In the Heat of the Night

I never liked "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" starring Sidney Poitier and Spencer Tracy. It's preachy...stilted--and doesn't hold up well today. No, Sir. For my money, Sidney Poitier's best work from that era (other than the seldom-seen, but powerful "Brother John") is 1967's "In the Heat of the Night." Poitier is tightly-coiled and cool as a Philadelphia police detective forced help a sheriff, played by Rod Steiger, solve a crime in a racist southern town. And the above scene is one of my favorites.