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Product Description ------------------- While on a trip back home in Mississippi, detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested for the murder of a prominent industrialist. His only crimes: being out late at night and being black. After some prodding by his boss, Tibbs joins forces with the bigoted town sheriff to catch the real killer. A black Philadelphia detective becomes involved in a murder case in a small, bigoted southern town, much to the chagrin of the local, redneck chief. An excellent production, adapted by Stirling Silliphant from John Ball's novel. Academy Award Nominations: 7, including Best Director. Academy Awards: 5, including Best Picture, Best Actor-Rod Steiger, Best (Adapted) Screenplay. Director Norman Jewison Star Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Special Features: Widescreen - 1.85 Audio: Mono - English, Spanish, French Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Subtitles - English, Spanish Optional Additional Release Material: Audio Commentaries - Norman Jewison Director; Lee Grant, Rod Steiger Stars; Haskell Wexler Cinematographer Runtime: 112 minutes Year of Release: 1967. .com ---- Both riveting murder mystery and classic fish-out-of-water yarn, Norman Jewison's O-winning In the Heat of the Night represents Hollywood at its wiliest, cloaking exposé in the most entertaining trappings. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger prove the decade's most formidable antagonists. Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, an arrogant homicide detective waylaid in Sparta, Mississippi; Steiger, in his bravura O-winning turn, is Bill Gillespie, the town's hardheaded, bigoted sheriff who first arrests Tibbs for murder and then begs for his expertise. As the clues and suspects , Gillespie and his deputies develop begrudging respect for the black officer. The first-rate supporting cast includes Lee Grant as the victim's angry widow, Warren Oates as a voyeuristic deputy, William Schallert as the pragmatic mayor, and, in his screen debut, Scott Wilson (In Cold Blood) as an unlucky fugitive. The brilliant widescreen cinematography is by Haskell Wexler, and the scat-music score is by Quincy Jones. Ray Charles wails the blues theme song. --Glenn Lovell