In the Heat of the Night
1967 · Movie · 109 min. · United States
When a prominent local businessman is found murdered in the tiny southern town of Sparta, Mississippi, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) gets picked up at the train station as a potential suspect, having essentially three strikes against him: he’s black, he’s a stranger, and he’s carrying a good amount of cash. Nobody bothers to question him until he’s brought before the police chief, Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger), where it is embarrassingly learned that Tibbs is a Philadelphia homicide cop. After a phone call to his boss, and for reasons never made entirely clear, Tibbs ends up working on the very murder he was accused of, alongside the very men who accused him! It’s clear from the get go that these good old southern boys haven’t had much experience in homicide cases, and Tibbs brings a scientific and logical expertise that both baffles and intimidates the white officers.
Direction Norman Jewison
Cast Sidney Poitier · Rod Steiger · Warren Oates · Lee Grant · Quentin Dean · James Patterson · Matt Clark · Scott Wilson · Harry Dean Stanton
Soundtrack Quincy Jones
Screenplay Stirling Silliphant · John Ball
Cinematography Haskell Wexler
Original title In the Heat of the Night
7.5
13K votes (FilmAffinity)
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