In the Heat of the Night

Some of the characters are a bit clichéd, like the crazy deli counter boy, provocative white teenage girl, and bigoted small town sheriff, but overall the story is compelling. Poitier’s simmering, yet restrained anger is a master class is acting. I did notice a lot of Coca-cola adverts which makes me thing even in the 60s product placement was alive and well. Given Poitier had won in 1963, it is understandable he wasn’t given the Academy Award for Best Actor, but he definitely outshone Rod Steiger who did win. As a note it was a particularly strong field with nominations for Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde, Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, and Spencer Tracy in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. It is also a particularly salient movie given this happened in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement.