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In The Heat Of The Night: A Classic Murder Melodrama

Alyson Nouné
AMS 3930
Critical Analysis I

In the Heat of the Night:   A Classic Murder Melodrama
In the Heat of the Night is a classic 1967 film directed by Norman Jewison and produced by Walter Mirisch for MGM Home Entertainment.   The screenplay written by Stirling Silliphant was based on a novel by John Ball.   This film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and received five Oscars, including Best Picture.  
The story begins after the murder of a wealthy northern industrialist who hoped to found a large factory in this quiet town of Sparta, Mississippi.   Police deputy Sam Wood (Warren Oates) is sent by his Sheriff, Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) to comb the streets looking for the potential killer.   Wood discovers Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a well-dressed black stranger waiting for a late night train in a deserted train station and because of his color, immediately takes him into custody as a prime suspect.   It is soon discovered that Tibbs is a renowned Philadelphia homicide detective only in town briefly to visit his mother.   Tibbs' Chief back home offers up Tibbs' services to Sheriff Gillespie, who has very little experience with homicides.   Gillespie reluctantly accepts this assistance.   The color barrier between these two stubborn men provides for tension and additional obstacles in the attempt to solve this murder.   However, as Tibbs displays his skills as a detective, he begins to win the respect, protection, and ultimately friendship of Gillespie.
I chose to analyze the scene when Tibbs is first brought before Gillespie – this shrewd, overweight, gum-chewing, fast-talking, redneck Sheriff.   In the beginning of the scene Tibbs is thought to be the murderer and by the end of the scene, the two men have reluctantly decided to work together.   I selected this scene because it establishes the central dynamic between these two main characters.   They are both difficult men, obstinate and stubborn, yet sharp enough to recognize when they are wrong....