed to find out that Tibbs is a Philadelphia homicide detective traveling through Sparta, Mississippi to visit his mother. Though Virgil wants nothing more than to get out of town, his own Chief asks that he stay and help solve the murder.
At first reluctant to accept Tibbs’ help, Gillespie is given little choice when Colbert’s widow (Lee Grant) insists he be put on the case and the killer found, or else she will cancel plans to build the factory. The town’s racist mayor (William Schallert) sees it as a win-win for Gillespie. He can use Virgil’s expertise to find the murderer and take all the credit for himself; if the murderer can’t be found, all the blame can simply be put on the Negro. As the investigation begins, a few suspects are cleared simply due to Tibbs’ thoroughness in conducting a homicide investigation. Gradually, Tibbs and Gillespie realize they’re going to have to work together to solve the crime. While Tibbs has homicide expertise, Gillespie understands the town of Sparta and its residents.
Director Norman Jewison brought two important things to the film—pacing and visual detail. The first half of In the Heat of the Night proceeds at a gentle pace, allowing the relationship between Tibbs and Gillespie to grow and evolve as they interact more. Long takes are often used to express a new level of understanding between the two men. Once it’s clear that Tibbs and Gillespie are finally on the same page, Jewison picks up the pace, with a car chase, very tense factory confrontation, and the resolution. During all this, there are reminders of the deep South and the racial divide—the grand mansions, their white owners and black servants.
The cast of In the Heat of the Night is uniformly excellent. Though Rod Steiger’s performance is over-the-top on occasion, his portrayal of Gillespie really captures the essence of a loud, racist Southern lawman who gradually begins to rethink his beliefs. He is ably matched by Sidney Poitier who gives a quieter but no less strong performance as Tibbs. Though provoked at nearly every turn, he never allows any of his tormentors to feel they got the best of him. Nor will he be cowed by any man who attempts to put him “in his place.” Particularly memorable is the meeting between Tibbs and Endicott (Larry Gates), the old-school owner of the cotton plantation who is a suspect in the murder investigation. Endicott longs for the days of the master-slave relationship between whites and blacks. He is rudely awakened when he slaps Tibbs and immediately gets slapped back. Lee Grant very ably handles the secondary role of Mrs. Colbert, bringing a depth of understanding to being a sudden and unexpected widow.
According to the included booklet, Criterion’s 4K restoration was created from the 35mm original camera negative. Offered with a standard dynamic range (SDR) the result is a pleasing image throughout. The many nighttime scenes resolve nicely, with inky blacks, a high level of contrast and vivid detail. While there are a few soft spots and small scratches in a few brief moments, for a nearly sixty-year-old film, the results are excellent. A nicely resolved layer of grain gives things a filmic appearance.
Criterion’s 2019 Blu-ray only contained mono audio, so the addition of a 5.1 surround track is welcome. The 5.1 track is full, offering nice channel directionality and well prioritized dialogue. Quincy Jones’ score kicks in nicely when called upon, and the ambient sounds are discernible throughout.
English SDH subtitles are available.
The following extras are included:
4K UHD Disc:
- Audio commentary from 2008 featuring Jewison, Grant, actor Rod Steiger, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler
Blu-ray Disc:
- Audio commentary from 2008 featuring Jewison, Grant, actor Rod Steiger, and cinematographer Haskell Wexler
- New interviews with director Norman Jewison (HD,11:09)
- New interview with actor Lee Grant (HD,15:02)
- Segment from a 2006 American Film Institute interview with actor Sidney Poitier HD,7:44)
- New interview with Aram Goudsouzian, author of Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon (HD,17:39)
- Turning Up the Heat: Movie-Making in the ’60s, a 2008 program about the production of the film and its legacy, featuring Jewison, Wexler, producer Walter Mirisch, and filmmakers John Singleton and Reginald Hudlin (HD, 21:10)
- Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound, 2008 program about Jones’s soundtrack, including the title song sung by Ray Charles, featuring interviews with Jones, lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman, and musician Herbie Hancock (HD, 13:03)
- Trailer (HD, 2:46)
- Leaflet: Featuring an essay by film critic K. Austin Collins