Rating: NR
Genre:
Mystery
Release Date: 01/09/2001
SubTitles: French/Espanol/English
Dubbed: English/French/Espanol
Sound: 1/5.1
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Distributor/Studio: MGM
The winner of the 1967 Oscar for Best Picture (as well as four other Oscars),
In the Heat of the Night is set in a small Mississippi town where an unusual murder has been committed.
Rod Steiger plays sheriff
Bill Gillespie, a good lawman despite his racial prejudices. When
Virgil Tibbs (
Sidney Poitier), a well-dressed northern African-American, comes to town,
Gillespie instinctively puts him under arrest as a murder suspect.
Tibbs reveals himself to be a Philadelphia police detective; after he and
Gillespie come to a grudging understanding of one another,
Tibbs offers to help in
Gillespie's investigation. As the case progresses, both
Gillespie and
Tibbs betray a tendency to jump to culture-dictated conclusions. Still, the case is solved thanks to the informal teamwork of the two law officers. Based on the novel by
John Ball,
In the Heat of the Night inspired two sequels, both starring
Poiter as
Virgil Tibbs. In 1987, a TV series version of
In the Heat of the Night appeared, with
Carroll O'Connor as
Gillespie and
Howard Rollins as
Tibbs.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide