Name: In the Heat of the Night
Genre: Crime, Drama
Duration: 109 min
Cast: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates

Oscar · 5Globe · 3BAFTA · 2

Spoiler-free premise

Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs is drawn into a Mississippi murder investigation and forced to work with prejudiced police chief Bill Gillespie.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

Black Philadelphia homicide detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested while changing trains in Sparta, Mississippi, then recruited when officers learn his expertise could solve a wealthy industrialist's murder. Chief Bill Gillespie resents needing his help inside the segregated town.

Why it belongs

In In the Heat of the Night, Poitier and Steiger transform procedural partnership into a tense negotiation of expertise, dignity, prejudice, and reluctant respect.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

Hot streets, police rooms, greenhouse heat, cars, slaps, and Quincy Jones's score give racial power physical environments—Sidney Poitier's controlled Tibbs and Rod Steiger's volatile Gillespie change the investigation's tempo through every exchange.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

Academy Awards5 wins1968 · official ceremony record ↗

Best Picture1968 · Walter Mirisch, Producerofficial ceremony record ↗Actor1968 · Rod Steigerofficial ceremony record ↗Writing (Screenplay—based on material from another medium)1968 · Stirling Silliphantofficial ceremony record ↗

Plus 2 additional wins

Golden Globes3 wins1968 · official film record ↗

Best Motion Picture - Drama1968 · In the Heat of the Nightofficial film record ↗Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama1968 · Rod Steigerofficial film record ↗Best Screenplay - Motion Picture1968 · Sterling Silliphantofficial film record ↗

BAFTA2 wins1968 · official BAFTA 1968 Film Awards results ↗

Best Foreign Actor1968 · Rod Steigerofficial BAFTA 1968 Film Awards results ↗

Plus 1 additional win

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for

Film Club

Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

In the Heat of the Night

Double Feature