In the Heat of the Night 4K 1967

What is remarkable to me personally about this movie is the acting of Rod Steiger, which I think is one of the best male actors in the history of cinema, he played a not-so-distant chief of police in a town in a southern state where racial problems have always been a separate issue, always with a gum, a stern expression on his face. He is the reason I rewatch this film so often, and by the way, the more I rewatch it, the more I find new and interesting things about it that I didn't notice at first.

In addition to the racial theme, which is no doubt an important one, there is also a very intense detective side to it and they both blend very well. It all begins when a corpse is found on the road, who killed him and why, and meanwhile the police detain a black man at the station who was waiting for a train. It turns out that he is also a policeman, and an expert, which is so necessary for the investigation of this confusing murder, and they, together with the chief of police, played by Steiger, whose racial prejudices of the South are not in the best direction, begin to investigate the case. And the case, by the way, is intricate, and the interest doesn't wane until the very end. Sidney Poitier played very well, but far from his best role.

I especially like the moment at the plantation when Poitier's character is slapped in the face by an old plantation owner, for whom a black man is just a slave, not a free man, you should see the look on his face when Poitier immediately gives him back, the man who was brought up in a white Anglo-Saxon state was shocked, and when everyone left he cried from this shock, an all-time great moment, by the way, the script did not give him back, the idea belongs to Sidney Poitier himself, he insisted on it and it is a genius.

In my opinion, a well-deserved Oscar for best film of the year, despite the fact that there were very strong competitors in the form of Bonnie and Clyde and the iconic The Graduate.