In the Heat of the Night (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
by Norman Jewison
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Actor: Lee Grant, Rod Steiger, Sidney Poitier, Timothy Scott, Warren OatesDirector: Norman Jewison
Brand: TCFHE/MGM
Cinematographer: Haskell Wexler
Composer: Quincy Jones
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language); French (Dubbed); Spanish (Dubbed)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-15
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: United Artists
DVD Reviews of In the Heat of the Night (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
DVD Review: The new age
Summary: 4 Stars
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT was not only a monstrous hit when it came out in 1967 (helping cement Sidney Poitier's status that year as the #1 box office star), but it also was highly recognized by the critics and won that year's Best Picture Oscar. It's a pleasure to say that the film has not suffered from its timeliness when it was released or from its "classic" status: today it plays beautifully, with tension and excitement and terrific performances. After the national awareness of the deep racial rifts and injustices in Mississippi, particularly after the integration of Ole Miss and the murder of the three civil rights workers during the "Freedom Summer" of 1964, this film seemed to play on all kinds of anxieties Americans had about equality and justice in that state, and this film came exactly at the right time. The music by Quincy Jones (explored on a feature for this 40th anniversary DVD) and the gorgeous crisp cinematography by Haskell Wexler seemed to signal a new period in cinema that would bear fuller fruition in the next few year with BONNIE AND CLYDE and MIDNIGHT COWBOY; it showed that Hollywood films could once again be exciting and timely.
The core of the film is in the performances by Rod Steiger as the Sparta Chief of Police Gillespie and Sidney Poitier as the Philadelphia policeman who is initially arrested on suspicion of murder simply because he is African-American and a stranger in the town (after being released, Poitier is persuaded to stay on in the town to investigate the murder, of a wealthy industrialist set to build a factory in the town). Poitier's now-iconic Virgil Tibbs is not given much of a back-story, and seems to be there mostly for the townspeople to react against: but Poitier is such a fine actor he genuinely brings out the best in the other performers, as well as getting his famous moments of resistance against white racism (including his famous slapping of Larry Gates and his scathing riposte to Steiger, when asked what they call him in Philadelphia). Poitier gets wonderful actors' rhythms going, first with Scott Wilson as a murder suspect and then with Beah Richards as an abortionist, in two surprisingly quiet sequences that are among the finest in the movie. Indeed, they may only be surpassed by a remarkable scene between Poitier and Steiger, where Steiger's Gillespie begins to sadly open up to his feelings of loneliness to Tibbs and then quickly turns against him with racist suspicion when Tibbs expresses pity for him. (Both Poitier and Steiger show here exceptional agility by turning emotionally on a dime--perfectly-- when called to do so by the screenplay). The film is not perfect: the mystery is somewhat unabsorbing, and some of the actors--including Quentin Dean as the town nymphomaniac and Anthony James as a twitchy counterman--seem to deserve their more two-dimensional parts. But it's still an extraordinary work.
Description of In the Heat of the Night (40th Anniversary Collector's Edition)
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 01/15/2008 Rating: NrBoth 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
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