They got a murder on their hands . . . they don't know what to do with it. The winner of the 1967 Oscar for Best Picture, 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 African-American and Philadelphia police detective, comes to town, the two must betray culturally dictated conclusions of the other to grudgingly work together to solve the murder case.
Directed by
Norman Jewison
Written by
John Ball (novel) Stirling Silliphant
Starring
Sidney Poitier (Det. Virgil Tibbs); Rod Steiger (Police Chief Bill Gillespie); Warren Oates (Off. Sam Wood); Lee Grant (Mrs. Leslie Colbert); Larry Gates (Eric Endicott); James Patterson (Purdy (Delores' brother)); William Schallert (Mayor Webb Schubert); Beah Richards (Mama Caleba, aka Mrs. Bellamy); Peter Whitney (Off. George Courtney). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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