They got a murder on their hands. They don’t know what to do with it.
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.
In the Heat of the Night (1967) is a crime, drama, mystery and thriller film directed by Norman Jewison, released on August 2, 1967 with a runtime of 1h 49m. It stars Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates and Peter Whitney. Viewers rate it 7.7 out of 10 across 1,288 ratings.
Watch the official trailer for In the Heat of the Night before you stream it.
Official trailers, teasers, clips and featurettes for In the Heat of the Night.
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Teaser
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Featurette
Sidney Poitier
as Virgil Tibbs
Rod Steiger
as Police Chief Bill Gillespie
Warren Oates
as Deputy Sam Wood
Peter Whitney
as Deputy Courtney
Lee Grant
as Mrs. Leslie Colbert
Anthony James
as Ralph
William Schallert
as Mayor Schubert
Scott Wilson
as Harvey Oberst
Larry Gates
as Eric Endicott
James Patterson
as Mr. Purdy
Quentin Dean
as Delores Purdy
Kermit Murdock
as Henderson
Directed by Norman Jewison, written by John Ball, Stirling Silliphant and Alan Bergman, produced by Walter Mirisch.
Average viewer score of 7.7/10 from 1,288 ratings.
I have a love/hate thing for how this ended. It looked good but it was too dark... visually. I think they were going for a source lighting thing and failed a bit. It was realistically dark but not Hollywood viewer in mind dark. Anyway the bad is out of the way, the good is the performance, it was really Oscar worthy in the truest sense, and the evolution of both the lead character and the supporting cast right down…
Reviewed on January 11, 2023
Warren Oates ("Wood") steps from his patrol car in the quiet town of Sparta and discovers the body of "Colbert" - a controversial local employer. Shortly afterwards he discovers "TIbbs" (Sidney Poitier) sitting waiting for the 4.05 train. He is black and there is a wealthy white murder victim on the street - ergo, two and two... Next thing, though, the police chief "Gillespie" (Rod Steiger) is interrogating their…
Reviewed on May 22, 2023
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In the Heat of the Night (1967) is available to stream on History Vault and IndieFlix Shorts Amazon Channel, and to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home and Plex. Streaming availability is checked against JustWatch data and can change by region.
The main cast of In the Heat of the Night (1967) includes Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Peter Whitney and Lee Grant. The film was directed by Norman Jewison. You can see the full cast and crew list, with character names, further up this page.
In the Heat of the Night was released on August 2, 1967 and runs for 1h 49m.
In the Heat of the Night (1967) holds an average rating of 7.7 out of 10 from 1,288 viewer votes, and is a good pick if you enjoy crime, drama and mystery films. Read the viewer reviews on this page to decide for yourself.
Yes. The official In the Heat of the Night trailer is embedded in the trailer section of this page and plays instantly, no download or sign-up required.
