Film Friday: In the Heat of the Night (1967)
This week on «Film Friday» I am celebrating Sidney Poitier's 90th birthday by telling you a little bit about one of his most well-known and acclaimed films. This was also the Best Picture winner at the 40th Academy Awards on April 10, 1968. Directed by Norman Jewison, In the Heat of the Night (1967) begins when a prominent white businessman, Philip Colbert (Jack Tetter), is found dead in an alley in Sparta, Mississippi. Hunting for suspects, the police pick up Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a well-dressed Negro, and bring him to headquarters for questioning. But, to the consternation of police chief Bill Gillespie (Roy Steiger), Tibbs turns out to be a top homicide detective from Philadelphia who has been in town visiting his mother. Ordered by his superior in Philadelphia to assist with the case, Tibbs conducts the postmortem examination and thus displays his superior knowledge of criminology. Though enraged, Gillespie reluctantly acquiesces in Tibbs's findings. Sidney Poit...