Sidney Poitier helps bring the ‘Heat’
Of all the memorable films Sidney Poitier made, the Oscar-winning 1967 mystery “In the Heat of the Night” has particularly enduring impact. It leads a 24-hour Turner Classic Movies tribute to the late actor that begins Saturday. Feb. 18 and ends the next day ... which would have been his 95th birthday.
Under Norman Jewison’s direction, Poitier has an iconic role (which he also played in two sequels) as Virgil Tibbs, a big-city homicide detective who runs into skepticism and racism in a Southern town where he works with local lawmen – including police chief Bill Gillespie, portrayed by Rod Steiger (that year’s Academy Award winner for best actor) – and runs up against some powerful locals. A result is one of the most famous, socially powerful face-slapping scenes in screen history.