Directed by:
Norman JewisonScreenplay:
Stirling SilliphantCinematography:
Haskell WexlerComposer:
Quincy JonesCast:
Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards, Kermit Murdock, Matt Clark, Larry D. Mann (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Passing through the backwoods town of Sparta, Mississippi, Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder case. He forms an uneasy alliance with the bigoted police chief (Rod Steiger), who faces mounting pressure from Sparta’s hostile citizens to catch the killer and run the African American interloper out of town. Director Norman Jewison splices incisive social commentary into this thrilling police procedural with the help of Haskell Wexler’s vivid cinematography, Quincy Jones’s eclectic score, and two indelible lead performances—a career-defining display of seething indignation and moral authority from Poitier and an Oscar-winning master class in Method acting from Steiger. Winner of five Academy Awards, including for best picture, In the Heat of the Night is one of the most courageous Hollywood films of the civil rights era. (Criterion)
(more)Awards
- Winner
- Nominations
Academy Awards
- 1968 - Best Motion Picture of the Year
- 1968 - Rod Steiger (Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role)
- 1968 - Stirling Silliphant (Best Adapted Screenplay)
- 1968 - Best Achievement in Film Editing
- 1968 - Best Sound Mixing
- 1968 - Norman Jewison (Best Achievement in Directing)
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)
- 1968 - Rod Steiger (Best Foreign Actor)
- 1968 - United Nations Award
- 1968 - Norman Jewison (Best Film)
- 1968 - Sidney Poitier (Best Foreign Actor)
Golden Globes
- 1968 - Best Motion Picture – Drama
- 1968 - Stirling Silliphant (Best Screenplay)
- 1968 - Rod Steiger (Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama)
- 1968 - Norman Jewison (Best Director)
- 1968 - Sidney Poitier (Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama)
- 1968 - Quentin Dean (Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture)
- 1968 - Lee Grant (Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture)
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
- 1967 - Best Film
- 1967 - Rod Steiger (Best Actor)
- 1967 - Norman Jewison (Best Director)