Recalling 'In The Heat Of The Night'

It's been 30 years since the gum-chomping Sheriff Gillespie and Virgil Tibbs (That's "Mr. Tibbs!") matched wits in one of the cinema's great murder mysteries, "In the Heat of the Night."

The Hamptons International Film Festival honored the milestone Saturday by screening the Academy Award-winning film for the first time in its newly restored state and inviting the film's key players for a panel discussion on Guild Hall's stage.

It proved to be a touching reunion. Though the filmmakers may have aged since 1967, most in attendance agreed the film's tough takes on racism and prejudice have not aged at all.

Impressive Panel

Set in a small, racially charged Mississippi town, "In the Heat of the Night" tells the story of a white sheriff who reluctantly accepts the help of a black detective from the North, in solving a murder. As the case unfolds, the two uneasily work their way toward understanding and mutual respect.

Rod Steiger, who won the Best Actor Oscar for the role of Bill Gillespie, joined the panel, although his co-star, Sidney Poitier, was unable to attend. Joining him were the film's director, Norman Jewison, the producer, Marvin Hamisch, the cinematographer, Haskell Wexler, and the actress Lee Grant, who also appeared in the film. Alan and Marilyn Bergman, who wrote the lyrics to the film's memorable title song, were also on hand.

A Great Vehicle

Nick Clooney of American Movie Classics moderated the discussion. Although the panelists discussed the film in terms of its overall context and meaning, there was ample time for some funny memories.

Mr. Steiger recounted his dispute with Mr. Jewison early on, when the director insisted he chew gum for his role. "I said, 'What is it with the gum?' I don't want to chew gum. It's the biggest cliche in the book," said Mr. Steiger. "Then I said, 'Christ, I can tell the audience what I'm thinking by how I chew my gum!" It turned out to be another ingredient in his Oscar-winning performance.

Other revelations included Mr. Hamisch's story of how the seed of the movie was planted: Mr. Poitier's agent had approached the producer with a copy of John Ball's novel, "In the Heat of the Night."

"He thought it would be a great vehicle for Sidney," Mr. Hamisch recalled. Indeed, Mr. Poitier's portrayal of the cool, shrewd Mr. Tibbs was successful enough for him to reprise it in "They Call Me Mister Tibbs!" and "The Organization," as well as a television series 20 years later.

Gritty Realism

Stirling Silliphant won the Best Screenplay Oscar for his adaptation of the novel. The film itself was awarded Best Picture that year.

Mr. Jewison recalled that all involved knew they were working on a quality project at the time, but, "We never dreamed it was going to come out as well as it did." He attributed much of the success to its social context.

"None of us live in a vacuum," he said in response to one of Mr. Clooney's questions. "[The film] had a great deal to say about the condition of the country at the time. It was a story that needed to be told."

He credited Mr. Wexler for the film's "terse, semi-journalistic, gritty realism," noting the film had "a tremendous influence visually," because of Mr. Wexler's expert cinematography.

Money Consumes

Mr. Wexler drew a standing ovation from the audience Saturday, after a moving speech about the passion put into making the film. He borrowed Sheriff Gillespie's classic line, "I've got a motive, which is money, and a body, which is dead," and applied it to the film industry today.

"That motive, money, seems to be consuming our art," he said. "What you're seeing up here may be dinosaurs . . .what we had is people who wanted to make a film." He added that the film hasn't lost any social relevance, simply because "we're still alive and we're still struggling."

Michael Friend from the Academy of Film Sciences was also on the panel, to speak on the restoration of the film. "If these are dinosaurs," he said, borrowing from Mr. Wexler, "then I'm the neighborhood paleontologist!"

Important Resources

The Academy of Film Sciences, along with MGM, has been working for two years on the restoration, which is yet to be completed. The film can be seen on video, but general deterioration has kept it from being shown on the big screen. Saturday's audience was the first to see a nearly completely restored print of the film.

Mr. Friend stressed that preservation of such films as "In the Heat of the Night," is important not just as a novelty. In the same vein as preserving natural resources, he said, "there are important human resources in these films we need for the future."

The screening and panel discussion were hosted by the Artists Rights Foundation.