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.
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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
Director
Norman Jewison
Screenplay
Stirling Silliphant
Tagline
"They got a murder on their hands. They don’t know what to do with it."
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
Budget
$2,000,000
Revenue
$27,379,978
Production
United Artists, The Mirisch Company
GenerationofSwine
January 11, 2023
I have a love/hate thing for how this ended. It looked good but it was too dark... visually. I think they were going for a source lighting thing and failed a bit. It was realistically dark but not Hollywood viewer in mind dark. Anyway the bad is out of the way, the good is the performance, it was really Oscar worthy in the truest sense, and the evolution of both the lead character and the su...
CinemaSerf
May 22, 2023
Warren Oates ("Wood") steps from his patrol car in the quiet town of Sparta and discovers the body of "Colbert" - a controversial local employer. Shortly afterwards he discovers "TIbbs" (Sidney Poitier) sitting waiting for the 4.05 train. He is black and there is a wealthy white murder victim on the street - ergo, two and two... Next thing, though, the police chief "Gillespie" (Rod Steiger) is int...
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