Student Film Reviews

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1. Dong Chen 07.03.09 / 11am

   The Heat of the Night tells the story of an African-American police detective, Tibbs, from Philadelphia who becomes involved in a murder investigation in a racist small town in Mississippi. Despite the rocky start to his relationship with a white cop Gillespie, they come to respect each other as they are forced to work together to solve the crime. With Tibbs’s great help, the Gillespie finally find out the murderer. Although Tibbs is black and is also suspected as the murderer, it turns out the real murderer is a white man. Skin color is just an appearance; It cannot tell whether a person is good or bad. It is also doesn’t equal intelligence. Without Tibbs’s help, Gillespie cannot find out the real murderer. If they have not worked together, the real murderer also cannot be found out. Only without the racism treatment and working together, they solve this crime. We are living at a same planet, our parents gave our birth, no matter what our backgrounds are, we have same rights to enjoy our lives wherever we are. We are all the same.
2. James Winston 07.03.09 / 12pm

   A triumphant film, In the Heat of the Night by Norman Jewson, was released at the end of formalized segregation of blacks by whites. While built on a platform of crime, the film’s most crucial aspect is its acuity in explaining race relations in small towns. Mr. Tuner does an excellent job at relaying the plot, and his first reviewer Mr. Chen makes the salient point in stating that race has not a thing to do with intelligence. Sidney Poitier, in playing an incredibly adept forensic detective, exemplifies this notion with purity as he solves the convoluted murder in a small town. More importantly, and this was touched upon by Turner, Mr. Tibbs (Poitier), through intelligence, diligence, and stoicism gains the affection of the town members, including a bigot ridden sheriff, as they rely on him to solve their problems. In continuance with Mr. Chen’s thesis, segregation has denigrated America’s history. In the Heat of the Night provides an essential message: We can never again lose the intelligence that so many of our nation’s men and women can and will provide.
3. kumasi meeks 03.08.16 / 12pm

   In the 1967 film In The Heat of The Night the intensity of the civil rights era is being portrayed. A young black detective named Mr. Tibbs is immidiately accused of committing murder. Even after he is cleared and is found to be a fellow officer of the law he is still ridiculed by the other prejudice white officers. Mr. Tibbs is a confident and educated black man who shows a strong understanding for processes of law. During the time that this film was released (1967) black men were not typically shown to be superior to their white counterparts. This film definitely broke down barriers for african-americans in film. Sydney Poitier continued to progress in hollywood as one of the most influencial african american actors
4. Monique Beltran 07.16.16 / 2am

   Great review about the film! In The Heat of The Night was released in 1967 in the midst of the civil rights era, just one year before MLK was assassinated. I love Tubbs’ character and feel like it accurately depicts the humiliation and disrespect the African American community faced at the time. Through it all he manages to face these challenges calmly with his head held high which is commendable. It’s incredible to me how this film still resonates even until today. We hear about police brutality amongst African Americans quite frequently now, which has led to the formation of organizations fighting for equality. Absolutely mind boggling to think that history does indeed repeat itself.
5. Kevin Garcia 10.15.18 / 10pm

   In The Heat of The Night is a very strong classic film in my opinion too. After consideration I classify it as a Blaxploitation type of a film as well. When you take into consideration how It paints the picture of how the post Civil Rights era concerning African Americans were anything but truly over. Also just like in many Blaxploitation films, the White Americans displayed on camera are anything but well represented. Lastly, just like how you stated I would recommend this classic to anyone. Specifically to anybody that wants to get a good representation or example of just how bad/prejudice things were in the 1960s with, the great acting displayed on hand throughout the film, this would be the film I’d use.
6. Daisy Machaen 03.05.21 / 7pm

   In The Heat of the Night, I agree with how this film shows the importance post civil war and highlights prejudice against African Americans. I remember as I watched this film, the fact that the African man was smarter and a better detective than the other cops was a good touch to the film. I enjoyed how you also sectioned off each paragraph and what stood out to me was how you analyzed the characters and mentioned “fire” and acknowledged their acting. I also remember the music playing at all times which you point out as well. You did a great job analyzing the film and characters but not the film styles which would help. Overall I enjoyed the film and your comments.
7. Carlos Ramirez 07.10.21 / 10pm

   In The Heat Of The Night follows a Hollywood classical convention because the films attention grabber is represented with the narrative of the film. The film creatively demonstrates racism similar to real life during the 1960’s by showing the racist tensions between a white and black police officers. This film was made during a time when racial tensions were high within communities across the United States, but most importantly the film represents African American people as equal. The protagonist, a black police officer outshines the entire police force. My favorite scene is when Virgil is examining the victims body and he automatically knows more about the murder within minutes then the entire police department knew within hours.
8. Jaqueline Naranjo 07.19.21 / 12pm

   This movie was very interesting, I felt like I was a detective writing bullet points down on things I noticed who can possibly This film seems to be more of a Hollywood classical convention aesthetic. This movie reminded me of shows I’ve watched on Netflix. This film seems to be more of a Hollywood classical convention aesthetic. The film presents action because they are trying to investigate who murdered Mr. Colbert. It consisted of two main characters which were Chief Gillespie and Virgil Tibbs. An obstacle they faced during this movie was figuring out who killed Mr. Colbert. Some conflicts they faced were racism. Many people from the town disliked African-Americans and Virgil Tibbs being the detective, characters were being racist towards him because of his color. The film did have a resolution: they found the killer who turned out to be Ralph. One filming technique that I noticed in this movie was the invisible style.
9. Emily King 03.28.22 / 8pm

   Carlos,
   Since this film was made during a time when racial tensions were high, it makes the narrative of the film stand out against other films created during this time. We see Virgil and Gillepsie share a connection by the end of the film, finishing it off with a mutual understanding of gained respect. There were very few films or media forms that showed this gain of respect for black people, so this film was very important during this time period in America. It is great to be able to see Virgil outshine the whole police force in that small town, because it showed viewers at the time that they are equal to the white men who oppress them. I really enjoyed watching this film, especially knowing the impact it probably had on many black Americans.
10. Emily King 03.28.22 / 8pm

    Since this film was made during a time when racial tensions were high, it makes the narrative of the film stand out against other films created during this time. We see Virgil and Gillepsie share a connection by the end of the film, finishing it off with a mutual understanding of gained respect. There were very few films or media forms that showed this gain of respect for black people, so this film was very important during this time period in America. This film is very interesting to examine, especially knowing the impact it probably made on black Americans at the time. It is great to see that filmmakers were drawn to portray black people in a better light during the time when racial tensions were so high
11. Jonathan Medina 03.17.23 / 11pm

    Hi Carlos,
    I also loved this film; you did a great job bringing it to life with words in your review. This movie was made in a time era when racism was still highly prevalent, especially in the South made this film ahead of its time. The relationship between the two officers helps the audience see how hatred and prejudice barriers can be broken down when people get to know each other personally. This film is exciting and motivational!
12. Jake Thrift 07.01.23 / 4pm

    The movie “In the Heat of the Night” was an amazing film that I also really enjoyed watching. The film was made during a time when racism was still a very big issue in the U.S. and I think the movie did a good job at capturing the struggles of African Americans. The storyline of this movie also gives us a slight taste of an “antiracism” theme between Officer Gillespie and Virgil Tibbs. Two scenes, in particular, stand out for this theme. When Officer Gillespie allowed Tibbs to be in the room and hear Delores’s testament against Officer Wood. The second scene is when Tibbs is finally leaving Sparta Officer Gillespie told him to “take care” and the two shared a smile. Your review was amazing and I share the same opinion on rewatching the movie it was truly a work of art.
13. Melia Haller 10.20.23 / 8am

    “In The Heat of the Night” serves as an impactful representation of times after the Civil War and a push for more exposure of black actors within the classical Hollywood film industry. Bringing up ideas of racism and segregation, this film further seeks to prove the wrongdoings of assuming the worst out of an individual and how notions of the past would continue to persist even as ideas of equality were on the rise. I enjoyed how Johnny touches on this idea of Mr. Tibbs fighting back and standing his ground throughout this film as it allows the audience to develop a greater understanding of the mistreatment towards black police officers that deserved more respect and admiration than they received due to their race. Although the film does touch on heavy and historically violent circumstances of racial segregation in the United States, it highlights the actions of Mr. Tibbs and Gillespie in a similar light in order to showcase a feeling that Mr. Tibbs and Gillespie are true equals. They have their flaws but in the end they are both policemen and human beings, and can put their differences aside to solve the mystery.

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