In The Heat of the Night [1967] (Directed by: Norman Jewison)

• Q1: How does the film relate to the chapter in Foner?

The film In The Heat of the Night related well to the chapter in Foner to me in an abstract way. Foner states that "...the civil rights movement challenef the United States to rethink 'what it really means by freedom'---including whether freedom applied to all Americans or only to part of the population" (Foner 913). To me this related well because Police Chief Bill started off in the film not even giving Detective Virgil Tibbs even a chance to speak and when Tibbs was picked up by Sam Wood, he was treated terribly only because of the color of his skin. Later in the movie, the Police Chief's definition of freedom changed and expanded to include Tibbs. And when Tibbs was ridiculed and persecuted by everyone in the town, it reminded me of the "...children being assaulted with nightsticks, high-pressure fire hoses, and attack dogs..." (Foner 916). Tibbs, like the people that were there during the riots in Birmingham, dealt with all kinds of abuse and came out strong.

• Q2: What can we learn about American culture during the time period by interpreting the film as a primary historical source?

By using this film as a primary historical source, we can see really first hand what African-American's dealt with on a daily basis. Not just the riots that occurred at the various time in history, but just to do his job, Detective Tibbs got threatened everyday he was in the town of Sparta, Mississippi. It really showed that though things were rough, we were on the way to change. I think Police Chief Bill represented America, where the American culture started out rough not wanting to give freedom to the African-Americans, but slowly learned it was wrong to base assumptions and take away freedom just off the color of someones skin.

• Q3: What does the film reveal about attitudes toward gender, class and race?

There wasn't much in In The Heat of the Night about class, although although one thing I noticed about gender is the only person who really stuck up for Tibbs was Mrs. Colbert, the wife of the deceased man. All the other men were racist. But obviously, the most prevalent thing in the film was race. The first thing that struck out as obviously racist is in the mostly African-American town of Sparta, the policemen are talking about the man who was murdered and they say that he "came here to make something out of this town, look where it got him" saying that trying to change things got him killed. The entire time of investigating the murder, the engineer who is the new boss of the Colbert factory was absolutely convinced Tibbs was the murderer, no matter what evidence pointed to.

• Q4: What was the most important scene in the film?

Easily, the most important scene in the film was when Tibbs and the Police Chief go to meet Endicott, an white old man who owns a cotton field. After speaking, Endicott slaps Tibbs only to be immediately slapped back. That slap showed that African-Americans were not going to stand for being treated as sub-standard citizens anymore. As Tibbs and the Police Chief are leaving, Endicott shouts at him "ya know, there was a time I could have shot you for that" and he starts to cry as the door closes. Not only was this hilarious, but it really showed the true spirit of what the civil rights acts were about. But I do have to mention another scene in the very beginning when Police Chief Bill is questioning Tibbs on how he earns so much money, and Tibbs, in a very dignified response, states simply "I am a police officer". It was important because it got Police Chief Bill to shut up, and started him on the road to acceptance to Tibbs.

• Reviews

Rotten Tomatoes Review
Suite 101 Review

• My Review

While In The Heat of the Night was a socially aware film that attempted to make public the unfair treatments of African-Americans, the plot was a little difficult to follow. This film receives my review of 3 out 5. I did obviously notice what was revealed about the attitudes on race and the culture comments, but if the plot was hard to follow, I wouldn't have noticed them unless I had to for class. But I had to laugh at when Tibbs tells Gillespie sternly that "they call me Mister Tibbs", I remembered in The Lion King Pumba says that "they call me Mister Pig", so it was nice to know where that finally came from and also that a little bit of the movie's message can be carried through the years. Also, I think Sidney Poitier was absolutely fantastic in the film, as his quiet but passionate character of Virgil Tibbs was absolutely perfect. Overall, I think I'd need to watch the film again but it wasn't bad.