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Sat-Sun, Feb 5-6 | Tue, Feb 8

IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

  • Dir. Norman Jewison
  • USA
  • 1967
  • 110 min.
  • NR
  • 4K DCP
  • Assistive Listening
  • Hearing Loop
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT

Part of Weekend Classics: Remembering Sidney Poitier.

Passing through the backwoods town of Sparta, Mississippi, Philadelphia detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) becomes embroiled in a murder case. He forms an uneasy alliance with the bigoted police chief (Rod Steiger), who faces mounting pressure from Sparta’s hostile citizens to catch the killer and run the African American interloper out of town.

Director Norman Jewison splices incisive social commentary into this thrilling police procedural with the help of Haskell Wexler’s vivid cinematography, Quincy Jones’s eclectic score, and two indelible lead performances — a career-defining display of seething indignation and moral authority from Poitier and an Oscar-winning master class in Method acting from Steiger. Winner of five Academy Awards, including for best picture, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT is one of the most enduring Hollywood films of the civil rights era. (Synopsis from The Criterion Collection)


The Belcourt Theatre does not provide advisories about subject matter or potential triggering content, as sensitivities vary from person to person.

Beyond the synopses, trailers and review links on our website, other sources of information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense MediaIMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.