Miscellaneous Thoughts on Film

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

My kind of film. Even people who screw up their lives can still do some good and get things done. A riveting, crescendo of an ending too.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

One of my favorite scenes from a movie that has a number of great scenes.

“I looked at the stars and considered how awful it would be for a man to turn his face to them as he froze to death and see no help or pity in all the glittering multitude.”

That the read passage from Dickens (Great Expectations) so accurately describes the plight of Blacks in America pre Civil Rights days is a compelling revelation. The bonus aspect of the scene is Mr. Rose's rationale at the end. So absurd it's actually brilliant.

[OuttaNowhereWregget]

Great performance. Petulant, tinged-with-nastiness diva Delores Purdy's moment-in-the-spotlight wonderfully portrayed by Quentin Dean, who was 22 at the time. Diva Veruca Salt turned small town Mississippi white trash.

[Brooklyn]

In the Heat of the Night



Steiger



I well remember the original movie and novel. Also watched a few episodes of the TV show with Carroll O'Connor as Gillespie. Am fascinated with that character's extraordinary evolution. In the novel (and in the movie to a lesser extent) he was presented as a brute. One with massive power and not to be messed around with. The tv show started to show a softer side to him - he admitted to having been a bigot who once burned down a synagogue and refused to take responsibility for the consequences. Thereafter, he reformed and eventually married a black woman. I cannot recall seeing any other character go through such an amazing transformation. No question that Gillespie is one of the most fascinating characters in tv history.



O'Connor