In the Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night

1967 · 109 min · EN · PG-13 · 7.7 (1,247 votes)
Dir. Norman Jewison · Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Peter Whitney, Lee Grant, Anthony James · Music Quincy Jones · Virgil Tibbs Trilogy

They got a murder on their hands. They don’t know what to do with it.

CrimeDramaMysteryThriller

African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.

VIBE

Feel the oppressive Southern heat and the simmering racial tension as an outsider navigates a hostile landscape. It's a taut, propulsive whodunit, charged with a palpable sense of injustice and the friction of clashing wills, all while relentlessly pursuing a difficult truth.

tensegrittyconfrontationalsuspensefulunsettlingpropulsiveneo-noirgritty realismclassic Hollywood dramasocial thrillerracial prejudicejusticeunlikely alliancessocial commentaryidentity
▶ Stream on Amazon Prime Video, History Vault, IndieFlix, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, IndieFlix Shorts Amazon Channel
small townsouthern usapolice chiefstolen moneyracial segregationracistthiefmurderyouth gangracismwhodunitpovertyfalse accusationspolice stationracial tensionbigotryautopsy roomred herring
MORE LIKE THIS — multi-vector + why, diversified