On the surface, In the Heat of the Night seems like just another murder mystery with a few twists here and there, but when you look a little closer, Norman Jewison tells a story of racial prejudice in the deep south. The film begins with a murder in the town of Sparta, Mississippi, and the local police cheif, Gillespie played by Rod Steiger, must request help from a visiting detective from Philidelphia, Virgil Tibbs played by Sidney Poitier.  Throughout the film Virgil Tibbs is the target of great prejudice as he is an AfricanAmerican man from the north, but he also has prejudice of his own. Virgil and Gillespie both put their prejudice aside to solve the murder of a wealthy businessman.

One aspect of Norman Jewison's In the Heat of the Night that makes it such a great film is the well unified plot. Jewison using one central recurring element, that being the train station that shows up several time in the film, namely where we first see Mr. Tibbs and at the end of the film when Virgil leaves Sparta after the case is solved. The train represents the conflict within Virgil, whether he should leave or stay and prove that he is capable of solving this case. The train also represents the changes within Sheriff GIllespie, how he casts away his racial prejudice and comes to respect Virgil for the skilled detective that he is.

The most important aspect of the film is the way it portrays the racial prejudice against African Americans in the 60's.  This becomes very obvious in the second scene when Virgil Tibbs is taken into the police station as a suspect with no evidence against him, and when he is laughed at when he tells Gillespie that he is a well paid detective from Philadelphia. In my opinion, the most important scene is an example of racial tension, where Virgil TIbbs is hit by Endicott and Virgil slaps him right back. In the 1960's in the south an action like this by a black man was unheard of and he could have been killed for that action.

Overall, In the Heat of the Night is a fantastic movie that tells more then just a murder mystery, but a suspenseful film of racism and prejudices in the deep south. I would say this is a film that needs to be seen by everybody at least once.