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.
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Sidney Poitier | Det. Virgil Tibbs |
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Rod Steiger | Chief Bill Gillespie |
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Warren Oates | Officer Sam Wood |
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Lee Grant | Mrs. Colbert |
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Larry Gates | Eric Endicott |
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James Patterson | Mr. Purdy |
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William Schallert | Mayor Schubert |
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Beah Richards | Mama Caleba |
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Peter Whitney | Courtney |
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Kermit Murdock | Henderson |
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Larry D. Mann | Watkins |
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Matt Clark | Packy Harrison |
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Arthur Malet | Ulam |
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Fred Stewart | Dr. Stuart |
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Quentin Dean | Delores Purdy |
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Scott Wilson | Harvey Oberst |
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Timothy Scott | Shagbag |
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William Watson | McNeil |
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Eldon Quick | Charles Hawthorne |
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Stuart Nisbet | Shuie |
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Khalil Bezaleel | Jess |
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Peter Masterson | Fryer |
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Jester Hairston | Endicott's Butler |
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Phil Adams | 1st Tough |
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Nikita Knatz | 2nd Tough |
Director | Norman Jewison |
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Writer | Stirling Silliphant, John Ball | |
Producer | Walter Mirisch | |
Musician | Quincy Jones | |
Photography | Haskell Wexler |