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In the Heat of the Night

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

1967

Norman Jewison

Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant ...

7.5

14,613

Thriller. Mystery. Drama When a prominent local businessman is found murdered in the tiny southern town of Sparta, Mississippi, Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) gets picked up at the train station as a potential suspect, having essentially three strikes against him: he’s black, he’s a stranger, and he’s carrying a good amount of cash. Nobody bothers to question him until he’s brought before the police chief, Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger), where it is embarrassingly ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	A.D. Murphy Variety	"An absorbing contemporary murder drama (...) An excellent Sidney Poitier performance, and an outstanding one by Rod Steiger."	POS
United States	John Mahoney The Hollywood Reporter	"A gripping and suspenseful murder mystery."	POS
United States	Dave Kehr The New York Times	"A decent piece of do-good cinema (...) The semisequel, 'They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!', was much more satisfying in genre terms."	NEU
United Kingdom	Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A stylish performance from Poitier and an honest, intelligent contribution from Steiger (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	William Thomas Empire	"[It] remains gripping, and the excellent, understated lead performances don't harp on the racial angle (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Mark Harris Slate	"[It] is a very fine movie, in part because it doesn't try too hard to be a great one (...) [It offers] many smart, specific pleasures"	POS
United Kingdom	Adrian Turner Radio Times	"[A] powerhouse drama (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Mike D'Angelo AV Club	"It still serves as a sharply etched portrait of implicit racial bias, ’60s style. Or today-style."	POS

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