In the Heat of the Night
"In the Heat of the Night" is a 1967 film that explores themes of race and justice in the American South. The story follows Virgil Tibbs, an African American detective from Philadelphia, who finds himself accused of murder while visiting his mother in Mississippi. Despite facing racial prejudice and hostility, Tibbs collaborates with Bill Gillespie, the town's racist police chief, to solve the murder case. The film showcases Tibbs’s expertise and determination, leading to a gradual acceptance from Gillespie, symbolized by his gesture of taking Tibbs's suitcase to the train station.
The film's impact varied significantly between white and Black audiences. Many liberal white viewers admired Tibbs as a heroic figure who confronted racism, while some African Americans viewed Tibbs as an embodiment of middle-class values, critiquing his portrayal as an assimilationist character who conformed to white standards. The film is noted for tackling racism in a way that avoided overt sentimentality. It also paved the way for Sidney Poitier to take on more politically charged roles in subsequent films, reflecting the evolving discourse on race in America.
In the Heat of the Night
Released 1967
Director Norman Jewison
A motion picture that illustrates the changing portrayal of African Americans in films in the 1960’s. A winner of five Academy Awards, it was received differently by blacks and whites.
Key Figures
Norman Jewison (1926- ), director
The Work
At the start of In the Heat of the Night, an African American police detective, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is visiting his mother in Mississippi. He is accused of a local murder because of his race and is humiliated and interrogated. After proving his identity, he is still mocked and patronized but decides to stay in the town and work with Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger), the racist police chief of the small southern town, to solve the murder. Although the police chief finds it hard to think of an African American as a colleague, Tibbs rapidly demonstrates his expertise in criminal investigation procedures, and the police chief turns to Tibbs for assistance in solving the murder. Other examples of white racism are shown. When a local white aristocrat, enraged at being questioned by Tibbs, slaps the detective across the face, Tibbs slaps him back. Tibbs is also ambushed twice, but he persists and singles out the murderer from a mob of youths. At the end of the film, Gillespie takes Tibbs’s suitcase to the train station, indicating a grudging acceptance of Tibbs.
Impact
In the Heat of the Night affected white and black audiences very differently. To liberal whites, Poitier was a strong, well-educated and well-mannered superhero who made justice triumph over racism, and his “courageous” slap became known as the “slap heard around the world.” Most of the southern white characters were portrayed as prejudiced and not well-educated. The film was viewed as attacking racism without descending into liberal mawkishness and lecturing. The African American reaction was divided, largely along class lines. Middle-class and lower-middle-class African Americans generally accepted Poitier as someone who embodied African American middle-class values and virtues, lacked any “ghetto baggage,” and changed the previous practice of almost always portraying African American characters negatively. Other African Americans, especially intellectuals, referred to Poitier as a straight-arrow assimilationist, an integrationist hero, a black who was liked by whites because he met white standards in manners and was nonthreatening. After criticism following In the Heat of the Night and other films, Poitier appeared in more politicized hero roles. Steiger won an Academy Award for Best Actor, but his role aroused little controversy.
Related Work
The 1967 film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, starring Poitier and directed by Stanley Kramer, dealt with an interracial marriage. It also received mixed reactions from white and black Americans.
Additional Information
For an analysis of the racial interaction depicted in In the Heat of the Night, see Blacks in American Films: Today and Yesterday (1972), by Edward Mapp.