Re: What Did You Watch? 2024-06-08 (Saturday)

On 6/9/2024 9:45 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
 

To Sir With Love (4K disc) 1967 British song by Lulu.  When the song
wasn't playing there was occasionally a movie starring Sidney Poitier as
a high school teacher trying to break through to some tough teens.  The
movie holds up well, but it really does feel like the movie is that song
on an endless loop.  Good thing I like the song.

 Lulu also performed the title sond for "The Man With the Golden Gun" for
the James Bond movie.
 She's 75. I think she still performs at times.
 

In the Heat of the Night (4K disc) 1967 movie starring Sidney Poitier as
a detective from Philadelphia who while heading home from visiting his
mother in Mississippi is arrested for murder.  Once the police chief
(Rod Steiger) realizes he's a big city detective the chief coerces him
into staying and helping with the case.  The movie was mostly background
noise with a very good commentary track that included the director, Rod
Steiger, and cinematography.  They did a great job of breaking down the
movie and telling various anecdotes about the making of the movie.

 It's a terrific performance from Steiger; he deserved the Oscar. The
characterizations of the smaller roles in performance and script are
quite good.
 Still, I have a real problem with the adapted screenplay. I have a real
problem with Stirling Siliphant scripts. The mystery is poorly developed
although it's not the point of the story. It comes off as too offhand,
and Gillespie's sticks with his belief that Officer Wood was the prime
suspect way too long.
 Quincy Jones was nominated for a song in a different movie.
 

One of the stories they told about Quincy was he was brought in to score a movie (I'm not sure if it was this one or an earlier movie) but the producers saw he Black and refused to hire him until another composer (I think Henry Mancini) vouched for him.
There is also a featurrete on the disc about Quincy scoring the movie along with the two people who wrote the lyrics to the songs.  They explained that all the music in the movie was written for the movie. They didn't want to take people out of the movie by having recognizable music playing, so if someone was listening to a song on the radio or jukebox it was written specifically for that scene.  They also played some music that Quincy wrote for the movie but wasn't used.  It was very good music and would have been in a scene where Black people were shown picking cotton, but the wasn't used because it was deemed too aggressive.  They cut to Quincy saying when I see Black people picking cotton down South he doesn't feel too happy.

Was it Best Picture in a year in which Doctor Doolittle was nominated?
 Note that the Gillespie and Tibbs characters in the tv series are almost
unrecognizeable as characters from the movie.
 I've explained before that the movie was not filmed in the Deep South
because Poitier would have refused to do the movie. It was still way too
violent.

They talked about this on the commentary.  I think they said there was one scene where they did talk him into going down South to film. Steiger also relayed a story, and I wasn't paying full attention to the story, but he was basically saying he and Poitier were in a hotel when a guy with a shotgun forced his way in looking for his wife.  The woman wasn't there and the guy apologetic.
It's downstate Illinois, in Sparta, so they wouldn't have to

put up new signs.
 

They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (blu-ray) 1970 sequel to "In the Heat of the
Night." The movie was included as an extra with "In the Heat of the
Night."  Sidney Poitier returns and has someone gone from a single
detective from Philadelphia to a married with children detective from
San Francisco.  His friend played by Martin Landau is the prime suspect
in the murder of a prostitute and Poitier is determined to solve the
case no matter the outcome.  I think I might have watched this once
before.  I really didn't follow the plot, but I guess it was OK.

 Yeah. I love how Tibbs has an unexplained unrelated back story and is
essentially a different character.
 

The Organization (blu-ray) 1971 sequel that was also included as an
extra with "In the Heat of the Night."  This one has Poitier looking
into the murder of a businessman during a robbery.  But the robbers turn
themselves in claiming they did rob the place but it was to get the
police attention that the place they robbed was a front for mobsters;
but when they left the businessman was still alive.  I think this may
have been my first time ever watching this movie.  I think I might have
liked this one a bit more than the first sequel.

 Doesn't he have a different back story in this as well? I haven't seen
it in a very long time.

I didn't notice a different backstory in this one.  But it could have went over my head.