In 1967, Hollywood, which is good at catching up with the trend, made two films on racial issues within a year: "Hot Night" and "Guess Who Is Over for Dinner". "Hot Night" also won the Oscar for Best Picture that year.
In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the segregation policy for blacks and whites to co-educate was illegal. The following year, the black civil rights leader Martin Luther King launched a year-long boycott of buses to oppose Alabama's apartheid policy. The civil rights movement in the United States reached its climax in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting discrimination based on race or color in public places. In the summer of 1964, known as the "Summer of Freedom," thousands of students, social activists, legal professionals, and medical workers rushed to the southern United States where racism was most rampant in the black population of Mississippi. Schools and clinics are calling on black people to use their voting rights. Because each state in the United States has its own laws. Mississippi ignored the Supreme Court’s decision and did not allow blacks and whites to share school until the 1960s. And in 1964, more than 20 black churches in Mississippi were burned down by the Ku Klux Klan. Three civil rights activists who were investigating the burning of the church were murdered. The Mississippi State authorities refused to investigate the case. Later, the FBI intervened to catch the murderer.
The story of "Hot Night" takes place in this context. It was in the mid-1960s and the location was in Mississippi. This is the most conservative state among the southern states of the United States. For a long time, it has only a single economy dominated by cotton. After the 1960s, it began diversified operations and developed new industries. In the film, Colber is a new type of industrialist who went to Mississippi to build a factory, and Andy Gao is a conservative farmer in the local cotton plantation industry. They represent two forces. As those with vested interests, conservative farmers are dissatisfied with new factories occupying land and labor. At first Tibbs suspected Andigao as the murderer from this point. In fact, because Mississippi has been engaged in a single economy for a long time, the per capita income is very low, education is backward, and there are various contradictions in the society. Although racial discrimination is abolished in law, racial discrimination in people's minds is far from eliminated. It’s not surprising that Andy’s wealthy whites discriminate against blacks. Even poor whites also discriminate against blacks—because they have nothing, and the only thing they can be proud of is their superiority to blacks. Many scenes in the film depict the racial prejudice of poor whites. When Police Sam saw that Tibbs was black and dressed in white clothes, and there were many hundred-dollar bills in his wallet, he immediately identified him as a murderer and robber. When Willie the ruffian was caught by the police, Tibbs knew that the murderer had killed Colber with his right hand, so he squeezed Willie's wrist in the past to see if Willie was right or left. As soon as he touched Willie's hand, Willie punched him. In fact, Willie was still a suspect, and Tibbs was the police officer in charge of the case. Then Tibbs was taken into custody. As he walked through the cell, the prisoners in each cell yelled, "Don’t be locked up with the black man." Tibbs was taken to Willy’s cell, and Willie asked, “Why are you? Wear white clothes?" Willie changed his mind later, only because Tibbs helped him clear the suspicion.
As for the prejudice of the white sheriff against Tibbs and its transformation, it is a main thread throughout the film. The biggest difference between "Hot Night" and past films that discussed racial issues is its genre. In the past, films of this kind of theme were performed in the form of drama, such as the famous "Kill a Mockingbird". But "Hot Night" is a comedy thriller about solving crimes. Although there are corpses, the murders are investigated, but they are not terrifying, but humorous. Its comedic factor lies in the conflict between a Sherlock Holmes-like black police officer and a white police chief who has no experience in solving crimes.
Lord Stig, who played the sheriff, won the Oscar for Best Actor for the film. In his early years, Stig was engaged in drama in New York. In 1954, he played Marlon Brando's brother in "Riverside" directed by Elijah Kazan and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. The heroes of "Hot Night" are Tibbs and the sheriff. The inner changes of the sheriff are more complicated and there are more dramas. From the beginning, arrogantly treating Tibbs as a general "nigger", to the end of the play, helping Tibbs take a suitcase and send him to the train station, the transition is interesting.
When Sam took Tibbs back to the police station, the sheriff was chewing gum, crossing Erlang's legs, and staring at Tibbs silently. It wasn't until he saw a stack of hundred-dollar bills fall out of Tibbs' wallet that he hummed: "What kind of weapon was used to hit it?" At this moment, Tibbs knew that he was regarded as a suspect and explained to him that he was not a suspect. Passers-by waiting for the midnight train to Philadelphia. But the sheriff is sure, because black people can't make that much money. Tibbs showed his credentials—it turned out to have caught the wrong police officer. The sheriff was a little embarrassed. Tibbs walked him down the steps and asked him to make a long-distance call to Philadelphia to find out, saying that he could pay for the call. The sheriff looked at him so loudly and asked him his weekly salary. What surprised the sheriff was that the black man's weekly salary reached 162.39 yuan, which was not much higher than him. He told his men sourly, "You can't treat people with a weekly salary of 162.39 yuan." It seems that this amount stimulates him quite a lot, because when Tibbs refused to stay, he came to general and said: "The government always Zhou gives you 162.39 yuan, but you don’t want to keep your job?!"
One can imagine the contradiction between a police officer from a big city who used scientific methods to solve a crime and a police chief who was accustomed to simple work in a small place. In the process of solving the case, the sheriff scammed twice-the first time he caught Willie by mistake, and the second time he caught Sam by mistake. When Willie was caught, he was invincible, thinking that he had solved the case, and ordered his subordinates to send Tibbs to the station immediately. According to the autopsy report, Tibbs said that the fatal wound on Colber's head was on the right, and Willie was left-handed and could not be the murderer. The sheriff was thrown into a basin of cold water, became angry and threw Tibbs into jail. The second time the sergeant caught Sam was investigated, and he felt that he was already very scientific in handling the case. Who knows that Tibbs still said he made another mistake. But at this time he had been cooperating with Tibbs for more than a day, and he knew a little about Tibbs's working methods, so he was able to listen to some opinions. In particular, Tibbs slapped the wealthy white Andy Gao and caused public outrage in the town. In spite of accidents at any time, he insisted on staying and solving the case regardless of his own safety. The sheriff couldn't help but admire him. Under the auspices of Tibbs, the case was solved in less than 48 hours. Finally, Tibbs took the train on the road, and the sheriff helped him carry the suitcase. When bidding farewell, the sheriff called his name and smiled affectionately, and Tibbs was stunned and smiled. It was the first time that both of them expressed their favor to each other. Now they are friends.
And this is the theme of "Hot Night": both whites and blacks have prejudices and should eliminate prejudices and become friends. Such a theme has never been used in Hollywood before this film. In the past, the films that discussed racial issues all exposed the discrimination of whites against blacks. "Hot Night" not only shows the prejudice of whites against blacks, but also shows the prejudice of blacks against whites, which is reflected in Tibbs's suspicion and hatred of Andy Gao. On the way to Andy Gao's house, Tibbs and the sheriff passed a cotton field, where the blacks picked cotton in the scorching sun. The car drove to the entrance of the manor, and an old black servant in a dazzling white uniform came out to greet him. This scene made one think of the scene of southern serfdom in Gone with the Wind. No wonder Tibbs from the north felt uncomfortable when he saw it. But the times are different. The black dare to slap the white farmer. After Andy Gao was beaten, even though he was crying with anger, he could only press the sheriff to vent his breath for him.
The director of the film, Norman Jevison, is known for his ability to create delicate and rich visual images. He has filmed a lot of musicals, but there are not many films that show up in the past. However, in 1984, Jevison made another film "A Soldier's Story" which explored the issue of black people. It also started with a murder case, exposing the division of blacks in a segregated society and the resulting hatred. This time the conflict is not between blacks and whites, but between blacks-blacks who are hostile to whites and blacks who admire whites. The question raised by the film is: how to eliminate mutual hatred between blacks. Jevison had a good-hearted desire, but the problems he raised were difficult to solve.
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