In the Heat of the Night
Directed by Norman Jewison
Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Peter Whitney, Lee Grant, Anthony James, William Schallert, Scott Wilson, Larry Gates, James Patterson
Angry
Happy
CalmAfrican-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.
- Original language
- English
- Screenplay
- John Ball, Stirling Silliphant
- Music
- Quincy Jones
- Cinematography
- Haskell Wexler
- Cast
- Peter Whitney, Lee Grant, Anthony James, William Schallert, Scott Wilson, Larry Gates, James Patterson, Quentin Dean, Kermit Murdock
Updated July 22, 2026
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Where to watch In the Heat of the Night?
In the Heat of the Night is streaming on History Vault, IndieFlix Shorts, Fawesome, The Roku Channel.
In the same universe
Virgil Tibbs Trilogy
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