How far did IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT influence and reflect changing perceptions of race, 1850 – 2009? Flashcards
Date
1967
Director, main actors
Norman Jewison. (Canadian) Sidney Poitier (Oscar winner in 1964).
Brief synopsis
Set in Sparta, Mississippi in 1966. Murder mystery.
Two main characters: Black American detective from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier). Intelligent, brilliant detective.
White police chief of Sparta, Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger). Oafish redneck, dislikes outsiders.
Film begins with Tibbs being arrested by southern white policemen.
Gillespie refers to Tibbs as ‘boy’. Asks what he is called in Philadelphia, ‘Misterr Tibbs’.
Gillespie develops a respect for Tibbs and overcomes his racism.
Scene where Tibbs interviews a wealthy white local plantation owner at his mansion. He has a servile black servant. He slaps Tibbs, who then slaps him back to the astonishment of owner and servant.
Context
Reflects greater confidence of black Americans to assert themselves.
1960s Mississippi – Meredith and enrolment at University of Mississippi. Met massive white armed resistance. JFK had to get federal troops in and a firefight with resisters ensued. Selma, Birmingham.
Poitier and singer Harry Belafonte had been tailed by Klansmen when they had visited North Carolina. = Poitier refused to film in the South. Were some scenes filmed in Tennessee where rednecks turned up.
= most of film made in Illinois.
Representations of race and racial issues
Tibbs asserts his confidence.
A saint = more perfect than perfect? Has no wife, children.
Reactions/Impact
The audience’s stunned reaction to the famous slapping scene convinced Jewison that the film was effective as drama. That scene helped make the film so popular for audiences, finally seeing the top black film actor physically strike back against bigotry,
Changing perceptions?
Reportedly, Tibbs’s action (slapping Endicott) was originally omitted from the screenplay, which stayed true to the novel with Tibbs not reacting to the slap. However, when Poitier read the script, he was purportedly uncomfortable with that reaction, as it was not true to the values his parents instilled in him. He requested that the producers alter the scene to Tibbs slapping Endicott back. This was important because of the ongoing battle for civil rights, which was still raging in 1967, despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This was one of the first times in any major motion picture when a black man reacted to provocation from a white man in such a way.
