This was a good one. From the moment I turned it on, I couldn't look away, couldn't get up, and I even had to pause the DVD to fold clothes.
Set in the '60s, the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi, a redneck white cop stumbles across a murdered rich, white man and decides to bring in the first black man he finds to call the murderer. Since this man, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), has a lot of cash in his pocket, the sheriff is convinced that he MUST be the killer. Of course, this is before he realizes that Tibbs is a successful homicide detective from Philadelphia whose expertise he reluctantly admits to needing.
Aside from the excitement of the murder mystery, this movie perfectly displays the hate and racism of the deep South. I know (or hope) that this isn't entirely the case any more... but I've lived in the South all my life, and the deeply ingrained racism these characters have is absolutely believable to me. Interestingly, it couldn't even be shot on location due to the fear of attack in Mississippi at the time. (It was instead shot in Illinois.)
This movie is known to have the "slap heard 'round the world" when Poitier returns a slap to a prominent, rich, white man. This had never been done before on film, and I've read that audiences applauded the scene in theaters.
There's a lot more I can say about this one, but I'd rather somebody else watch this, and then we can just talk about it. I promise it's worth your time to see it.
This movie beat out The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde for best picture Oscar in 1967. That was a good year to see some movies!
Rating: 10/10
Set in the '60s, the middle of the Civil Rights Movement, in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi, a redneck white cop stumbles across a murdered rich, white man and decides to bring in the first black man he finds to call the murderer. Since this man, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), has a lot of cash in his pocket, the sheriff is convinced that he MUST be the killer. Of course, this is before he realizes that Tibbs is a successful homicide detective from Philadelphia whose expertise he reluctantly admits to needing.
Aside from the excitement of the murder mystery, this movie perfectly displays the hate and racism of the deep South. I know (or hope) that this isn't entirely the case any more... but I've lived in the South all my life, and the deeply ingrained racism these characters have is absolutely believable to me. Interestingly, it couldn't even be shot on location due to the fear of attack in Mississippi at the time. (It was instead shot in Illinois.)
This movie is known to have the "slap heard 'round the world" when Poitier returns a slap to a prominent, rich, white man. This had never been done before on film, and I've read that audiences applauded the scene in theaters.
There's a lot more I can say about this one, but I'd rather somebody else watch this, and then we can just talk about it. I promise it's worth your time to see it.
This movie beat out The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde for best picture Oscar in 1967. That was a good year to see some movies!
Rating: 10/10
Big Lines: They call me MISTER Tibbs! (#16 in AFI's top 100 movie lines)
"There's a lot more I can say about this one, but I'd rather somebody else watch this, and then we can just talk about it. I promise it's worth your time to see it."
ReplyDeleteI completely agree! This is an outstanding movie, and "the slap heard 'round the world" is one of my favorite moments in movie history.