
In the Heat of the Night ( 1967 )
"They got a murder on their hands. They don’t know what to do with it."
Overview
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
Top Cast

Sidney Poitier
Virgil Tibbs

Rod Steiger
Police Chief Bill Gillespie

Warren Oates
Deputy Sam Wood

Peter Whitney
Deputy Courtney

Lee Grant
Mrs. Leslie Colbert

Anthony James
Ralph

William Schallert
Mayor Schubert

Scott Wilson
Harvey Oberst

Larry Gates
Eric Endicott

James Patterson
Mr. Purdy

Quentin Dean
Delores Purdy

Kermit Murdock
Henderson

Larry D. Mann
Watkins

Matt Clark
Packy

Beah Richards
Mama Caleba

Arthur Malet
Ulam

Fred Stewart
Dr. Stuart

Timothy Scott
Shagbag

William Watson
McNeil

Eldon Quick
Charles Hawthorne

Jester Hairston
Endicott's Butler

Stuart Nisbet
Shuie

Khalil Bezaleel
Jess

Peter Masterson
Fryer

Phil Adams
1st Tough

Nikita Knatz
2nd Tough

Sam Reese
Clerk

Jack Teter
Philip Colbert (uncredited)

Alan Oppenheimer
Ted Appleton (uncredited)

Clegg Hoyt
Deputy (uncredited)

Buzz Barton
Conductor (uncredited)
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