Do you want to see ‘In the Heat of the Night’?

In the Heat of the Night (1967)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 8.1/10
Reviews Counted: 28
Fresh: 27 | Rotten: 1

Tense, funny, and thought-provoking all at once, and lifted by strong performances from Sydney Poitier and Rod Steiger, director Norman Jewison's look at murder and racism in small-town America continues to resonate today.

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0

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Movie Info

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

Unrated, 1 hr. 49 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

Directed By: Norman Jewison

Written By: Stirling Silliphant

In Theaters: Aug 2, 1967 Wide

On DVD: Jan 9, 2001

MGM Home Entertainment

In the Heat of the Night Trailer & Photos

Cast

Sidney Poitier
Virgil Tibbs
Rod Steiger
Police Chief Bill Gille...
Warren Oates
Deputy Sam Wood
Lee Grant
Mrs. Leslie Colbert
James Patterson
Purdy
Scott Wilson
Harvey Oberst
Quentin Dean
Delores Purdy
Larry Gates
Eric Endicott
Beah Richards
Mama Caleba
William Schallert
Mayor Schubert
Matt Clark
Packy Harrison
Anthony James
Ralph Henshaw
Kermit Murdock
H.E. Henderson
Khalil Bezaleel
Jess
Peter Whitney
George Courtney
William Watson
McNeil
Timothy Scott
Shagbag Martin
Larry D. Mann
Watkins
Stuart Nisbet
Shuie
Eldon Quick
Charlie Hawthorne
Fred Stewart
Dr. Stuart
Arthur Malet
Ted Ulam
Peter Masterson
Arnold Fryer
Alan Oppenheimer
Ted Appleton
Phil Garris
Engineer
Jester Hairston
Butler
Clegg Hoyt
Deputy
Phil Adams
1st Tough
Nikita Knatz
2nd Tough
Buzz Barton
Conductor
Sammy Reese
Clerk
Jack Teter
Philip Colbert

Critic Reviews for In the Heat of the Night

All Critics (28) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (30) | Rotten (1) | DVD (14)

No deep solutions are suggested in this subtle and meticulously observed study. Yet Director Norman Jewison has used his camera to extract a cer tain rough-cut beauty from each protagonist.

February 20, 2009 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine

| Comment

TIME Magazine

Top Critic

An excellent Sidney Poitier performance, and an outstanding one by Rod Steiger, overcome some noteworthy flaws to make In The Heat of the Night an absorbing contemporary murder drama.

February 19, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

| Comment

A.D. Murphy

Variety

Top Critic

A decent piece of do-good cinema.

December 13, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

A film that has the look and sound of actuality and the pounding pulse of truth.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Bosley Crowther

New York Times

Top Critic

far -- far -- more interested in racial politics than criminal capers, and it's Tibbs' interactions with the local yokels that make the film so memorable

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

| Comment

Christopher Null

Filmcritic.com

Probably Norman Jewison's best picture.

October 31, 2007 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comment

Empire Magazine

The cleverness of Silliphant's script is in combining the investigation of a murder with a message film.

October 31, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4

| Comment

Film4

[A] superb thriller.

December 13, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

| Comment

TV Guide's Movie Guide

Rod Steiger delivers an engaging performance as a bigoted police chief who comes to trust a strong black homicide detective.

November 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy

| Comment

Wesley Lovell

Oscar Guy

Norman Jewison's drama is a message film in the guise of a small-town murder mystery, propagating interracial friendship between blacks and whites.

July 25, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

| Comment

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

Liberal do-gooder film.

May 25, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment (1)

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Oozes sufficient Southern sweat and features enough admirably crumpled character faces to make up for its over-strident liberal rhetoric.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

Geoff Andrew

Time Out

...captured that small town feel quite well...

August 1, 2003 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews

| Comment

David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for In the Heat of the Night

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"They call me Mr. Tibbs!" Great film! Not really one i'd call a classic, but this is timeless piece that was completely ahead of it's time. Released in 1967, during the Civil Rights movement, In the Heat of the Night is about a Black Philadelphia cop who gets involved in a murder case in a small rascist Mississippi

February 9, 2011

Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

An interesting film on the changing power dynamics of race relations in the Bible Belt at a time when the nation seemed to be mired in social upheaval. The film centers around the murder of a white business man and the way that small town mentalities react to an African American man of power infringing on what they

March 21, 2011

Reid Volk

Super Reviewer

In the Heat of the Night Quotes

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1. Police Chief Bill Gillespie: Just once in my life, I'm gonna own my temper. I'm telling you that you're gonna stay here. You're gonna stay here if I have to go inside and call your chief of police and have him remind you of what he told you to do. But I don't think I have to do that, you see? No, because you're so damn smart. You're smarter than any white man. You're just gonna stay here and show us all. You've got such a big head that you could never live with yourself unless you could put us all to shame. You wanna know something, Virgil? I don't think that you could let an opportunity like that pass by.
– Submitted by Dusan D (6 months ago)
1. Virgil Tibbs: They call me MISTER Tibbs!
– Submitted by Tyler C (10 months ago)

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