Movie Review: In the Heat of the Night

This 1967 Best Picture winner was quite refreshing, I think mainly because it is set in recent times. The previous 5 Best Picture winners were from historical decades or centuries (Man for all Seasons, Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Tom Jones, Lawrence of Arabia).

Also, notable - this is the first time an Oscar Winner has an African-American in the lead role. And sadly, it is one of the first times an African-American even appears in a Best Picture winner!

The other thing is that there is modern music. The movie begins and ends with Ray Charles singing "In the Heat of the Night". Quincy Jones arranged all of the music in the film.

So, when viewing a lot of older films, as we have, this one is refreshing.

An African-American man, who is the head of the homicide detective division, in Philadelphia, gets involved in solving a murder in a small, Southern, racist town. The racism is so bad that it is almost funny at times. The nonsensical hate really makes the haters look very stupid, and that is what makes me chuckle. But at the same time I am sad, because I know that is probably an accurate depiction of some areas during that time period. Maybe such racist small towns still exist.

The African-American actor, I failed to mention, is Sidney Poitier. The character reminded me of President David Palmer, the fictional character from 24.

The plot is good. The movie is really good. The police chief was constantly chewing gum. We weren't sure why the director allowed such an annoying trait throughout the entire movie. I'm not sure that I would watch it again, because now that I know what happened, it takes a lot of the fun out of it.