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May 12, 2025 Web Exclusive By Hays Davis Photography by The Criterion Collection

The fact that the provocative racial/social commentary of In the Heat of the Night was presented in a real-time context in 1967 is still jarring to consider. As powerful as ever, decades after its release, the film pivots in its first 20 minutes from what appears to be a wrong-suspect murder story to something considerably more multi-layered and compelling. With peak performances from Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, the film was richly deserving of its five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Steiger.

During a routine nighttime car patrol in a small Mississippi town, police officer Sam Wood (Warren Oates) comes across the body of a man killed within the hour. Sent to check out various spots for potential suspects by police chief Bill Gillespie (Steiger), Wood runs across Virgil Tibbs (Poitier), a Black man who is waiting at the train depot, and takes him in. Initially considering Tibbs to be a suspect, Gillespie soon discovers that Tibbs is a top Philadelphia homicide detective. After Gilliespie allows and then encourages Tibbs to bring his expertise to the case, crucial details are uncovered, and the arrest of a suspect complicates matters rather than settles them when Tibbs makes clear that justice is not being served.

An altercation between Tibbs and wealthy local Eric Endicott (Larry Gates) was a potent moment for audiences at the time (and remains so), and a courageous inclusion in the film. It is but one scene that highlights how the combination of masterful acting and excellent writing led to In the Heat of the Night being impactful during a period of peak civil rights activity. To note, a calendar on the wall of Gillespie’s office dates the action taking place in September 1966. Notable among the supporting cast are Oates and Lee Grant as the wife of the murder victim, who demands that Tibbs stay on the case. And In the Heat of the Night is where one of cinema’s all-time classic lines is uttered: “They call me Mister Tibbs!”

For Criterion’s 4K UHD/Blu-ray release, extras include interviews with director Norman Jewison and actor Lee Grant; a segment from a 2006 American Film Institute interview with Poitier; Turning Up the Heat: Movie-Making in the ’60s, which explores the film’s production and legacy; and a focus on the soundtrack with Quincy Jones: Breaking New Sound.

(www.criterion.com/films/29459-in-the-heat-of-the-night)