In the Heat of the Night ( film ) - wikipedia In the Heat of the Night ( film ) In the Heat of the Night Theatrical release poster Directed by Norman Jewison Produced by Walter Mirisch Screenplay by Stirling Silliphant Based on a novel by John Ball Starring Sidney Poitier Rod Steiger Music by Quincy Jones Cinematography Haskell Wexler, A.S.C. Edited by Hal Ashby Production company The Mirisch Corporation Distributed by United Artists Release date August 2, 1967 ( 1967 - 08 - 02 ) Running time 109 minutes Country United States Language English Budget $2 million Box office $24.3 million In the Heat of the Night is a 1967 American mystery drama film directed by Norman Jewison. It is based on John Ball 's 1965 novel of the same name and tells the story of Virgil Tibbs, a black police detective from Philadelphia, who becomes involved in a murder investigation in a small town in Mississippi. It stars Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger, and was produced by Walter Mirisch. The screenplay was by Stirling Silliphant. The film won five Academy Awards, including the 1967 awards for Best Picture and Rod Steiger for Best Actor. The film was followed by two sequels, They Call Me Mister Tibbs ! in 1970, and The Organization in 1971. In 1988, it also became the basis of a television series adaptation of the same name. Although the film was set in the fictional Mississippi town of Sparta ( with supposedly no connection to the real Sparta, Mississippi ), most of the movie was filmed in Sparta, Illinois, where many of the film 's landmarks can still be seen. The quote `` They call me Mister Tibbs ! '' was listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute 's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes. In 2002, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being `` culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant ''. Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Song credit 4 Production 5 Reception 5.1 Critical response 6 Musical score and soundtrack 6.1 Track listing 6.2 Personnel 7 Legacy 8 Home media 9 Preservation 10 Gallery 11 Accolades 12 See also 13 Sources 14 References 15 External links Plot In 1966, a wealthy industrialist named Phillip Colbert has moved from Chicago to Sparta, Mississippi to build a factory. One night, police officer Sam Wood discovers that Colbert has been murdered. Chief Gillespie leads the investigation. A doctor estimates that Colbert had been dead for a few hours. Wood finds a black man named Virgil Tibbs at the train station and arrests him. Gillespie quickly assumes that Tibbs is the culprit and tries to get Tibbs to make a confession. However, he is embarrassed to learn that Tibbs is a top homicide detective from Philadelphia. Gillespie phones Tibbs ' chief, who confirms this and recommends that Tibbs should assist them. This idea does not appeal to Gillespie or Tibbs, but they reluctantly agree. Gillespie arrests another suspect, but Tibbs clears him. The victim 's widow is frustrated by the ineptitude of the local police and impressed by Tibbs. She threatens to stop the construction of the factory unless Tibbs leads the investigation. Despite the rocky start, the two policemen begin to respect each other as they are forced to work together. Tibbs initially suspects plantation owner Endicott, a racist who publicly opposes the new factory. When Tibbs attempts to interrogate Endicott, Endicott slaps him in the face and Tibbs slaps him back. Endicott sends a gang of hooligans after Tibbs. Gillespie rescues him from the fight and tells him to leave town for his safety, but Tibbs is convinced he can solve the case. He examines Colbert 's body and suggests the murder happened earlier than initially thought. He examines Colbert 's car and deduces that Colbert was murdered elsewhere and the culprit moved the body. Tibbs asks Wood to retrace his car patrol route on the night of the murder, and Gillespie joins them. When Tibbs notices that Wood has changed his route, Gillespie starts suspecting Wood, though Tibbs hints there is another reason. Gillespie discovers that Wood made a sizable deposit into his bank account the day after the murder while Purdy, a local, files charges against Wood for getting his 16 - year - old sister Delores pregnant. Gillespie arrests Wood, despite Tibbs ' protests, and Delores is interrogated. Purdy is offended that a black man was present at the interrogation, and he gathers a mob to get revenge. Tibbs reveals that the murder was committed at the site of the planned factory and clears Wood. He also admits that he knew why Wood had changed his route : Delores is an exhibitionist and Wood has been spying on her. Tibbs visits a backstreet abortionist, who reveals that someone paid for Delores to have an abortion. When Delores arrives, Tibbs follows her outside and is confronted by the murderer, Ralph. Purdy 's mob tracks down Tibbs and holds him at gunpoint ; he responds by proving that Ralph got Delores pregnant. Ralph shoots Purdy dead before Tibbs disarms him. Ralph is arrested ( presumptively for both murders ) and confesses to Colbert 's : he robbed Colbert to fund Delores 's abortion but accidentally killed him. The final scene shows Tibbs boarding a train bound for Philadelphia, as Gillespie respectfully bids him farewell. Cast Sidney Poitier as Virgil Tibbs Rod Steiger as Gillespie Warren Oates as Sam Wood Lee Grant as Mrs. Colbert Larry Gates as Endicott James Patterson as Mr. Purdy William Schallert as Mayor Schubert Beah Richards as Mama Caleba Peter Whitney as Courtney Kermit Murdock as Henderson Larry D. Mann as Watkins Matt Clark as Packy Arthur Malet as Ulam Fred Stewart as Dr. Stuart Quentin Dean as Delores Scott Wilson as Harvey Oberst Timothy Scott as Shagbag William C. Watson as McNeil Eldon Quick as Charles Hawthorne Stuart Nisbet as Shuie Khalil Bezaleel as Jess Peter Masterson as Fryer Jester Hairston as butler Phil Adams as 1st tough Nikita Knatz as 2nd tough Sam Reese as clerk Anthony James as Ralph Uncredited Harry Dean Stanton as policeman Clegg Hoyt as policeman ( final acting role died two months after film 's release ) Jazan Winona Wallace as Viola Song credit `` In the Heat of the Night '' sung by Ray Charles Song lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman Production Jewison, Poitier, and Steiger worked together and got along well during the filming, but Jewison had problems with the Southern authorities, and Poitier had reservations about coming south of the Mason -- Dixon Line for filming. However, despite their reservations, Jewison decided to film part of the film in Dyersburg ( Endicott 's house ) and Union City, Tennessee, anyway while the rest was filmed in Sparta, Chester ( Harvey Oberst chase scene ), and Freeburg ( Compton 's diner ), Illinois. The famous scene of Tibbs slapping Endicott is not present in the novel. According to Poitier, the scene was almost not in the movie. In the textbook `` Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA 1850 - 2009 ( Access to History ), '' Poitier states : `` I said, ' I 'll tell you what, I 'll make this movie for you if you give me your absolute guarantee when he slaps me I slap him right back and you guarantee that it will play in every version of this movie. ' I try not to do things that are against nature. '' However, Poitier 's version of the story is contradicted by Mark Harris in his book, Pictures at a Revolution. Harris states that copies of the original draft of the screenplay that he obtained clearly contain the scene as filmed, which is backed up by Jewison and Silliphant. The film is also important for being the first major Hollywood film in color that was lit with proper consideration for a person of African descent. Haskell Wexler recognized that standard strong lighting used in filming tended to produce too much glare on dark complexions and rendered the features indistinct. Accordingly, Wexler toned it down to feature Poitier with better photographic results. Reception In contrast to films like The Chase and Hurry Sundown, which offered confused visions of the South, In the Heat of the Night offered a tough, edgy vision of a Southern town that seemed to hate outsiders more than itself, a theme reflecting the uncertain mood of the time as the Civil Rights Movement attempted to take hold. Canadian director Jewison wanted to tell an anti-racist story of a white man and a black man working together in spite of difficulties. Jewison said that this film proved a conviction he had held for a long time : `` It 's you against the world. It 's like going to war. Everybody is trying to tell you something different and they are always putting obstacles in your way. '' In one famous scene, Gillespie mocks the name ' Virgil ' by saying `` That 's a funny name for a nigger boy that comes from Philadelphia ! What do they call you up there ? '' An irritated Tibbs replies : `` They call me Mr. Tibbs ! '' The line was later listed as number 16 on the American Film Institute 's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes, a list of top film quotes, and was also the title of the sequel. An iconic scene that surprised and perhaps shocked audiences at the time occurs when Tibbs is slapped by Endicott. Tibbs responds by slapping him back. In a San Francisco pre-screening, Jewison was concerned when the young audience was laughing at the film as if it were a comedy. The audience 's stunned reaction to the slapping scene convinced Jewison that the film was effective as drama. That scene helped make the film so popular for audiences, finally seeing the top black film actor physically strike back against bigotry, that the film earned the nickname, Super-spade Versus the Rednecks. During the film 's initial run, Steiger and Poitier occasionally went to the Capitol Theatre in New York to amuse themselves seeing how many black and white audience members there were, which could be immediately ascertained by listening to the former cheering Tibbs 's retaliatory slap and the latter whispering `` Oh ! '' in astonishment. Critical response Then - freshman critic Roger Ebert in 1967 gave In the Heat of the Night a positive review and placed it at number ten on his top ten list of 1967 films. AD Murphy of Variety magazine felt it was a good but uneven film. With the release of the film in the United States in August, Poitier was starring in two movies simultaneously at the box office, as To Sir, with Love had been released the previous June. The film, as of July 2017, holds a 96 % `` Certified Fresh '' rating on the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, out of 44 reviews collected with an average rating of 8.2 out of 10. It 's consensus states, `` Tense, funny, and thought - provoking all at once, and lifted by strong performances from Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger. Musical score and soundtrack In the Heat of the Night Soundtrack album by Quincy Jones Released 1967 Recorded 1967 Genre Film score Length 33 : 34 Label United Artists UAL 4160 / UAS 5160 Quincy Jones chronology Enter Laughing ( 1966 ) Enter Laughing 1966 In the Heat of the Night ( 1967 ) In Cold Blood ( 1967 ) In Cold Blood 1967 The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack album was released on the United Artists label in 1967. The title song performed by Ray Charles, composed by Quincy Jones, with lyrics by Marilyn Bergman and Alan Bergman was released as a single by ABC Records and reached # 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and # 21 on the Hot Rhythm & Blues Singles chart. Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating Allmusic Allmusic 's Steven McDonald said the soundtrack had `` a tone of righteous fury woven throughout '' and that `` the intent behind In the Heat of the Night was to get a Southern, blues - inflected atmosphere to support the angry, anti-racist approach of the picture... although the cues from In the Heat of the Night show their age ''. The Vinyl Factory said `` this soundtrack to a film about racism in the South has a cool, decidedly Southern - fried sound with funk - bottomed bluesy touches, like on the strutting ' Cotton Curtain ', the down ' n ' dirty ' Whipping Boy ' or the fat ' n ' sassy ' Chief 's Drive to Mayor ' ''. Track listing All compositions by Quincy Jones `` In the Heat of the Night ' ( Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman ) − 2 : 30 `` Peep - Freak Patrol Car '' − 1 : 30 `` Cotton Curtain '' − 2 : 33 `` Where Whitey Ai n't Around '' − 1 : 11 `` Whipping Boy '' − 1 : 25 `` No You Wo n't '' − 1 : 34 `` Nitty Gritty Time '' − 1 : 50 `` It Sure Is Groovy ! '' − 2 : 30 ( Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman ) `` Bowlegged Polly '' − 2 : 30 ( Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman ) `` Shag Bag, Hounds & Harvey '' − 3 : 28 `` Chief 's Drive to Mayor '' − 1 : 10 `` Give Me Until Morning '' − 1 : 09 `` On Your Feet, Boy ! '' − 1 : 37 `` Blood & Roots '' − 1 : 07 `` Mama Caleba 's Blues '' − 5 : 00 `` Foul Owl '' − 2 : 30 ( Lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman ) Personnel Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones including Ray Charles − vocals ( track 1 ), piano ( track 15 ) Glen Campbell − vocals ( track 9 ), banjo Boomer and Travis ( track 16 ), Gil Bernal ( track 8 ) − vocals Roland Kirk − flute Bobby Scott − tack piano Billy Preston − organ ( track 1 ) Ray Brown − bass Don Elliott − human instrument The Raelettes − backing vocals ( track 1 ) Legacy Steven H. Scheuer 's Movies on TV ( 1972 -- 73 edition ) gives In the Heat of the Night its highest rating of 4 stars, recommending it as an `` ( E ) xciting, superbly acted and directed film about prejudice, manners and morals in a small Mississippi town '', with the concluding sentences stating, `` ( D ) irector Norman Jewison does an outstanding job in creating the subsurface tension of life in a ' sleepy ' Southern town, and the supporting performances are uniformly fine. A first - rate film in all respects. '' Leonard Maltin 's TV Movies & Video Guide ( 1989 edition ) follows Scheuer 's example with its own highest rating of 4 stars, concluding that `` ( M ) arvelous social thriller has n't dated one bit -- tough, funny, and atmospheric, with unbeatable acting and splendid Quincy Jones score. Five Oscars include Best Picture... '' Mick Martin 's & Marsha Porter 's DVD & Video Guide ( 2007 edition ) also puts its rating high, at 4 stars ( out of 5 ), finding it `` ( A ) rousing murder mystery elevated by the excellent acting of Rod Steiger and Sidney Poitier. '' British references likewise show high regard for the film, with David Shipman in his 1984 The Good Film and Video Guide giving 3 ( out of 4 ) stars, noting that `` ( A ) s mystery or detective story this film is only fair but it has enormous tension. Within its given framework, it is good on the colour question. There is tension in the eyes of the black ( Sidney Poitier ), who happens to be a homicide officer, and malevolence in those of the local police chief ( Rod Steiger ). These are two remarkable performances, well supported by Warren Oates, Lee Grant and Larry Gates. '' Another British film critic with a highly personal Film Guide, Leslie Halliwell, gave 2 stars ( out of 4 ) describing it in the 5th edition ( 1985 ) as an `` ( O ) verrated policier in which the personality clash is amusing ( and was timely ) but the murder puzzle is a complete throwaway. '' The Guide continued to be published after Halliwell 's death in 1989 and, in the 21st edition, Halliwell 's Film Video & DVD Guide 2007, John Walker, who took over as the Guide 's author, raised the rating to the highest level of 4 stars and rewrote the evaluation to state that it is `` ( A ) tense and exciting thriller that also explores racism through the explosive clash of two contrasting personalities. '' Home media In the Heat of the Night was first released on DVD in 2001. In 2010, the film was digitized in High Definition ( 1080i ) and broadcast on MGM HD. In 2014, MGM released the film on Blu - ray. Preservation The Academy Film Archive preserved In the Heat of the Night in 1997. Gallery Accolades In the Heat of the Night was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning five. They are as follows : Academy Award wins Academy Award for Best Picture -- Walter Mirisch Academy Award for Best Actor -- Rod Steiger Academy Award for Best Film Editing -- Hal Ashby Academy Award for Best Sound -- Samuel Goldwyn Studios Academy Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium -- Stirling Silliphant Academy Award nominations Academy Award for Best Director -- Norman Jewison Academy Award for Best Sound Effects -- James Richard Other awards Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture -- Drama Golden Globe Award for Best Actor -- Motion Picture Drama -- Rod Steiger Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay -- Stirling Silliphant BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor -- Rod Steiger BAFTA UN Award -- Walter Mirisch Edgar Award -- Best Motion Picture Screenplay -- Stirling Silliphant ( Ball 's book also received an Edgar, for Best First Novel ) New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Picture Walter Mirisch American Film Institute recognition AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movies ( 10th Anniversary Edition ) : # 75 AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains : Virgil Tibbs # 19 Hero AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes : Virgil Tibbs : `` They call me Mister Tibbs ! '' : # 16 AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Cheers : # 21 Other nominations BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor -- Sidney Poitier BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source -- Norman Jewison Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures -- Norman Jewison Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Director -- Norman Jewison Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor -- Drama -- Sidney Poitier Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress -- Lee Grant Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress -- Quentin Dean Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media -- Quincy Jones Writers Guild of America for Best Written American Drama -- Stirling Silliphant See also List of American films of 1967 Sources DuBose, James ( 2008 ). Searching for Sparta : A 40 - year Retrospective on the Movie In the Heat of the Night ( 2nd ed. ). lulu.com. References Jump up ^ `` IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT ( A ) ''. British Board of Film Classification. July 17, 1967. Retrieved November 13, 2014. Jump up ^ Tino Balio, United Artists : The Company that Changed the Film Industry, Uni of Wisconsin Press, 1987 p 187 Jump up ^ `` In the Heat of the Night, Box Office Information ''. The Numbers. Retrieved March 8, 2012. Jump up ^ Civil Rights and Race Relations in the USA 1850 - 2009 ( Access to History ), Vivienne Sanders, Hodder Education, 2015 Jump up ^ Harris, Mark. Pictures at a Revolution : Five Films and the Birth of a New Hollywood. Penguin Press, 2008, p. 221. Jump up ^ Harris, pp. 288 -- 90. Jump up ^ Harris, p. 336. Jump up ^ Harris, pp. 335 -- 6 Jump up ^ Ebert 's 10 Best Lists : 1967 to Present. Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun - Times via the Internet Archive. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Jump up ^ The Best 10 Movies of 1967. Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun - Times. Retrieved October 18, 2016. Jump up ^ Later, Poitier did the sequels They Call Me MISTER Tibbs and The Organization, but both films failed at the box office. Variety review, 1967 Jump up ^ `` In the Heat of the Night, Movie Reviews ''. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 9, 2012. Jump up ^ Soundtrack Collector : album entry accessed January 17, 2018 Jump up ^ Edwards, D & Callahan, M. Discography Preview for the United Artists label 40000 & 4000 / 5000 Series ( 1958 - 1972 ), accessed January 17, 2018 ^ Jump up to : McDonald, Steven. In the Heat of the Night / They Call Me Mr. Tibbs -- Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 19, 2018. Jump up ^ 10 definitive Quincy Jones soundtracks from the ' 60s and ' 70s, The Vinyl Factory, accessed January 19, 2018 Jump up ^ `` Preserved Projects ''. Academy Film Archive. Jump up ^ `` The 40th Academy Awards ( 1968 ) Nominees and Winners ''. oscars.org. Retrieved 2011 - 08 - 25. External links Wikiquote has quotations related to : In the Heat of the Night ( film ) In the Heat of the Night on IMDb In the Heat of the Night at the TCM Movie Database In the Heat of the Night at AllMovie In the Heat of the Night at the American Film Institute Catalog In the Heat of the Night at Box Office Mojo In the Heat of the Night at Rotten Tomatoes Films directed by Norman Jewison 40 Pounds of Trouble ( 1962 ) The Thrill of It All ( 1963 ) Send Me No Flowers ( 1964 ) The Art of Love ( 1965 ) The Cincinnati Kid ( 1965 ) The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming ( 1966 ) In the Heat of the Night ( 1967 ) The Thomas Crown Affair ( 1968 ) Gaily, Gaily ( 1969 ) Fiddler on the Roof ( 1971 ) Jesus Christ Superstar ( 1973 ) Rollerball ( 1975 ) F.I.S.T. ( 1978 )... And Justice for All ( 1979 ) Best Friends ( 1982 ) A Soldier 's Story ( 1984 ) Agnes of God ( 1985 ) Moonstruck ( 1987 ) In Country ( 1989 ) Other People 's Money ( 1991 ) Only You ( 1994 ) Bogus ( 1996 ) The Hurricane ( 1999 ) Dinner with Friends ( 2001 ) The Statement ( 2003 ) Awards for In the Heat of the Night Academy Award for Best Picture 1927 / 28 -- 1950 Wings ( 1927 / 28 ) The Broadway Melody ( 1928 / 29 ) All Quiet on the Western Front ( 1929 / 30 ) Cimarron ( 1930 / 31 ) Grand Hotel ( 1931 / 32 ) Cavalcade ( 1932 / 33 ) It Happened One Night ( 1934 ) Mutiny on the Bounty ( 1935 ) The Great Ziegfeld ( 1936 ) The Life of Emile Zola ( 1937 ) You Ca n't Take It with You ( 1938 ) Gone with the Wind ( 1939 ) Rebecca ( 1940 ) How Green Was My Valley ( 1941 ) Mrs. Miniver ( 1942 ) Casablanca ( 1943 ) Going My Way ( 1944 ) The Lost Weekend ( 1945 ) The Best Years of Our Lives ( 1946 ) Gentleman 's Agreement ( 1947 ) Hamlet ( 1948 ) All the King 's Men ( 1949 ) All About Eve ( 1950 ) 1951 -- 1975 An American in Paris ( 1951 ) The Greatest Show on Earth ( 1952 ) From Here to Eternity ( 1953 ) On the Waterfront ( 1954 ) Marty ( 1955 ) Around the World in 80 Days ( 1956 ) The Bridge on the River Kwai ( 1957 ) Gigi ( 1958 ) Ben - Hur ( 1959 ) The Apartment ( 1960 ) West Side Story ( 1961 ) Lawrence of Arabia ( 1962 ) Tom Jones ( 1963 ) My Fair Lady ( 1964 ) The Sound of Music ( 1965 ) A Man for All Seasons ( 1966 ) In the Heat of the Night ( 1967 ) Oliver ! 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The Organization TV series In the Heat of the Night ( episodes ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=In_the_Heat_of_the_Night_(film)&oldid=849010973 '' Categories : 1967 films English - language films 1960s crime drama films American films American crime drama films Films directed by Norman Jewison Best Drama Picture Golden Globe winners Best Picture Academy Award winners Edgar Award - winning works Films scored by Quincy Jones Films about murder Films about race and ethnicity Films adapted into television programs Films based on American novels Films based on crime novels Films featuring a Best Actor Academy Award - winning performance Films featuring a Best Drama Actor Golden Globe winning performance Films set in Mississippi Films shot in Illinois Films shot in Tennessee Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award Police detective films United States National Film Registry films United Artists films Screenplays by Stirling Silliphant Fictional portrayals of the Philadelphia Police Department African - American films Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from November 2014 Articles with hAudio microformats Music infoboxes with deprecated parameters Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikiquote Asturianu Български Bosanski Català Dansk Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Lietuvių Magyar Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Русский Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் Українська 中文 25 more Edit links This page was last edited on 5 July 2018, at 21 : 45 ( UTC ). 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Question: who was the murderer in the movie in the heat of the night
Answer: Ralph