fullpacunder

• Howard Rollins
• Alan Autry

In the Heat of the Night is an American drama television series based on the 1967 film and the 1965 novel of the same title. It starred Carroll O'Connor as police chief Bill Gillespie and Howard Rollins as police detective Virgil Tibbs, and was broadcast on NBC from March 6, 1988 until May 19, 1992, then on CBS from October 28, 1992 until May 16, 1995. Its executive producers were Fred Silverman, Juanita Bartlett and O'Connor.

• 3Season-by-season overview
  • 3.3Third season, 1989-90
  • 3.6Sixth season, 1992-93
• 5Cast

Premise[edit]

The show itself is supposed to be a sequel to the 1967 film, set a few years in the future. In the premiere episode, Philadelphia homicide detective Virgil Tibbs has returned to his fictional home town of Sparta, Mississippi, for his mother's funeral. By virtue of his relationship with Bill Gillespie, the white police chief, fostered during a previous murder investigation in which he assisted, Tibbs is persuaded by the mayor to remain in Sparta as Chief of Detectives. Mayor Findlay himself has an ulterior motive for hiring Tibbs: he wants to have some kind of record on civil rights in order to run for Congress, and hiring Tibbs to integrate the Sparta police department would help to overcome the local squad's reputation of being racist and underskilled - and it also benefits him. Although the team suffers friction over Tibbs' dissatisfaction with the department's limited resources and racial attitudes, and Gillespie is annoyed at the detective's condescending suspicions about his home town, the two men prove highly effective in enforcing the law.

At the beginning of the seventh season, Tibbs takes a leave of absence, moving to Jackson, Mississippi, to complete his law degree on a compressed schedule. Upon his return to Sparta, he and his wife Althea have separated, and they later divorce. She moves back to Philadelphia with their twins to be near her parents. Through the hard work of Sparta Councilwoman Harriet DeLong, Tibbs is able to retire and keep his city pension, although he was two months shy of the qualifying period. He begins practicing law when he accepts a position in Ben Taylor's law office. Rollins' final appearance on the series was February 2, 1994.

In the Heat of the Night: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Album. Ray Charles. Music VF, US & UK hits charts In the Heat of the Night: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Album. Ray Charles. Music VF, US & UK hits charts.

Meanwhile, the Sparta city council dismisses Gillespie as chief of police. The council selects Hampton Forbes (Carl Weathers) to take Gillespie's place. Forbes is the town's first African American to serve in that position. Gillespie finds a new post of equivalent authority as county sheriff. The two senior police officials find that they get along in excellent fashion, in both professional and personal spheres.

Themes[edit]

The show dealt with a variety of issues, including racism, police brutality, interracial relationships, hate crimes, drug trafficking, drug addiction, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, rape, AIDS, misogyny, incest, child abuse, sexual harassment, euthanasia, anti-Semitism, political corruption, prostitution, domestic violence, mental disorders, dysfunctional families, suicide, capital punishment, poverty, homophobia, and drunk driving.

Season-by-season overview[edit]

First season, 1988[edit]

The opening scene of the pilot episode was filmed in Bessemer, Alabama, while the rest of the first season was filmed in Hammond, Louisiana. Hammond was selected by executive producer Juanita Bartlett to represent the small southern town of Sparta, Mississippi. Actually, the producers had difficulty finding filming locations that were usable, because other, more modern structures were close enough to be picked up in the images.^[2] Eight episodes were filmed—the two-hour pilot movie and six regular one-hour episodes. The series premiered on March 6, 1988, with the season finale airing May 3, 1988.

Many conflicts arose between Juanita Bartlett and series star Carroll O'Connor over the writing of the series. At first, she allowed him to consult on the series per his contract. After the pilot, however, she ordered scripts from her writers. O'Connor described these as 'recycled material from other crime shows'. He was disappointed in the writing, feeling that the writers were taking big-city stories and imposing them on a small town. He believed that the key to this show's success was to express its small-town locale and characters through the stories.^[3] Scripts would be given to him marked FINAL: NO REWRITES, but O'Connor often rewrote scripts anyway. This angered the production staff members, which felt they were burning up fax machines with the changes.^[3] O'Connor described Bartlett as a very arrogant person.^[2]

Howard Rollins

In the early episodes, there was an emphasis on grisly murders or other crimes, rather than the lives of the New South-era characters, for which the series later became known. Storylines included the pride of Sparta County getting her head bashed in, in the two-hour pilot episode; a man and his wife's distant cousin having an affair, and the affair between a black businessman from New York City who was attempting to buy Sparta's newspaper, and a rich, white newspaper heiress which ends in murder as a result of an altercation with the woman's husband. In the two-part episode 'Blind Spot', a successful businessman and ex-friend of Tibbs, who stole a scholarship from him in high school, has promised to bring prosperity back to Sparta. But he is caught in a game of murder and drug dealing, using one of Sparta's richest mansions as his home base. A humorous episode about a polygamist with an equally healthy appetite for food as well as women ends up dead, suspected to be poisoned by one of his many wives. The season closes with Althea and a Sparta youngster, Scooter, being taken hostage by an escaped convict on a murder spree, with his girlfriend going along for the ride.

Anne-Marie Johnson, who played Althea Tibbs, summed up what it was like to film the show in the little town of Hammond. She said, 'My high school was bigger than this town'.^{[citation needed]}

Second season, 1988-89[edit]

Season two premiered on December 4, 1988 due to a writers strike; the season introduced a new look and set of executive producers, Jeri Taylor and her husband David Moessinger, with on-location shooting moved from Louisiana to Covington, Georgia. The season premiere was aired as a two-hour TV-movie originally entitled 'The Voodoo Murders', now known as 'Don't Look Back'. The plot revolved around a shocking copycat murder of one that Gillespie had investigated 20 years earlier. Also the Sparta city council was pushing Virgil Tibbs to run as a possible candidate for Chief of Police to replace Gillespie, but Virgil wasn't interested in doing so; however the word gets out that Tibbs is after Gillespie's job, causing dissension between the two men. Althea, who was a stay at home wife in Season 1, is offered a position as a teacher and guidance counselor at the local high school by city Councilman Ted Marcus (Thom Gossom, Jr.).

Gone was Christian LeBlanc, who portrayed Officer Junior Abernathy and added were two new regular characters—Joanne St. John (played by Lois Nettleton), the chief's sometime girlfriend and owner of the local diner, The Magnolia Cafe; and rookie officer Wilson Sweet (Geoffrey Thorne), fresh out of the Police Academy. The season also introduced the first of several new recurring characters, including Doctor (or, 'Doc') Frank Robb, the county coroner (played by veteran actor Dan Biggers). 'The Creek' saw the introduction of the first new police character and the second prominent Georgia performer to claim a regular role on the series, Officer Randy Goode (1988–1993) played by Randall Franks, who was cast following the show's move to Covington, Georgia. In 'Gunshot', where Virgil experiences extreme guilt after he shoots and kills a female robbery suspect, introduced a character that had a criminal past but later became invaluable in supplying Gillespie and the Sparta P.D. with information, Jimmy Dawes (Afemo Omilami).

Plots in this season included a prominent citizen being murdered due to sexual abuse and incest in his family; Virgil's ex-partner and Althea's ex-lover (Michael Warren from Hill Street Blues) coming to visit for a reunion that no one would ever forget; Chief Gillespie's having to face his own bigoted past when he has to file charges against a close friend (played by Ed Ames, who is also the sheriff of the neighboring county) for committing racially motivated murders; Bubba's getting caught up in a murderous love triangle with a beautiful visitor to the town; Althea's niece visiting, and with new friend Bobby Skinner (Bubba's nephew) stumbling upon criminal malfeasance in the episode 'City Mouse, Country Mouse'. Two feuding sisters (Mary Crosby and Judith Chapman) stir up trouble when they are implicated in their father's murder. All hell breaks loose when Virgil and Althea integrate an all-white church by request of a progressive minister, but not all the congregants are happy with his decision, and the minister ends up dead. Joanne's past comes back to haunt her in the form of a vicious escaped convict. Gillespie witnesses the execution of a man whom he arrested years ago, an episode that Carroll O'Connor wrote himself under the pseudonym Matt Harris ('A Trip Upstate'). A bitter strike leads to murder, but not all is as it seems when a new manager takes over Thail River Mill and drives the union to strike after only three months. A joyful day in Sparta is quickly turned to heartache when three teenagers are killed and another left in a vegetative state as a result of a drunk driving accident, and the culprit is right under the Sparta P.D.'s nose.

During the filming of the episode 'Walkout', Carroll O'Connor began to experience fatigue. After being checked by the set doctor, it was discovered that he needed sextuple heart bypass surgery, due to years of heavy smoking. During the last four episodes of the season, Joe Don Baker was brought in as Tom Dugan, a replacement for Chief Gillespie, who was said to be away at a police training conference at Quantico. The episodes where Gillespie was away were 'Fifteen Forever', 'Ladybug, Ladybug', 'The Pig Woman of Sparta' and 'Missing'. Dugan was appointed acting chief by Councilwoman White, but he was actually working undercover for the FBI in an attempt to stop the assassination of a civil rights preacher. The season finale 'Missing' has the chief being kidnapped upon his return to Sparta by two men in pig masks, and the police and the FBI are at wit's end trying to locate him and those who are responsible. O'Connor wanted the chief to undergo heart surgery in the storyline, but the husband and wife producers came up with this storyline instead. It was the final straw in a long line of complaints; these producers were fired at the end of the season, with O'Connor becoming the executive producer for season three.^[2]

Note: When Jeri Taylor and her husband decided to do the show, she was quoted as saying, 'I was one of those in the '60's that was out marching for civil rights,' and 'I was one of those who thought the major work had all been done. When we (Taylor and her husband, Moessinger) decided to do the show, we took research trips to the South, and we saw that there had been an enormous amount of change. We came back with a renewed vigor but also with the realization that there is still a lot more to be done. There is still deeply entrenched racism. And addressing that became a much larger element in our thinking about the show.'

'What makes race relations a constant in our show is the two lead characters—one is white and one is black,' Moessinger said. 'Whether they are angry at each other, whether they're happy or sad, we're showing the interaction of two men who are trying to do the best in life. If we never put one race issue into it, if we never said one word about it, the message is there because it's showing how people ought to interrelate, how they ought to work together, how they ought to get along.'^[4]

Third season, 1989-90[edit]

In the third season, Carroll O'Connor took complete control of the show, after firing husband and wife executive producing team David Moessinger and Jeri Taylor.

Althea Tibbs grappled with the effects and aftermath of rape in the explosive Season 3 premiere after she was brutally assaulted and violated by the new music teacher at Sparta High. She and Virgil are frustrated trying to bring the rapist to justice, because the new district attorney Gerard Darnelle (Wilbur Fitzgerald) doesn't have enough evidence to prosecute the teacher and the teacher's wife always provides him with an alibi. However, after being thoroughly excoriated by Gillespie for her complicity, she finally comes forward and implicates him. The teacher invaded Virgil and Althea's home during this and attempted to assault her again, but Althea bravely fought him off and he was subsequently arrested.

The second part of the Season 2 finale, 'Missing', is resumed in Episode 6, entitled 'Anniversary' - a decision made by O'Connor that the network was not pleased with because the episodes were not shown in chronological order. The Season 2 cliffhanger was Gillespie being kidnapped and Dugan murdered and when the show returned, it was as if none of that ever happened. O'Connor selected the 'Rape' episode to kick off the new season instead because he thought it was more powerful, and it would attract higher viewer ratings.

The character of Joanne St. John was eliminated to make room for Councilwoman Harriet DeLong (Denise Nicholas) as Chief Gillespie's future love interest, first as a recurring character, then later, a main cast member. An attractive, much younger African-American divorcée, DeLong was college educated, outspoken, and brimming with attitude, which was a turn off to Gillespie at first and the two of them did not get along.

In 'First Girl', Gillespie hires Christine Rankin, Sparta PD's first female officer. Her life is tragically cut short her first day on duty in a shootout with a drug dealer and murder suspect, causing Gillespie much angst and guilt. Her replacement was Officer LuAnn Corbin, played by Crystal R. Fox. LuAnn would remain a prominent character throughout the rest of the series, although Crystal Fox was listed in the ending credits as a guest star until season seven where she finally appeared in the opening credits. LuAnn's hiring opened the door for more women police officers to join the force: Officer Dee Shepard (Dee Shaw) is hired later in the season.

In other plot lines, Parker almost crosses the line between police ethics and love when he falls for dance teacher Kate Morell and her daughter J.C.; a former boxer that used to run for the mob tries to blackmail them. The chief tries unsuccessfully to save him, telling Althea, 'The FBI wants to buy what King Baylor knows before the mob kills him and the mob wants him dead before the FBI can buy him.' Althea Tibbs takes an interest in two orphaned kids, whose parents were murdered the same day; Bubba becomes the object of two brothers' revenge when he shoots down their other brother during a robbery. It was also revealed during a Christmas-themed episode that season that Parker served two years in Vietnam and was held as a prisoner of war there. Sweet attempts to save a young girl addicted to crack, but her father (and Gillespie, for a while) isn't convinced that crack is a problem for a small town like Sparta. A young boy, whose father played football with Bubba in high school, witnesses his father's murder and is so traumatized that he can't speak to identify the killer. A reverend is found to have led a double life after he is slain. There is a murder at a nursing home, and racial tensions nearly reach a boiling point when a white man is robbed and killed in The Bottoms, and a black man visiting a relative in Sparta is the prime suspect. The case puts Gillespie and Tibbs at odds with one another. An unexpected visit from Althea's high school girlfriend from Philadelphia has a hidden motive. There is an almost instant attraction between her and young Officer Sweet, but things end tragically.

In the two-part season finale, 'Citizen Trundel' (written by O'Connor, Cynthia Deming, and William J. Royce), Harriet DeLong's sister Natalie is murdered by order of her secret lover and the father of her nine-year-old son, multimillionaire businessman V.J. 'Vidge' Trundel. The situation causes Harriet a tremendous amount of anguish, rage, and frustration, not only because of Natalie's murder but because Chief Gillespie is reluctant to pursue the powerful Trundel as a suspect. That causes conflict between Harriet and Gillespie, because Gillespie and Detective Tibbs are not able to implicate Trundel in the crime, much less charge him for it. They are only able to arrest Natalie's assassin, who miraculously is released on bail - but is later killed himself. However, Harriet wants Trundel himself apprehended, but Gillespie refuses to act upon it, which infuriates her and she tries to get Gillespie removed from the case. In Part Two, it is discovered that Norman Luft and Jessica Franks, two of Trundel's most trusted employees, facilitated not only Natalie's murder — but also the murder of the man they hired to kill her. Jessica is arrested, and Luft is apprehended attempting to leave Sparta by private plane with Trundel. Gillespie confronts Trundel with the knowledge that even though he has escaped a murder charge, he will still have to live with the burden of having his lover and the mother of his son, Eric DeLong, murdered and having to live with the risk that Eric would one day confront him over it. Unable to bear the weight of his guilt, Trundel commits suicide by crashing the plane only minutes after taking off. These are the first episodes in which we see Bill and Harriet's relationship begin to gel. During this period, he is able to see beyond her hardened exterior and finds a vulnerable and sensitive woman behind it; she discovers his compassionate side. From this point on, a camaraderie is formed between the two.

This story arc was of special significance to series costar Denise Nicholas, who played Harriet DeLong. Ten years before, her real-life sister had been murdered and the culprit had never been caught. When Carroll O'Connor approached Denise about the storyline, it had upset her greatly and she had to write him a note explaining the situation. He offered to have her not appear in the episode, but she chose to do so to bring closure for her and her family. Only O'Connor and director Leo Penn knew the truth during filming.^[5]

Althea announces that she is pregnant to an overjoyed Virgil, and later to Gillespie, whom she asks to be the godfather of her unborn child, and he accepts.

Rollins' substance abuse problems[edit]

During the second half of season 3, Howard Rollins took six weeks off when he entered a drug and alcohol rehab program to battle his addiction issues.^[6] The episodes he missed were 'King's Ransom', 'Triangle', 'Hello In There', 'December Days', and 'An Angry Woman'. MGM worked around his rehab schedule. Episodes were not necessarily aired in the order they were filmed, which explains why Tibbs was present one week and not the next. To explain his absence, he was said to be in New Orleans working for the FBI. He considered suicide shortly before Christmas 1989, prompting his stay in rehab.^[6] Carroll O'Connor threatened to sue a tabloid which published a story saying that MGM and Carroll had fired Rollins for being absent from the set due to his problems.^[6] Denise Nicholas, who played Harriet DeLong, said 'Carroll set the standard for loyalty. If he liked you, he really liked you and would be there for you.' [TV Guide, July 14-20, 2001]

Fourth season, 1990-91[edit]

Cynthia Deming and William J. Royce were made main story editor(s).

The season opens with a two-hour movie entitled 'Brotherly Love' and the birth of Virgil and Althea's twins. While Althea is waiting to go into labor, Tibbs' friend and ex-colleague from the Philadelphia P.D. is found dead, and it's at first labeled as a suicide. Tibbs heads up to the big city to attend his funeral, only to learn his friend's death was not by his own hand, but murder. Tibbs soon recognizes there is corruption going on within the police department, and his friend was framed for the murder of a drug dealer. In the process of trying to clear his friend's name, he first becomes a target, then framed for murder himself. Chief Gillespie travels to Philly to get Virgil out of jail, help him solve the mystery of what happened to his friend and seek justice for him, expose the corrupt officers and make it back home to Sparta in time for the twins' birth. William and Sarah Tibbs were welcomed into the world on September 18, 1990.

Other stories include a visit from Althea's parents; Virgil's Aunt Etta moves in to help care for the twins; a heartbreaking episode about a mild-mannered teacher being accused of child molestation by a neglected student; and a remorseful parolee's recent discharge from prison upsets many in Sparta. In 'Family Matters', Virgil's cousin is a suspect in a string of robberies. Virgil promises his Aunt Ruda that he wants to bring the family back together again and that her son Tyrell will not get hurt. When the boy ends up shooting himself while fighting with Virgil for the gun used in the robberies, Ruda angrily cuts herself off from the rest of the family. There is a Christmas clip show, a show about a bounty hunter, a storyline in which the Sparta P.D. has to save a wrongly convicted man from death row; Bubba rekindles a romance with an old high school flame who is now a widow, and will do anything to hang on to the wealthy life she married into; Parker falls for a witness who is blind, and finding the source of some spiked moonshine, and many other storylines.

Harriet DeLong's ex-husband Vic Glendon returns to Sparta plotting to rob his former employer in a revenge scheme ('A Problem Too Personal'). On a misty Sunday morning, three men break into the Lambry Industries plant with the intent to steal the payroll waiting to be paid out on Monday morning. They succeed, but a security guard is shot and killed in the process. Two of the men, one of them Glendon, are apprehended by Parker and Sweet. The other gets away and in the confusion, Sweet sustains a gunshot wound to his leg. Harriet is worried about how the news will affect her 17-year-old son, Eugene. The case brings her and Bill closer together, while it drives a wedge between her and Eugene. Eugene reminds his mother that 'Aunt Natalie was killed by a white man', while Bill brushes off the boy's not-so-foolish notions about him and his mama for now. He tries to remain neutral in this case, as he doesn't want to appear to have a personal stake in what happens to Vic. Virgil, on the other hand, isn't fooled and can see that there is an unmistakable but unspoken attraction between Bill and Harriet. Later Eugene, who is aware of what his father and his friends' plans were, tries to help out the guy who escaped but nearly loses his life behind it.

Towards the end of the season, Vic Glendon goes on trial as the main conspirator of the robbery and murder of the security guard at the Lambry plant ('No Other Road'). The story is retold in flashbacks. The suspect that got away is later found and shot down by Virgil when the suspect fires at him. Later the third man, who was shot during the robbery, dies from his gunshot wound, leaving Vic to take sole responsibility for what has happened. Harriet is uncertain of the position she is supposed to take in all of this. After quick deliberation by the jury, Vic is found guilty on all charges and is sentenced to death by lethal injection. He is later imprisoned at Parchman. Eugene, overwhelmed by everything happening to his father, loses hope for a normal life and wants to give up on everything and leave Sparta. Virgil and Lonnie Jamison try to convince him that he can still achieve his goals for the future in spite of what is going on. With Lonnie vouching for the boy, he ends up on parole for being in possession of some of the stolen Lambry money and being an accessory after the fact to the robbery.

The season closes with Althea upset over the stress of Virgil's job on the police force after he is almost killed by a stray bullet which he does not tell her about. She is worried that her children will grow up without their father. She begs him to try something different. Chief Gillespie burns up the wires to get Virgil on his way to law school, and Althea apologizes for not being more understanding as she, Virgil, and Chief Gillespie share a glass of non-alcoholic champagne together.

Fifth season, 1991-92[edit]

The fifth season begins with the revelation that Chief Gillespie has a 19-year-old daughter by the name of Lana Farren, played by Christine Elise (formerly of Beverly Hills, 90210). The chief is now good friends with her mother, Georgia Farren, played by legendary actress Stella Stevens. Lana was conceived during a period where her mother was separated from her husband, and she and Gillespie had an affair. However, she was never divorced from her husband, Ken Farren. Georgia asks Bill to help her put some of her affairs in order and to keep all of her 'boyfriends' as well as her estranged spouse away from her assets, which she intends to leave to Lana. Bill immediately puts Ted Marcus on the case to assist Lana in obtaining the property meant to be given to her by her mother. In the meantime, Georgia returns to Gulfport and is murdered. The chief is devastated and takes this very personally and sets out to find her killer, who turns out to be Ken, who has returned to Sparta. He evidently learns that Bill Gillespie is Lana's real father, which is his motive for the murder. While the Sparta P.D. tails Ken, Gillespie tries to get to know the daughter that he never met. By the end of the episode, Lana figures out who Bill really is, but does not want to have anything to do with him because he never took responsibility or attempted to have a relationship with her while she was growing up. This hurts Bill deeply, and he has a hard time dealing with it.

Season 5 sees the return of Virgil's Aunt Ruda in 'Ruda's Awakening'. Ruda is the only witness to a struggle that ends in the death of a young robbery suspect, and Bubba is blamed. D.A. Darnelle wants to prosecute, but only Ruda can clear Bubba since the young man shot himself in the struggle, the same way Tyrell Gibson, her son, did. Her prejudice against the police and against Virgil clouds her memory of the incident. But after visiting Tyrell in prison, whereupon he tells her that the shooting that left him wheelchair-bound was not Virgil's fault, her memory of the incident returns, and the episode ends with Virgil and Ruda happily reconciled.

In the episode 'The More Things Change', Gillespie and Harriet share their first kiss after he drives her home after attending a party, and he finally reveals his affections for her. They both lament the very likely possibility that a relationship between the two of them would not be accepted by most in Sparta. Their time alone together is initially interrupted by Harriet's son, Eugene, who harbors a deep dislike for the Chief, whom he blames for his father's imprisonment, and doesn't want him around his mother. In 'Moseley's Lot', one brother plots the death of his irresponsible alcoholic and compulsive gambling younger brother after two thugs from New Orleans follow him home to Sparta, looking for repayment for debts owed to a gangster.

Other storylines include a taxidermist who is obsessed with a flirtatious schoolteacher; a game of high-stakes poker that ends in murder; D.A. Darnelle's daughter is kidnapped; Bubba's finding out that Sheriff McComb's deputy is growing pot on the side; Sweet is determined to discover the truth about the murder of his grandfather in 1948 and those responsible for it (a story loosely based on the murder of Medgar Evers, 'Sweet, Sweet Blues'^[7]) and the widow of V.J. Trundel returns, trying to get custody of the son that her husband had with Harriet's murdered sister, who has been living with his aunt since the murder occurred. The recap of the Season 3 season finale, 'Citizen Trundel', is shown in flashbacks.

Two teens vandalizing mailboxes in Sparta for fun somehow become entwined in a murder investigation; Lonnie discovers that an old high school crush is not only an alcoholic but also a negligent single mom. Racists sabotage a celebration honoring a Sparta civil rights pioneer in 'Odessa', the first of six scripts that Denise Nicholas wrote. She enjoyed her role as Harriet, but was bothered about the lack of black writers on the show. She complained to Carroll O'Connor about it, and he had to admit she was right. He asked her to write a script, which she did. When she submitted it to him, he liked it so much that he encouraged her to write others for the series.^[8]

In 'Sanctuary' and 'The Law on Trial', Sheriff McComb has Gillespie and Tibbs brought up on obstruction charges and harboring a fugitive after an escaped prisoner, who is an El Salvadoran immigrant seeking asylum, is given sanctuary in a monastery and the two don't arrest him when he refuses to give himself up. The prisoner is later shot to death in a standoff with the sheriff's department. Althea fears that if Virgil is convicted, it will be the end of his career as a cop and will hinder his chances of being an attorney. Judge Sims presides over the case, and a reluctant D.A. Darnelle has to prosecute his two friends. Ted Marcus represents Gillespie and Tibbs in the trial, and Father DiMarco (Cesare Danova), the abbot who harbored the fugitive, represents himself at trial. Father DiMarco's heartfelt summation to the jury contributes to the case being dismissed (though that is not revealed until the start of Season 6).

The conflict between Sheriff McComb and Chief Gillespie lingers on throughout the following season, and that conflict affects every crossover dealing with subsequent interactions between McComb's deputies and Gillespie's officers. It isn't until the arrival of Chief Hampton Forbes (Carl Weathers) in Season 7 that we see Sheriff McComb and Chief Gillespie as friends again.

The episode and the season ends with both Gillespie and Tibbs awaiting the verdict in their respective residences the evening the case is given to the jury. At the end of the original and final broadcast on NBC, it was revealed that the jury couldn't reach a verdict, a mistrial is declared and the two men are freed. Bill and Harriet spend the night together for the first time.

Sixth season, 1992-93[edit]

At the beginning of Season 6, In the Heat of the Night moved from NBC to CBS. It was not publicly known at the time when Season 5 ended whether or not the show would continue. NBC had decided not to renew the series, although the ratings were still respectable and there were still some open ended plots that hadn't been resolved. A deal was made with rival network CBS to keep the show on the air. Originally, CBS opted to pick up the series for only a set of six two-hour movies. However, it was eventually picked up for a full 22-episode order.

The first two episodes of the season see the secret romance between Gillespie and DeLong intensify. They frequently meet in a studio apartment that doubles as Harriet's art studio. Their relationship is temporarily interrupted by a crack war involving Eugene Glendon, Harriet's son. Eugene witnesses the death of his best friend and a small-time Sparta drug dealer in a drive-by shooting by other dealers from Jackson. Virgil and Lonnie are frustrated with Eugene's refusal to cooperate. Later on, he decides to comply with the police as a witness after seeing so many of his peers affected by what's going on. However, Harriet is strongly against it, which causes friction between her and Bill. She is frightened for the life of her son, but Bill tries to assure her that Eugene will be protected. Harriet is not convinced and in her fear and frustration, she decides to put distance between herself and Bill for a while. He is hurt, but he honors her wishes and agrees to take a step back.

Althea Tibbs witnesses the gruesome suicide of an obsessive and emotionally disturbed student, Garth Watkins (Walton Goggins), causing her to suffer a near mental breakdown in a two part episode. Virgil's Aunt Ruda is in the hospital, fighting cancer. Virgil worries about her safety when several terminally ill patients who share the same physician as Ruda end up dying before their time, and murder is suspected.

Other highlights this season included a visit from LuAnn's ex-convict brother (Designing Women's Meshach Taylor), a faded country music singer (Robert Goulet) who ends up committing murder; the reconciliation between Gillespie and his estranged daughter Lana; Bubba's being stalked by an obsessed admirer; Sweet's falsely accused of soliciting a bribe by two racist used car salesmen; and a two-part episode directed by Larry Hagman involving a white supremacist politician who has presidential aspirations ('The Leftover Man') . A law school classmate of Virgil's is suspected of foul play when an ex-girlfriend of his is found dead in a river; a black relative of a prominent white family comes to Sparta seeking the inheritance promised via will to a long-time employee, but the family disputes what's written in it. A woman who is being sexually harassed by her employer takes matters into her own hands, with grave consequences.

In another two-part episode written by O'Connor and Cynthia Deming, titled 'Even Nice People' and 'Lake Winahatchie', the mob, led by their real estate connection Lewis Alvin Epp, tries to force Gillespie's daughter Lana and her odd neighbor, Randy Calhoun, off their land, as they've done with others in the area. They first made offers to buy it, but when Lana refuses, they try more desperate measures to drive her out by attempting to set the house on fire so that they can build the 'Sparta South Development', a huge shopping/upscale housing development that would be the ruin of the small business establishments in Sparta. This was first mentioned briefly in the Season 5 finale, 'The Law On Trial'. Burgess Meredith (in one of his last acting roles) appears in both episodes as an eccentric judge overseeing the case (he would return for a brief cameo in Season 7.)

The season ends with Bill and Harriet forced to confront the impending execution of Harriet's ex-husband and Eugene's disapproval of their relationship. Bill goes house hunting and throws out hints to Harriet that he wants her to move in with him. A prison bishop working with Eugene trying to help Vic get his conviction commuted becomes the target of a gunman seeking revenge for his father, who was on death row and was executed. Harriet, after seeking advice from Gillespie, reluctantly goes to visit Vic at Parchman Prison. But the visit isn't what she feared it would be, and she agrees to help join the fight to save his life along with her son by securing a new lawyer for him.

Howard Rollins' firing[edit]

Rollins was dropped from the show due to health reasons plus three outstanding warrants in Rockdale County and the city of Covington, GA.^[9] He was replaced for season seven by Carl Weathers. Filming began on April 28, 1993. Rollins had not been seen on the set since January 1993, when season six wrapped. Despite numerous attempts by the media to contact Rollins, who was believed to be living in New York City, only series star Carroll O'Connor was in contact with Rollins during this period. It was hoped that Rollins would get his legal and personal issues resolved and return to the series full-time, both to practice law and to assist the Sparta P.D. with cases, but this was not the case.

After season 6, Anne-Marie Johnson and Geoffrey Thorne left the series alongside Rollins. Rollins would return occasionally as a guest star, while Johnson took a starring role on the final season of Fox's sketch comedy series In Living Color. Thorne left to pursue a career as a novelist and screenwriter; his character simply vanished from the series without any explanation.

Seventh season, 1993-94[edit]

Season 7 began with Bill Gillespie being forced out of office and former Memphis, Tennessee Police Department Inspector Hampton Forbes (Carl Weathers) hired as the new police chief. After nearly three decades on the Sparta police force, Gillespie does not receive a new contract from the city council because his romance with Harriet DeLong is now out in the open, although other excuses are made for his dismissal. However, Gillespie is soon appointed as the acting Sheriff of Newton County when Nathan McComb suffers a heart attack and is too ill to continue his duties. This new appointment for Gillespie angers several on the city council. They want an investigation, which is upsetting and hurtful for Harriet. Gillespie also buys a new home, which he recruits Harriet to decorate in hopes she will move in with him, but she is hesitant.

Gillespie's last case as Sparta police chief is the finding the murderer of an unstable local man - whom he learns is a nine-year-old boy, who shot him with his mother's gun. It is suggested that the boy was influenced by a story he had been following on the news of another child who had killed someone.

As Acting Sheriff, his first case is to solve the murders and robbery of one of the richest families in Sparta — the Barrons, and their housekeeper. Wade Hatton (Stacy Keach) is a former lawyer from New Orleans who has returned to his native Sparta to revisit his childhood memories for a book he plans on writing, and to romance attorney Sarah Hallisey. The prime suspect in the case is a 16-year-old black youth with an intellectual disability, Henry Ulmer, played by a young Wayne Brady in one of his first roles. Gillespie, Forbes, and the Sparta P.D. work together to capture and bring the real killer to justice, although District Attorney Darnelle, who feels the mentally disabled youth is the real guilty party and is being treated in a privileged status due to his handicap, wants to prosecute. Hatton declines to represent young Henry because he lost a similar case years ago and his client was executed. He, however, does agree to represent the real killer of the Barrons - if he testifies in court that Henry didn't participate in the killings, he was just on the premises when it happened and didn't comprehend the difference between what was real and what was make-believe. Sarah Hallisey agrees to represent Henry in court.

Other cases involve a friend of Bubba Skinner's being given the AIDS virus from a lover who knew he had it, a nine-year-old little girl being killed because of a drunk driver (Hagman-directed), a young interracial couple being stalked by a white supremacist (Brent Lunay, played by Charles Lawlor, seen in the Season 5 episode 'Odessa'). Other cases include Parker's being accused of police brutality, and the return of Parker's stepfather, Roy Eversole (Pat Hingle, first seen in Season 6) and his lady friend Miss Roda (Anne Meara). Gillespie must once again confront his racist past when a new synagogue moves into Sparta and the rabbi (Jerry Stiller) detests Gillespie for being anti-Semitic back in the 1960s. This both shocks and angers Harriet, who is friendly with the rabbi. Lana Farren also makes one final appearance as Bill's daughter in the Hagman-directed episode 'A Love Lost', in which he must protect her from a former boyfriend who is involved in a gun-running scheme with someone in Sparta. Bubba goes to Atlanta to look after a nephew of his who is hospitalized due to a drug overdose.

Virgil Tibbs returns from Jackson with his juris doctor, which explains his absence, in his new capacity as attorney in three episodes ('Virgil Tibbs: Attorney At Law', 'Good Cop, Bad Cop', 'Conspiracy of One') and assists the Sparta P.D. with several cases after having moved into Ben Taylor's law office. Virgil reveals to Gillespie in 'Virgil Tibbs: Attorney At Law' that Althea has left him and took their twins back home to Philadelphia to live, fed up with her life in Sparta and traumatized from all that had happened to her while living there. She didn't want to make the marriage work and later files for divorce, which a heartbroken Virgil does not contest. The episode 'Conspiracy of One', where Virgil suspects that one of his law firm's clients orchestrated an 'accident' which resulted in his spouse's death, marks Howard Rollins' last appearance on the show (air date February 2, 1994).

In the episode 'Ches and the Grand Lady', Bobby Short reprises his role as Ches Collins, the blues musician from 'Sweet, Sweet Blues' in Season 5. The episode also guest stars Jean Simmons as the dying grand dame of Sparta who also happens to be Ches's old flame and the overbearing great-aunt of Lonnie Jamison. Another episode involves Chief Hampton Forbes mentoring a young man who had several run-ins with the law (Claude Brooks) as a boxing coach, but the boy can't stay out of trouble; meanwhile, at the same time, Forbes' fiancee visits from Memphis, but the two of them realize that their life goals are very different. Harriet's son Eugene once again finds himself at odds with the police, endangering his parole trying to help a friend. Maybelle Chesboro (played by Elizabeth Ashley), the ex-madam, returns. (The role of Maybelle was initially played by Diane Ladd in Season 3's 'Home Is Where The Heart Is'.) She has returned to operate a legal phone sex business. One of her employees tries to blackmail one of Holly Colmer's friends and ends up getting shot. Chesboro decides to give up working in the business for good, but not before visiting Gillespie and sharing some intimate memories and times with him to attempt to ease her way back into his life.

Finally, in 'Dangerous Engagement', Gillespie and DeLong tie the knot at the same sanctuary involved in the 'Sanctuary' case from Season 5. Father DiMarco has since died, but the new abbot agrees to marry them. Chief Forbes serves as best man. In the meantime, a newspaper misprint makes Gillespie the target of an escaped killer from Texas whose father Sheriff McComb sent to death row. His son is now seeking revenge.

The season and the TV series wraps up with a two-hour movie of the week, 'Give Me Your Life', starring Peter Fonda as Marcantony Appfel, leader of a religious cult in which the sexual abuse of children is rumored to have occurred. The story (by O'Connor and written by Cynthia Deming & William J Royce) is loosely based on the real-life drama in Waco, Texas in 1993 with the cult leader David Koresh and his followers.

TV movies[edit]

Four made-for-television movies were produced during the 1994-95 season, which was supposedly the continuation of the series. Once released on DVD, these combined movies were considered the eighth season of the show.^[10] The movies were:

• A Matter of Justice
• Who Was Geli Bendl? (directed by Larry Hagman)
• By Duty Bound
• Grow Old Along with Me

Series co-star Hugh O'Connor died by suicide nearly two months before the fourth film aired. He had been struggling with a substance abuse issue for years and it sadly culminated in his demise.^[11] When the film was broadcast in its original, two-hour format, a black screen was added in between the intro tag and the opening title; it read 'In memory of Hugh O'Connor: 1962–1995'.

Writing staff[edit]

• Carroll O'Connor (1989–95) as Matt Harris
• Mark Rodgers (1989–90)
• David Moessinger (1988–89)
• Jeri Taylor (1988–89)
• Edward Deblasio (1989–90)
• Nancy Bond (1988–90)
• William J Royce (1989–94)
• Cynthia Deming (1990–94)
• Robert Bielak (1990–91)
• Mitch Schneider (1990–94)
• Joe Gannon (1991–94)
• Denise Nicholas (1992–95)
• Terri Erwin (1989–91)
• Bill Taub (1991)

Cast[edit]

Recurring cast[edit]

Guest stars[edit]

During the series' 7½-season run, many familiar, unfamiliar, and longtime character actors and actresses have made guest appearances, and others were newcomers who went on to become well-known. Some of those appearing in In The Heat of the Night episodes were:

• Larry Black
• Jordan Vaughn
• Maury Covington
• Michael Beck
• Nicolas Cowan
• Lou Walker
• Alan Arbus
• Michael Spound
• Marc Macaulay
• J.D. Hall
• Josh Lucas (as Joshua Lucas)
• Ted Manson
• Jeffrey Buckner Ford
• Richard McKenzie

Future Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman stars, Helene Udy, William Shockley and Chad Allen made guest appearances. Future Desperate Housewives star Doug Savant and veteran actor Kevin McCarthy also made their guest appearances on the two-part pilot episode, as well as O. J. Simpson (whom NBC executives originally wanted for the role of Virgil Tibbs, but O'Connor selected Rollins), who made a cameo appearance in Season 2. William Schallert, who played Mayor Schubert in the original 1967 film, also made an appearance on the show in Season 4.

Broadcast history and ratings[edit]

The series debuted as a midseason replacement for the short-lived NBC series J.J. Starbuck, premiering on March 6, 1988. The series ran on the network until May 19, 1992, then was shown on CBS until its finale after an eighth season, on May 16, 1995.

Awards[edit]

Both Carroll O'Connor and Howard Rollins received prestigious awards for their work on the show in 1989. O'Connor received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, and Rollins the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series, his second.

In the Heat of the Night won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series (formally Outstanding Drama Series, Mini-Series or Television Movie), two years in a row, 1992 and 1993. The 1992 win was specifically for the Season 5 episode, 'Sweet, Sweet Blues'.

Home media[edit]

TGG Direct released the first season on DVD in Region 1 on August 30, 2012.^[12] The eighth and final season was released on June 11, 2013.^[13]

On October 23, 2012, TGG Direct released an 8-disc best-of set entitled In the Heat of the Night - 24hr Television Marathon.^[14]

TGG Direct released seasons 4 and 5 onto DVD on December 10, 2013. However, due to licensing issues, the following episodes are missing from the box set: Brotherly Love, Shine On Sparta Moon, Sweet, Sweet Blues, Sanctuary, Law On Trial.^[15][16]

TGG Direct released seasons 2 & 3 in a single boxed set onto DVD on March 11, 2014. However, due to clearance issues, the following episodes are excluded -Season 2 Excluded Episodes: The Family Secret, The Hammer and the Glove, A Trip Upstate, Intruders, Sister Sister, Walkout;Season 3 Excluded Episodes: Fairest of Them All, Crackdown, Anniversary, My Name is Hank, King's Ransom, A Loss of Innocence, Home is Where the Heart Is, Indiscretions, Citizen Trundel Part 1 and Part 2

TGG Direct also released seasons 6 and 7 in individual boxed sets onto DVD on March 11, 2014. However, due to clearance issues, the following episode is excluded from Season 6: Random's Child and the following episodes are excluded from Season 7: Singin' The Blues, Every Man's Family, Maybelle Returns, Ches and the Grand Lady, Dangerous Engagement.

Locations[edit]

Like the original movie, the television series also took place in a fictionalized version of Sparta, Mississippi. While there is a real Sparta, the version of Sparta shown on television is very different from the real town. For example, the TV Sparta is situated along Interstate 20, while the real town is nowhere near any interstate. During the first season, Hammond, Louisiana was the site of the show's production. In the second season, the show was moved to Georgia, to an area east of Atlanta and it remained there for the rest of its run. The principal area of Sparta was in fact downtown Covington, Georgia. Rural scenes were filmed in a wide surrounding area, in the Georgia counties of Newton (where Covington is located), Rockdale, Walton, Morgan, and Jasper. Decatur in Dekalb County was used as a stand-in for an episode as the Mississippi Capital city of Jackson, and Atlanta itself was used in one episode, in which Bubba worked on a case there. In fact, during the series' run, many of the cast members had homes in the area and were often spotted in local restaurants and retail stores. The cast members would also go around to local schools to speak to students.

Soundtrack[edit]

The theme song, 'In the Heat of the Night,' was originally recorded by Quincy Jones, with Ray Charles on vocals and piano for the movie. It is usually paired with 'They Call Me Mr. Tibbs' on albums. Bill Champlin of the band Chicago sang the opening theme song for the television series.

The original song itself is supposed to be from Virgil's point of view, being in a stranger in a hostile environment. In the case of the TV series, the lyrics refer to both main characters fighting crime in the tiny town of Sparta.

Randall Franks and Alan Autry co-produced the cast CD 'Christmas Time's A Comin' for Sonlite and MGM/UA featuring the entire cast and a host of music stars and it was released Christmas 1991 and 1992 and was among the top holiday recordings of those years around the South and Midwest.

References[edit]

1. ^Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (Ninth Edition). Ballantine Books. p. 1691-1693. ISBN978-0-345-49773-4.
2. ^ ^abc'In the Heat of the Night'. Archive of American Television.
3. ^ ^abHill, Michael E. (December 11, 1988). 'Carroll O'Connor Putting The Heat To 'The Night''. The Washington Post.
4. ^Weinstein, Steve (February 15, 1989). ''In the Heat of the Night' Sends a Message : Popular NBC Series Gives Positive Role Model of Race Relations, Says Producer'. Los Angeles Times.
5. ^Park, Jeannie; Armstrong, Lois (May 7, 1990). 'In the Heat of the Night's Eerie Parallels to Her Sister's Murder Allow Actress Denise Nicholas to Finally Conquer Her Grief'. People.
6. ^ ^abc'O'Connor to Sue Tabloid for Rollins Story'. Los Angeles Times. December 20, 1989.
7. ^'In the Heat of the Night: Sweet, Sweet Blues - Season 5, Episode 8'.
8. ^Paisley, Laura. USC News (April 5, 2016). 'The Civil Rights Experience of novelist Denise Nicholas inspired her artistry'.
9. ^Kloer, Phil (May 6, 1993). 'Howard Rollins In Seclusion, His Acting Career In Jeopardy'. Orlando Sentinel.
10. ^'In The Heat of the Night Complete Season 8 (The Final Season)'. Amazon.com. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
11. ^'Carroll O'Connor's Son Kills Himself at 33'. The New York Times, March 30, 1995.
12. ^'In the Heat of the Night: The First Season'.
13. ^In the Heat of the Night: The Complete Eighth Season: Carroll O'Connor, Carl Weathers, Alan Autry, David Hart, Hugh O'Connor, Crystal Fox, Denise Nicholas
14. ^In the Heat of the Night DVD news: Announcement for In the Heat of the Night - 24 Hour Television Marathon TVShowsOnDVD.comArchived 2012-09-24 at the Wayback Machine
15. ^Amazon.com: In The Heat of the Night Season 4: Carroll O'Connor, Alan Autry, David Hart, Hugh O'Connor, Howard E. Rollins Jr., Geoffrey Thorne: Movies & TV
16. ^Amazon.com: In The Heat of The Night Season 5: Carroll O'Connor, Alan Autry, David Hart, Hugh O'Connor, Howard E. Rollins Jr., Geoffrey Thorne: Movies & TV

External links[edit]

• In the Heat of the Night on IMDb

In the Heat of the Night is a 1967 American mysterydrama film directed by Norman Jewison. It is based on John Ball's 1965 novel of the same name and tells the story of Virgil Tibbs, a black police detective from Philadelphia, who becomes involved in a murder investigation in a small town in Mississippi. It stars Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, and was produced by Walter Mirisch. The screenplay was by Stirling Silliphant.

The film won five Academy Awards, including the 1967 awards for Best Picture and Rod Steiger for Best Actor.

The film was followed by two sequels, They Call Me Mister Tibbs! in 1970, and The Organization in 1971. In 1988, it also became the basis of a television series adaptation of the same name.

Although the film was set in the fictional Mississippi town of Sparta (with supposedly no connection to the real Sparta, Mississippi), most of the movie was filmed in Sparta, Illinois, where many of the film's landmarks can still be seen. The quote 'They call me Mister Tibbs!' was listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years..100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes. In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

• 4Soundtrack
• 5Reception

Plot[edit]

In 1966, a wealthy industrialist named Phillip Colbert has moved from Chicago to Sparta, Mississippi, to build a factory there. Late one night, police officer Sam Wood discovers Colbert's murdered body lying in the street.

Chief Gillespie leads the investigation. A doctor estimates that Colbert had been dead for a few hours. Wood, sent by the chief to check out various town access and exit points, finds a black man, Virgil Tibbs, at the train station and arrests him. Gillespie accuses Tibbs of the murder, and is embarrassed to learn Tibbs is a police officer from Philadelphia. Gillespie phones Tibbs's chief, who informs Gillespie that Tibbs is a top homicide detective and recommends that he should assist the investigation. The idea does not appeal to either Gillespie or Tibbs, but for reasons of their own they reluctantly agree. Tibbs examines Colbert's body and concludes the murder happened earlier than the doctor had estimated, that the killer was right-handed, and that the body had been killed elsewhere and then moved to where it was found.

Gillespie arrests another suspect, Harvey Oberst, who protests his innocence. The police are planning to beat a confession out of him, until Tibbs learns Oberst is left-handed and has an alibi backed up by witnesses, which clears him of the murder. The victim's widow is frustrated by the ineptitude of the police and impressed by Tibbs. She threatens to halt construction of the factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation, and the town's leading citizens are forced to go along with her wish. The two policemen begin to respect each other as they are forced to work together.

Tibbs initially suspects plantation owner Endicott, a genteel racist and one of the most powerful individuals in town, who publicly opposed the new factory. When Tibbs interrogates Endicott, Endicott slaps him in the face and Tibbs slaps him back. Endicott sends a gang of hooligans after Tibbs. Gillespie rescues Tibbs and tells him to leave town for his safety, but Tibbs is convinced he can solve the case and take Endicott down. Gillespie points out to Tibbs how bitter he has become.

Tibbs asks Wood to re-trace his car patrol route on the night of the murder, and Gillespie joins them. When they arrive at an all-night restaurant, Ralph, working behind the counter, refuses to serve Tibbs. Later, when Tibbs asks Wood why he changed his route, Gillespie starts suspecting Wood. Gillespie discovers that Wood made a sizable deposit into his bank account the day after the murder. Gillespie arrests Wood despite Tibbs's protests. Purdy, a nasty local, brings his 16-year-old sister, Delores, to the police station and files charges against Wood for getting her pregnant. Upon hearing that it concerns Wood, Tibbs insists on being present when Delores is questioned. Purdy at first refuses to have anything said in front of Tibbs, but he is easily rebuffed by both Tibbs and Gillespie, and the questioning goes ahead. Insulted and offended that a black man was present, Purdy gathers a mob intending to do violence against Tibbs. Meanwhile Tibbs tells Gillespie that the murder was committed at the site of the planned factory, which clears Wood of the murder charge, because he couldn't have driven both his and Colbert's car back into town (a factor prefigured when Gillespie leaves his vehicle outside Ralph's restaurant to join Tibbs in Wood's car). Tibbs adds that he knows why Wood changed his route: Delores while at home alone at night likes to display her naked body to whoever is outside, and Wood, who watches her while on duty, doesn't want Tibbs to see a white woman in the nude.

Tibbs visits a backstreet abortionist, who under pressure reveals that she is about to perform an abortion on Delores. Delores arrives, sees Tibbs, and runs away. Tibbs follows her and comes face to face with her armed boyfriend, Ralph, from the restaurant. At that moment Purdy's mob arrives on the scene and holds Tibbs at gunpoint. Tibbs shouts at Purdy to check Delores' purse, that it contains money Ralph gave her for an abortion, which he got when he robbed and killed Colbert. Purdy grabs the purse and looks inside, and realizes Tibbs is right. Purdy confronts Ralph for getting his sister pregnant, and a startled Ralph shoots Purdy dead. Tibbs grabs Ralph's gun, and just then Gillespie arrives on the scene. Ralph is arrested and confesses to Colbert's murder: he had started out just asking Colbert for a job at the new factory, but ended up attacking him from behind with a wooden post and taking his money. 'I didn't mean to kill him. That's all' are the final words of Ralph's taped confession.

The final scene shows Tibbs boarding a train bound for Philadelphia, as Gillespie, having carried his suitcase, respectfully bids him farewell.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Jewison, Poitier, and Steiger worked together and got along well during the filming, but Jewison had problems with the Southern authorities, and Poitier had reservations about coming south of the Mason–Dixon line for filming. However, despite their reservations, Jewison decided to film part of the film in Dyersburg and Union City, Tennessee, anyway while the rest was filmed in Sparta, Chester (Harvey Oberst chase scene), and Freeburg (Compton's diner), Illinois.

Alan Autry

The famous scene of Tibbs slapping Endicott is not present in the novel. According to Poitier, the scene was almost not in the movie. In the textbook Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA 1850-2009 (Access to History), Poitier states: 'I said, 'I'll tell you what, I'll make this movie for you if you give me your absolute guarantee when he slaps me I slap him right back and you guarantee that it will play in every version of this movie.' I try not to do things that are against nature.'^[4] However, Poitier's version of the story is contradicted by Mark Harris in his book, Pictures at a Revolution. Harris states that copies of the original draft of the screenplay that he obtained clearly contain the scene as filmed, which is backed up by Jewison and Silliphant.

The film is also important for being the first major Hollywood film in color that was lit with proper consideration for a black person. Haskell Wexler recognized that standard strong lighting used in filming tended to produce too much glare on dark complexions and rendered the features indistinct. Accordingly, Wexler toned it down to feature Poitier with better photographic results.^[5]

Soundtrack[edit]

The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack album was released on the United Artists label in 1967.^[6][7] The title song performed by Ray Charles, composed by Quincy Jones, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman was released as a single by ABC Records and reached #33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #21 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart.

AllMusic's Steven McDonald said the soundtrack had 'a tone of righteous fury woven throughout' and that 'the intent behind In the Heat of the Night was to get a Southern, blues-inflected atmosphere to support the angry, anti-racist approach of the picture .. although the cues from In the Heat of the Night show their age'.^[8]The Vinyl Factory said 'this soundtrack to a film about racism in the South has a cool, decidedly Southern-fried sound with funk-bottomed bluesy touches, like on the strutting 'Cotton Curtain', the down 'n' dirty 'Whipping Boy' or the fat 'n' sassy 'Chief's Drive to Mayor'.^[9]

Track listing[edit]

All compositions by Quincy Jones

1. 'In the Heat of the Night' (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman) — 2:30
2. 'Peep-Freak Patrol Car' — 1:30
3. 'Cotton Curtain' — 2:33
4. 'Where Whitey Ain't Around' — 1:11
5. 'Whipping Boy' — 1:25
6. 'No You Won't' — 1:34
7. 'Nitty Gritty Time' — 1:50
8. 'It Sure Is Groovy!' — 2:30 (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman)
9. 'Bowlegged Polly' — 2:30 (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman)
10. 'Shag Bag, Hounds & Harvey' — 3:28
11. 'Chief's Drive to Mayor' —1:10
12. 'Give Me Until Morning' — 1:09
13. 'On Your Feet, Boy!' — 1:37
14. 'Blood & Roots' — 1:07
15. 'Mama Caleba's Blues' — 5:00
16. 'Foul Owl [on the Prowl]' — 2:30 (Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman)

Personnel[edit]

• Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones including
  • Ray Charles — vocals (track 1), piano (track 15)
  • Glen Campbell — vocals (track 9), banjo
  • Boomer and Travis (track 16), Gil Bernal (track 8) — vocals
  • Roland Kirk — flute
  • Bobby Scott — tack piano
  • Billy Preston — electric organ (track 1)
  • Ray Brown — bass
  • Don Elliott — human instrument
  • The Raelettes — backing vocals (track 1)

Reception[edit]

In contrast to films like The Chase and Hurry Sundown, which offered confused visions of the South, In the Heat of the Night offered a tough, edgy vision of a Southern town that seemed to hate outsiders more than itself, a theme reflecting the uncertain mood of the time as the civil rights movement attempted to take hold. Canadian director Jewison wanted to tell an anti-racist story of a white man and a black man working together in spite of difficulties. Jewison said that this film proved a conviction he had held for a long time: 'It's you against the world. It's like going to war. Everybody is trying to tell you something different and they are always putting obstacles in your way.'

In one famous scene, Gillespie mocks the name 'Virgil' by saying, 'That's a funny name for a nigger boy that comes from Philadelphia! What do they call you up there?' An annoyed Tibbs replies, 'They call me Mister Tibbs!' The line was later listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute's 100 Years..100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes, and was also the title of the sequel. An iconic scene that surprised and perhaps shocked audiences at the time occurs when Tibbs is slapped by Endicott. Tibbs responds by slapping him back.

In a San Francisco pre-screening, Jewison was concerned when the young audience was laughing at the film as if it were a comedy. The audience's stunned reaction to the slapping scene convinced Jewison that the film was effective as drama.^[10] That scene helped make the film so popular for audiences, finally seeing the top black film actor physically strike back against bigotry, that the film earned the nickname, Super-spade Versus the Rednecks.^[11] During the film's initial run, Steiger and Poitier occasionally went to the Capitol Theatre in New York to amuse themselves seeing how many black and white audience members there were, which could be immediately ascertained by listening to the former cheering Tibbs's retaliatory slap and the latter whispering 'Oh!' in astonishment.^[12]

Critical response[edit]

Then-freshman critic Roger Ebert in 1967 gave In the Heat of the Night a positive review and placed it at number ten on his top ten list of 1967 films.^[13][14] A.D. Murphy of Variety felt it was a good but uneven film.^[15]

The film currently holds a 96% 'Certified Fresh' rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, out of 46 reviews collected with an average rating of 8.2/10. Its consensus states, 'Tense, funny, and thought-provoking all at once, and lifted by strong performances from Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger, director Norman Jewison's look at murder and racism in small-town America continues to resonate today.'^[16]

Evaluation in film guides[edit]

Steven H. Scheuer's Movies on TV (1972–73 edition) gives In the Heat of the Night its highest rating of 4 stars, recommending it as an '[E]xciting, superbly acted and directed film about prejudice, manners and morals in a small Mississippi town', with the concluding sentences stating, '[D]irector Norman Jewison does an outstanding job in creating the subsurface tension of life in a 'sleepy' Southern town, and the supporting performances are uniformly fine. A first-rate film in all respects.' Leonard Maltin's TV Movies & Video Guide (1989 edition) follows Scheuer's example with its own highest rating of 4 stars, concluding that '[M]arvelous social thriller hasn't dated one bit—tough, funny, and atmospheric, with unbeatable acting and splendid Quincy Jones score. Five Oscars include Best Picture ..'

Mick Martin's & Marsha Porter's DVD & Video Guide (2007 edition) also puts its rating high, at 4 stars (out of 5), finding it '[A] rousing murder mystery elevated by the excellent acting of Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier.'

British references, likewise, show high regard for the film, with David Shipman in his 1984 The Good Film and Video Guide giving 3 (out of 4) stars, noting that '[A]s mystery or detective story this film is only fair, but it has enormous tension. Within its given framework, it is good on the colour question. There is tension in the eyes of the black (Sidney Poitier), who happens to be a homicide officer, and malevolence in those of the local police chief (Rod Steiger). These are two remarkable performances, well supported by Warren Oates, Lee Grant and Larry Gates.' Woolworths ad song download youtube.

Another British film critic with a highly personal Film Guide, Leslie Halliwell, gave 2 stars (out of 4) describing it in the 5th edition (1985) as an '[O]verrated policier in which the personality clash is amusing (and was timely) but the murder puzzle is a complete throwaway.' The Guide continued to be published after Halliwell's death in 1989 and, in the 21st edition, Halliwell's Film Video & DVD Guide 2007, John Walker, who took over as the Guide's author, raised the rating to the highest level of 4 stars and rewrote the evaluation to state that it is '[A] tense and exciting thriller that also explores racism through the explosive clash of two contrasting personalities.'

Home media[edit]

In the Heat of the Night was first released on DVD in 2001. In 2010, the film was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and broadcast on MGM HD.

In 2014, MGM released the film on Blu-ray. It was re-released on DVD and Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection in January 2019.

Preservation[edit]

The Academy Film Archive preserved In the Heat of the Night in 1997.^[17]

Accolades[edit]

In the Heat of the Night was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning five.^[18]

Academy Award wins

• Academy Award for Best Picture — Walter Mirisch
• Academy Award for Best Actor — Rod Steiger
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing — Hal Ashby
• Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing — Samuel Goldwyn Studios
• Academy Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium — Stirling Silliphant

Academy Award nominations

• Academy Award for Best Director — Norman Jewison
• Academy Award for Best Sound Effects — James Richard

Other awards

• Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama — Rod Steiger
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay — Stirling Silliphant
• BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor — Rod Steiger
• BAFTA UN Award — Walter Mirisch
• Edgar Award — Best Motion Picture Screenplay — Stirling Silliphant (Ball's book also received an Edgar, for Best First Novel)
• New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Picture — Walter Mirisch

American Film Institute recognition

• AFI's 100 Years..100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition): #75
• AFI's 100 Years..100 Heroes & Villains: Virgil Tibbs #19 Hero
• AFI's 100 Years..100 Movie Quotes:
  • Virgil Tibbs: 'They call me Mister Tibbs!': #16
• AFI's 100 Years..100 Cheers: # 21

Other nominations

• BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor — Sidney Poitier
• BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source — Norman Jewison
• Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures — Norman Jewison
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Director — Norman Jewison
• Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor—Drama — Sidney Poitier
• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress — Lee Grant
• Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress — Quentin Dean
• Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media — Quincy Jones
• Writers Guild of America for Best Written American Drama — Stirling Silliphant

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (A)'. British Board of Film Classification. July 17, 1967. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
2. ^Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company that Changed the Film Industry, Uni of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p 187
3. ^'In the Heat of the Night, Box Office Information'. The Numbers. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
4. ^Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA 1850-2009 (Access to History), Vivienne Sanders, Hodder Education, 2015
5. ^Harris, Mark. Pictures at a Revolution: Five Films and the Birth of a New Hollywood. Penguin Press, 2008, p. 221.
6. ^Soundtrack Collector: album entry accessed January 17, 2018
7. ^Edwards, D & Callahan, M. Discography Preview for the United Artists label 40000 & 4000/5000 Series (1958-1972), accessed January 17, 2018
8. ^ ^abMcDonald, Steven. In the Heat of the Night/They Call Me Mr. Tibbs – Review at AllMusic
9. ^10 definitive Quincy Jones soundtracks from the '60s and '70s, The Vinyl Factory, accessed January 19, 2018
10. ^Harris, pp. 288–90.
11. ^Harris, p. 336.
12. ^Harris, pp. 335–6
13. ^Ebert's 10 Best Lists: 1967 to Present.Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times via the Internet Archive. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
14. ^The Best 10 Movies of 1967.Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved October 18, 2016.
15. ^Later, Poitier did the sequels They Call Me Mister Tibbs! and The Organization, but both films failed at the box office.Variety review, 1967
16. ^'In the Heat of the Night, Movie Reviews'. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
17. ^'Preserved Projects'. Academy Film Archive.
18. ^'The 40th Academy Awards (1968) Nominees and Winners'. oscars.org. Retrieved August 25, 2011.

External links[edit]

• In the Heat of the Night on IMDb
• In the Heat of the Night at the TCM Movie Database
• In the Heat of the Night at AllMovie
• In the Heat of the Night at the American Film Institute Catalog
• In the Heat of the Night at Box Office Mojo
• In the Heat of the Night at Rotten Tomatoes
• In the Heat of the Night: The Double Bind an essay by K. Austin Collins at the Criterion Collection