They got a murder on their hands. They don’t know what to do with it.
African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie, the racist police chief of tiny Sparta, Mississippi. After Tibbs proves not only his own innocence but that of another man, he joins forces with Gillespie to track down the real killer. Their investigation takes them through every social level of the town, with Tibbs making enemies as well as unlikely friends as he hunts for the truth.
Directed by: Norman Jewison
Written by: John Ball, Stirling Silliphant
Music by: Quincy Jones
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards, Peter Whitney, Kermit Murdock
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Released: 1967-08-02
Runtime: 109 minutes
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