IMDb > In the Heat of the Night (1967)
In the Heat of the Night
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In the Heat of the Night (1967) More at IMDbPro »

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In the Heat of the Night (1967) -- MattTrailer.com - Trailer (Flash)

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Overview

User Rating:
8.1/10   20,836 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?

Down 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.

Director:

Norman Jewison

Writers:

Stirling Silliphant (screenplay)
John Ball (novel)

Contact:

View company contact information for In the Heat of the Night on IMDbPro.

Release Date:

14 October 1967 (Japan) more

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Crime more

Tagline:

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

Plot:

An African American detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racist southern town. full summary | full synopsis

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 12 nominations more

NewsDesk:
(18 articles)

AFI's 100 Years ...100 Movie Quotes
 (From Extra. 4 November 2009, 4:45 AM, PST)

October A.M.P.A.S. Events In Los Angeles
 (From CinemaRetro. 30 September 2009, 8:48 PM, PDT)

User Comments:

Through The Mississippi Darkness more (120 total)


Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Sidney Poitier ... Virgil Tibbs

Rod Steiger ... Gillespie
Warren Oates ... Sam Wood
Lee Grant ... Mrs. Colbert
Larry Gates ... Endicott
James Patterson ... Mr. Purdy
William Schallert ... Mayor Schubert
Beah Richards ... Mama Caleba
Peter Whitney ... Courtney
Kermit Murdock ... Henderson
Larry D. Mann ... Watkins
Matt Clark ... Packy
Arthur Malet ... Ulam
Fred Stewart ... Dr. Stuart
Quentin Dean ... Delores
more
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Additional Details

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1 more

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Sound)

Filming Locations:

Belleville, Illinois, USA more


Fun Stuff

Trivia:

The same locomotive is used in the opening and closing scenes to carry Virgil in and out of town - Gulf Mobile and Ohio locomotive #103. more

Goofs:

Continuity: When Det. Virgil Tibbs is at the train station, and Police Chief Bill Gillespie comes back to get him, in the wide shot there is a dog slinking along the building. When they close in, the dog is gone. more

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ofcr. Sam Wood: Where you keeping the pie tonight?
Ralph Henshaw, diner counterman: I ate the last piece just before you came in.
more

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-03-14)" (2008) more

Soundtrack:

It Sure Is Groovy! more


FAQ

Is this movie based on a novel?
Where was "In the Heat of the Night" filmed?
What was Gillespie chewing on throughout the whole film?
more
8 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
Through The Mississippi Darkness, 3 January 2008
8/10
Author: Lechuguilla from Dallas, Texas

Gritty realism and a strong performance by Rod Steiger rev up the technical quality of this taut drama about a visiting Northern Black detective named Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) who gets nailed as a suspect, foolishly, in the murder of a local VIP, in a small town in Mississippi. Eventually, the town's White police chief, the gum chewing Gillespie (Rod Steiger), accepts Tibbs' innocence. And the two of them then work together, reluctantly, to solve the case.

Forty years after the film was made, the racial themes seem just a tad heavy-handed. Whites are always backward and racist. And Tibbs is smart, urbane, and sophisticated. But back in the 1960s, the filmmaker probably did need to be blunt. And the point is made that Blacks and Whites, working together, can accomplish worthy aims, even though old Black Joe is still pickin' cotton at the Endicott Cotton Company.

As a whodunit, the story is fairly good, convenient coincidences notwithstanding. The clue to the killer's identity is pleasantly subtle.

The film's cinematography and production design are terrific. Many scenes take place at night. And the opaque lighting makes for a moody, slightly dangerous look and feel. Loved how they photographed that train moving down the tracks in the Mississippi darkness, a metaphor related to the film's theme. And the sound of a train whistle adds to the mournful realism.

Interiors look authentic. The masking tape that covers rips in a big leather chair in Gillespie's shabby office is so true to life. A single white light bulb hangs down from the ceiling in a small neighborhood grocery store, where the shelves are filled with empty fruit jars. And that greasy spoon called Comptons reeks of 1960's Southern rural reality.

My only complaint with this film is the background music. Some of the jukebox songs are not consistent with the film's overall tone.

"In The Heat Of The Night" is a technically well made, and quite interesting, murder mystery. Yet, it will always be remembered, rightfully, as the film that offered hope of racial harmony, during a decade in which there was none. Its "Best Picture" Oscar award is thus explained.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
'Fooooul owl on the prowl!' + other funny scenes... firebringer700
In the Heat Of The Night ross-noble
Race Tension Misdirection Vader999
Courtney and his brother ranier
'I was visiting my mother.' (serious flaw?) Mononoke-hime
Where did they film the heat of the night jackehammond
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