In the Heat of the Night TCM, 9:30 p.m.
This riveting, Best Picture Oscar-winning drama from 1967 — adapted from John Ball’s novel into an Oscar-winning screenplay by Stirling Silliphant and helmed by Best Director Oscar nominee Norman Jewison — stars Sidney Poitier in his iconic role of Virgil (“They Call Me MISTER!”) Tibbs. Tibbs is a Black Philadelphia homicide detective traveling through the Deep South when he
is wrongly brought in on a murder charge while awaiting a train in Sparta, Mississippi. After learning of Tibbs’ background and reputation, racist police chief Bill Gillespie (Best Actor Oscar winner Rod Steiger) begrudgingly asks Tibbs for his assistance in finding the real perpetrator of the crime under investigation, the killing of a prominent local businessman. Tibbs agrees but finds the task made more difficult by the bigotry of the man he is helping. But neither man can solve this case alone; putting aside their differences and prejudices, they join forces in a desperate race against time to discover the shocking truth.