that; it is a particularly well-crafted series
of events that brings together four characters,
all of whom see that this is a new day. Tibbs
and Gillespie go to visit Mr. Endicott, Sparta’s
wealthiest individual. Endicott’s cotton
plantation is the area’s major employer. They
converse with false civility for a while. But
Endicott begins to see that the black detective
from Philadelphia has the impudence to
suspect him. He confronts Tibbs, who admits
(with some satisfaction) that he is indeed
investigating. Endicott slaps Tibbs. Without
the slightest hesitation Tibbs returns the slap.
Gillespie is stunned, as is the black butler
who has just brought in a tray of lemonade.
Endicott asks Gillespie if he saw what hap-
pened. “Yes, sir.” Endicott asks what he’s going
to do. Gillespie replies, “I don’t know.”
That alone would be enough to go down in
the annals of powerful scenes, but the drama
continues. Tibbs storms out. Gillespie goes
after him. The butler has a look of indignation
and confusion on his face. He goes without
a word, leaving Mr. Endicott alone. The white
gentleman farmer breaks down into tears of
rage because he knows his day is done.
You don’t have to be black in America to
understand the simplicity of the act and thecomplexity of the response. You don’t have
to be descended from slaves to feel the satis-
faction of that second slap.
Many of the scenes in this film could be dis-
sected to reveal a deep passion, the powerful
drama of our history and, sadly, the world we
live in today. There are moments when we are
shown, in documentary fashion, the weight
of the American economy on the backs of hard-
working black bodies picking cotton in the
heat of the day.
So, after all that, in an objective sense, is In
the Heat of the Night relevant today? I suppose
I could say yes or no, absolutely or absolutely
not. But instead I’ll tell a little story that the
film insinuates but does not declare.
Det. Tibbs meets various white men in his
Sparta adventure. There is Gillespie, the senior
police official. These men have a deep con-
nection; they are kindred spirits who will
go on to make two sequels. Most other white
men deeply resent and hate Tibbs. As a matter
of fact, all the white men he encounters at
first despise the uppity detective. But two
change their tunes. One is Gillespie’s deputy,
who was charged with statutory rape and
murder; neither crime did he commit. The
other is a particularly poor white boy who ischarged with theft and murder. This man
is also mostly innocent. Regardless, both
men are thrown into jail. And both develop an
affinity for Tibbs. They call him friend and
brother when they find themselves incarcer-
ated. In other words, they began to appreciate
the expert detective when they are cast in
the role meant for him and his people. These
relationships give examples of Martin Luther
King Jr.’s prediction that one day we will learn
to honor everyone by the content of their char-
acter rather than the color of their skin.
That revelation is why this film will never
grow old.
In the Heat of the Night is as much a part of
American lore as any book or poem, racist
superstition or anthem. It is the descendant
of the institution of slavery, the Civil War, the
cotton fibers in our clothes and that unique
American notion that anything, anything,
can be bought and sold. This film’s roots are
firmly embedded in the spiritual soil of a
country that has tried and failed again and
again to detach itself from the clutch of an
evil that taints not only our history but the
chronicles of the entire world.
At the end of the Civil War, our history (black
and white) was unceremoniously dumped into
an unmarked grave so that our nation could
get along with the business of world-building
without guilt. No one wanted to know what
it meant that this country had been built by
African slaves and bathed in the blood of
Native America. No one (at least not enough
of us) wanted to shoulder the contradiction
of a land of the free built upon the firmament
of absolute subjugation.
Over the centuries, there have been many
thousands of hot nights from Massachusetts
to Mississippi where blood and tears blended,
where rape was commonplace and where
no one ever came to offer succor, much less
release. And those nights are not over: Today,
people of color languish in jails and prisons,
low-paying jobs and schools that betray us, in
ghettos and under continual police review.
Take, for instance, the case of the retired
African-American tennis star, James Blake. He
was standing out in front of a big hotel in
midtown Manhattan in broad daylight when
he was tack led, forced down on his knees and
handcuffed by a plainclothes NYPD officer.
There was no warning. Blake was mistaken for
another man and treated like a black man in
Mississippi 50 years gone.
Indeed, Virgil Tibbs might have as much
trouble today in broad daylight as he did in the
late-night train station in the 1965 novel or
in the Oscar-winning movie. I believe that In
the Heat of the Night can open people’s eyes to
our shared history as much today as it did half
a century ago.Walter Mosley is the author of 40 novels,
including Down the River Unto the Sea.“They were tough times in
America,” director Norman Jewison,
91, recalls of the 1968 Oscar
ceremony, postponed two days for
the funeral of Martin Luther King Jr.,
who was assassinated April 4. It
is fitting that Jewison’s drama
In the Heat of the Night, about a
black cop and a white Southern
sheriff overcoming fear and
prejudice to solve a murder, won
the best picture statuette, topping
a field that included Bonnie and
Clyde, The Graduate and Guess
Who’s Coming to Dinner. “It meant
a lot to me that the film was hon-
ored,” adds Jewison, who reunited
with Sidney Poitier, 90, producer
Walter Mirisch, 96, and composer
Quincy Jones, 84, for a 50th anni-
versary photo. The old comrades
hugged and laughed, happy to
be in one another’s company again.
“It is a very meaningful experi-
ence to meet again with my fellow
contributors on a project that was
a milestone in all of our careers,”
says Mirisch. The quartet, long
known as Hollywood activists, are
deeply troubled by today’s racial
tensions. “We have much more
work to do,” observes Jones. “The
struggle continues. We’ll get there,though.” (^) — SCOTT FEINBERG
STILL
BRINGING
THE HEAT
← Poitier with Jewison (with
camera) on the set.
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 177 FEBRUARY 28, 2018
Watch behind-the-scenes moments from the photo shoot at THR.COM/VIDEO
STEIGER, JEWISON: UNITED ARTISTS/PHOTOFEST. GRANT: COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION. BELAFONTE: AL FENN/THE LIFE PICTURE COLLECTION/
GETTY IMAGES.