Episode 293: In the Heat of the Night (1967)

In the Heat of the Night (1967)Watch the trailer!

Our second film in our tribute to the great Sidney Poitier, who passed away on January 6th, 2022, came out just five weeks after "To Sir, With Love," but it brought audiences to a stunned silence with its realistic depiction of the treatment an African-American man would have received in Mississippi in the late 1960s! Directed by Normal Jewison, "In the Heat of the Night" sees Poitier playing Virgil Tibbs, the top homicide investigator from Philadelphia, on a trip to visit his mother in Sparta, Mississippi, get brought in as a murder suspect after a prominent businessman gets killed. Officer Sam Wood (Warren Oates) brings Tibbs into the station and presents him as the guilty party to Sheriff Gillespie (Rod Steiger). Fortunately, Tibbs reveals that he, too, is a police officer, and is grudgingly given the respect he's due by the Sparta police department. After Tibbs' chief suggests Virgil stay and help, he and Gillespie begin a tense, perilous (for Virgil) few days hunting down the real killer! Plus, the trio reveal which long-time listener has suggested the next pair of films to be reviewed!



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