In the Heat of the Night

directed by Norman Jewison
List(s):"Movie Two"
Category: "Drama"
Year of Release:1967
Date Added:02/07/2015
Date Watched:07/16/2024
Description:Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is a homicide detective from Philadelphia. Waiting for a train in Sparta, Mississippi, he finds himself arrested for murdering a factory owner, strictly on the basis of being an unknown Black man. Police chief Gillespie (Rod Steiger), when he finds out Tibbs is a cop, just wants him out of town. But the murdered man's wife (Lee Grant) believes that Tibbs has a much better chance of catching her husband's murderer than the clowns in the police department. Over the next few days, Gillespie suspects various people of the crime, but Tibbs proves them all innocent. While this is going on, he has to dodge a mob of racists who are out to get him. In the end, Tibbs proves that the murder was committed by a local man who was robbing the factory owner to get money to pay for his girl's abortion. By this time, Gillespie has gained respect for Tibbs as a policeman and as a person.
My Rating:8

Reviews for In the Heat of the Night

Review - In the Heat of the Night

Kept me pretty much riveted to the screen, although the bumbling of the Sparta police department seemed a little over the top and the constant pattern of (1) arrest the wrong guy, (2) tells Tibbs to leave town, (3) find out its the wrong guy, (4) ask Tibbs to stay, got a little old after a while.
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