In the Heat of the Night (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Gillespie: Virgil? That's a funny name for a n***er boy that comes from Philadelphia. What do they call you up there? "There was a time when I could've had you shot."--Eric Endicott after being slapped by Virgil Tibbs --In the Heat of the Night (1967) |
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In the Heat of the Night (1967) is an American film directed by Norman Jewison starring Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.
It tells the story of Virgil Tibbs (Poitier), a Black police detective from Philadelphia, who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation in a small town in Mississippi.
The film was adapted by Stirling Silliphant from the 1965 novel of the same name by John Ball.
The film was a widespread critical and commercial success and considered one of the most important American films of the 1960s. The quote "They call me Mister Tibbs! -" was listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes.
The film also appears on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies, a list of the 100 greatest movies in American cinema. In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
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Plot
Wealthy industrialist Phillip Colbert and his wife are in Sparta, Mississippi, to oversee the building of a factory. Late one night, police officer Sam Wood discovers Colbert's murdered body lying in the street. Wood finds Virgil Tibbs, a black man with a fat wallet, at the train station and arrests him. Police chief Bill Gillespie accuses him of murder and robbery, but soon learns Tibbs is a top homicide detective from Philadelphia, who was in town visiting his mother. Tibbs wants to leave town on the next train, but his Chief in Philadelphia suggests he stay in Sparta to help Gillespie with the murder investigation. Though Gillespie, like many of Sparta's white residents, is racist, he and Tibbs reluctantly agree to work together.
A doctor estimates that Colbert had been dead for less than an hour when his body was found. Tibbs examines the body and concludes the murder happened much earlier, the killer was right-handed, and the victim had been killed elsewhere and moved to where Wood found his body.
Gillespie arrests another suspect, Harvey Oberst, who protests his innocence. The police plan to beat him to extract a confession, but Tibbs reveals Oberst is left-handed and has witnesses to confirm his alibi. Frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police but impressed by Tibbs, Colbert's widow threatens to halt construction of the factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation, so the town's leading citizens are forced to comply with her demand.
Tibbs initially suspects the murderer is wealthy plantation owner Eric Endicott, a genteel racist and Sparta's most powerful citizen, who publicly opposed Colbert's new factory. When Tibbs begins interrogating him, Endicott slaps him, to which Tibbs responds by slapping him back. Afterwards, Endicott sends a gang of local thugs after him. Gillespie rescues Tibbs and tells him to leave town to save himself, but Tibbs is determined to stay and solve the case.
Tibbs asks Officer Wood to re-trace his patrol car route during the night of the murder; Gillespie joins them. After questioning why Wood partially detours from his patrol route, Tibbs discovers that Wood enjoys passing by the house of 16-year-old Delores Purdy, who deliberately walks around nude with the lights on in an attempt to entice him, and that Wood changed his route to prevent Tibbs from seeing her. Gillespie learns that Wood made a $632 deposit to his bank account the day after the murder. He arrests Wood, despite Tibbs's protests that he is not the murderer. Tibbs tells Gillespie that the murder was committed at the site of the planned factory, which clears Wood because he could not have driven both his and Colbert's cars back into town. Later, Wood provides a credible account of where the money for his large deposit could have come from.
Delores' older brother Lloyd, a racist, hostile local, brings her to the police station to file statutory rape charges against Wood for getting her pregnant. When Tibbs insists on being present during Delores' questioning, Lloyd is offended that a black man is present during her interrogation and soon afterwards gathers a lynch mob to attack Tibbs.
Tibbs pressures illegal abortionist Mama Caleba to reveal that she is about to provide an abortion for Delores. When Delores arrives and sees Tibbs, she runs away. Tibbs follows Delores and confronts her armed boyfriend, Ralph Henshaw, a cook at a local roadside diner. Purdy's mob arrives and holds Tibbs at gunpoint.
Tibbs tells Purdy to check Delores' purse for the $100 Ralph gave her for an abortion, which he got from killing and robbing Colbert. Lloyd realizes Tibbs is right when he opens the purse and finds the money. After Lloyd confronts Ralph for getting his sister pregnant, Ralph shoots Lloyd dead. Tibbs grabs Ralph's gun as Gillespie arrives on the scene. Ralph is arrested and confesses to the killing of Colbert. He explains that after hitchhiking a ride with Colbert and asking him for a job, Ralph attacked him at the construction site of the new factory, intending only to knock Colbert unconscious and rob him, but accidentally killing him instead.
Tibbs arrives at the station to meet his train to return to Philadelphia, as Gillespie, having carried his suitcase, shakes Tibbs' hand and bids him farewell. In the final interaction between Gillespie and Tibbs, as the detective ascends the stairs onto the train, for one last time Gillespie calls out to him and sincerely tells Tibbs: "You take care, you hear?" After a moment of hesitation, Tibbs turns around to face Gillespie and gives a warm smile in reply. Gillespie smiles back at Tibbs as he boards the train.
Cast
- Sidney Poitier as Detective Virgil Tibbs, Philadelphia Police Department
- Rod Steiger as Chief Bill Gillespie, Sparta Police Department
- Warren Oates as Sam Wood
- Lee Grant as Mrs. Colbert
- Larry Gates as Eric Endicott
- James Patterson as Lloyd Purdy
- William Schallert as Mayor Schubert
- Beah Richards as Mama Caleba
- Peter Whitney as Courtney
- Kermit Murdock as Henderson
- Larry D. Mann as Watkins
- Matt Clark as Packy Harrison
- Arthur Malet as Ulam
- Fred Stewart as Dr. Stuart
- Quentin Dean as Delores Purdy
- Anthony James as Ralph Henshaw
- Scott Wilson as Harvey Oberst
- Timothy Scott as Shagbag
- William C. Watson as McNeil
- Eldon Quick as Charles Hawthorne
- Stuart Nisbet as Shuie
- Khalil Bezaleel as Jess
- Peter Masterson as Fryer
- Jester Hairston as Endicott's butler
- Phil Adams and Nikita Knatz as thugs
- Sam Reese as clerk
- Uncredited
- Jack Teter as Philip Colbert
- Alan Oppenheimer as Ted Appleton
- Buzz Barton as Train conductor
- Clegg Hoyt as Sheriff's deputy
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Production
Casting
Both Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger were the first choices to play their respective roles. According to the AFI Catalog of Feature Films, the two were "old friends who had long sought an opportunity to work together."
In the Heat of the Night was the film debut for several of its actors - Scott Wilson, Anthony James, Quentin Dean, and Eldon Quick. Clegg Hoyt's unbilled appearance in this film was his final acting role. He died two months after the film's release.
Filming
Although the film was set in Sparta, Mississippi, most of the movie was filmed in Sparta, Illinois (no relation), where many of the town's landmarks can still be seen. The original novel was set in the (fictional) town of "Wells, Mississippi", but the name of the town was changed to Sparta so that the filmmakers could use the existing signage and storefronts. The producers were unaware that "Sparta, Mississippi" was a real town, and the film's depiction bears little resemblance to the real community. For example, the film's Sparta is situated along Interstate 20, while the real town is nowhere near any interstate.
Jewison, Poitier, and Steiger worked together and got along well during the filming, but Jewison had problems with the Southern authorities, and Poitier had reservations about coming south of the Mason–Dixon line for filming. Despite their reservations, Jewison decided to shoot part of the film in Dyersburg and Union City, Tennessee anyway, while the rest was filmed in Sparta, Chester (Harvey Oberst chase scene), and Freeburg (Compton's diner), Illinois.
The film is important for being the first major Hollywood film in color that was lit with proper consideration for a Black person. Haskell Wexler recognized that standard strong lighting used in filming tended to produce too much glare on dark complexions and rendered the features indistinct. Accordingly, Wexler adjusted the lighting to feature Poitier with better photographic results.
Slapping scene
The scene of Tibbs slapping Endicott is not present in the novel. According to Poitier, the scene was almost not in the movie, and it was he who had proposed the idea of Tibbs slapping Endicott back. In the textbook Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA, Poitier states: "I said, 'I'll tell you what, I'll make this movie for you if you give me your absolute guarantee when he slaps me I slap him right back and you guarantee that it will play in every version of this movie. I try not to do things that are against nature."
Mark Harris, in his book, Pictures at a Revolution, states that copies of the original draft of the screenplay clearly depict the scene as filmed, which has been confirmed by both Jewison and Silliphant. Nevertheless, Poitier is correct that Tibbs' slapping of Endicott was not originally envisioned. After Endicott's slap, Silliphant's initial step-outline reads: "Tibbs has all he can do to restrain himself. The butler drops his head, starts to pray. 'For him, Uncle Tom', Tibbs says furiously, 'not for me!' " Tibbs' counter slap first appears in Silliphant's revised step-outline.
Tibbs urging the butler to pray for Endicott was part of Silliphant's adaptation of In the Heat of the Night as a subversive Christian allegory, featuring Tibbs as the messianic outsider who confronts the racist establishment of Sparta.
Music
The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack album was released on the United Artists label in 1967. The title song performed by Ray Charles, composed by Quincy Jones, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman was released as a single by ABC Records and reached #33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #21 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart.
Track listing
All compositions by Quincy Jones
- "In the Heat of the Night' (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) – 2:30
- "Peep-Freak Patrol Car" – 1:30
- "Cotton Curtain" – 2:33
- "Where Whitey Ain't Around" – 1:11
- "Whipping Boy" – 1:25
- "No You Won't" – 1:34
- "Nitty Gritty Time" – 1:50
- "It Sure Is Groovy!" – 2:30 (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman)
- "Bowlegged Polly" – 2:30 (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman)
- "Shag Bag, Hounds & Harvey" – 3:28
- "Chief's Drive to Mayor" —1:10
- "Give Me Until Morning" – 1:09
- "On Your Feet, Boy!" – 1:37
- "Blood & Roots" – 1:07
- "Mama Caleba's Blues" – 5:00
- "Foul Owl [on the Prowl]" – 2:30 (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman)
Personnel
- Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones including
- Ray Charles – vocals (track 1), piano (track 15)
- Glen Campbell – vocals (track 9), banjo
- Gil Bernal – vocals (track 8)
- Boomer and Travis – vocals (track 16)
- Roland Kirk – flute
- Bobby Scott – tack piano
- Billy Preston – electric organ (track 1)
- Ray Brown – bass
- Carol Kaye – electric bass
- Don Elliott – human instrument
- The Raelettes – backing vocals (track 1)
Reception
In contrast to films like The Chase and Hurry Sundown, which offered confused visions of the South, In the Heat of the Night depicted a tough, edgy vision of a Southern town that seemed to hate outsiders more than itself, a theme reflecting the uncertain mood of the time, just as the civil rights movement attempted to take hold. Canadian director Jewison wanted to tell a story of a white man and a black man working together in spite of difficulties. Jewison said that this film proved a conviction he had held for a long time: "It's you against the world. It's like going to war. Everybody is trying to tell you something different and they are always putting obstacles in your way."
A particularly famous line in the film comes immediately after Gillespie mocks the name "Virgil":Gillespie: "That's a funny name for a nigger boy that comes from Philadelphia! What do they call you up there?"This reply was later listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes, and was also the title of the movie's sequel.
Tibbs (annoyed): "They call me Mister Tibbs!"
Another important scene that surprised audiences at the time occurs when Tibbs is slapped by Endicott. Tibbs responds by immediately slapping him back. In a San Francisco pre-screening, Jewison was concerned when the young audience was laughing at the film as if it were a comedy. The audience's stunned reaction to the slapping scene convinced Jewison that the film was effective as drama. That scene helped make the film so popular for audiences, finally seeing the top black film actor physically strike back against bigotry, that the film earned the nickname, Superspade Versus the Rednecks. During the film's initial run, Steiger and Poitier occasionally went to the Capitol Theatre in New York to amuse themselves seeing how many black and white audience members there were, which could be immediately ascertained by listening to the former cheering Tibbs's retaliatory slap and the latter whispering "Oh!" in astonishment.
Critical response
Bosley Crowther of The New York Times praised Jewison for crafting "a film that has the look and sound of actuality and the pounding pulse of truth." He further praised Steiger and Poitier for "each giving physical authority and personal depth" to their performances.
American Film Institute recognition
The film appears on several 100 Years lists by the American Film Institute.
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – Nominated
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition): #75
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:
- Virgil Tibbs: #19 Hero
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:
- Virgil Tibbs: "They call me Mister Tibbs!": #16
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers: #21
- AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:
- "In the Heat of the Night", song by Ray Charles and Quincy Jones – Nominated
Preservation
The Academy Film Archive preserved In the Heat of the Night in 1997.
Sequels and adaptations
The film was followed by two sequels with Poitier, They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and The Organization (1971). Neither of the films were Ball's sequel novels. Both films still did fairly well at the box office though to less critical acclaim.
The film and the novel were the basis of a television series of the same name, which aired from 1988 until 1995. The series serves as a sequel to the film's events, with Virgil Tibbs returning to Sparta and joining the local police force full time as its new Chief of Detectives. The series starred Howard Rollins as Tibbs and Carroll O'Connor as Gillespie. It received a generally positive critical response, with Rollins winning an NAACP Image Award and O'Connor winning a Primetime Emmy Award.
See also
