In the Heat of the Night (1967)

Gillespie: Whatcha hit him with?

Tibbs: Hit whom?
Gillespie: “Whom”? “Whom”? Well, you a northern boy? What’s a northern boy like you doing all the way down here?

And the List serves up another practically perfect movie …

Philadelphia homicide detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Portier) comes to Sparta, Mississippi to visit his  mother but finds he is not allowed to leave when a major investor is murdered.  First, Virgil is suspected as the murderer.  Then, in spite of himself, Police Chief Gillespie (Rod Steiger) has to acknowledge that he needs Virgil’s expertise to solve the case.  But in a South still transitioning from segregation, the townspeople don’t want Virgil mixing in their affairs and are a constant danger.

This movie could have easily descended into preachiness.  Instead, the strong performances by the two leads and the deft screenplay make this an entertaining police procedural first and a message film second.  (Does anybody else but me grin throughout most of the Portier-Steiger exchanges?)  I also like the fact that Gillespie is an outsider like Virgil and that Virgil himself is almost steered wrong by his own personal feelings.  And you can’t miss when the great Ray Charles is singing over the credits.

Trailer