In the Heat of the Night (Film), released 1967 — adapted from In the Heat of the Night by John Ball.
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.
Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Peter Whitney, Lee Grant.
Directed by Norman Jewison.
