In the Heat of the Night is a 1967 film directed by Norman Jewison with a screenplay by Stirling Silliphant based on the novel of the same name by John Ball. The film was produced by Walter Mirisch and won 5 Academy Awards while grossing over $24,000,000 at the box office. It starred Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, was edited by Hal Ashby and had music by Quincy Jones.
The film is about a racially motivated murder in the small town of Sparta, Mississippi town that is to be investigated by Virgil Tibbs, an African-American police detective from Philadelphia. Tibbs must face and overcome deeply racist people who are set on keeping him from doing his job to solve the murder. Ultimately, Tibbs is able to solve the crime but not without unearthing chilling realities.
Oscars would go to Steiger, Ashby Silliphant and Mirisch for the film as In the Heat of the Night would go on to win Best Picture at the 1968 Academy Awards. And it is regarded critically as a film of influence and quality.
