Set in the segregated Old South, Poitier plays a detective from the North who gets embroiled in a local murder while passing through town. Immediately a suspect, Poitier, as Virgil Tibbs, slowly wins over the good old boy cops with his intelligence and experience. If you don’t know the line “They call me Mr. Tibbs,” you’ll get chills when you hear it for the first time.
Grade: A
In the Heat of the Night is currently available.