In the Heat of the Night (Criterion Collection) (1967) on DVD

Actor: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards, Peter Whitney, Kermit Murdock
Director: Norman Jewison
Genre: Mystery
Year: 1967
Studio: Criterion Collection
Length: 110
Released: 1/29/2019
Rating: Not Rated (MPAA Rating)
Format: DVD
Misc/Special Features: NTSC, Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles : N/A

DESCRIPTION:

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 courageous Hollywood films of the civil rights era.