} In the Heat of the Nighttime occurs as 1967 film, based on a John Ball novel published in 1965 of the same title, which tells the story of a Northern U.S. African-American police detective who becomes involved in a murder investigation in a racist small town in the American South.

Within 2002 the United States Library of Congress deemed the original film "culturally significant" & selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. A quote, "They call me Mister Tibbs!," wwhen enrolled as #16 on the American Film Institute's AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes, a list of top movie quotes.

Primary cast
Sidney Poitier : Detective Virgil Tibbs Rod Steiger : Police Chief Bill Gillespie Warren Oates : Officer Sam Wood Lee Grant : Mrs. Leslie Colbert Larry Gates : Eric Endicott James Patterson : Purdy William Schallert : Mayor Webb Schubert Beah Richards : Mama Caleba (aka Mrs. Bellamy) Peter Whitney : Officer George Courtney Kermit Murdock : H.E. Henderson (banker) Larry D. Mann : Watkins Quentin Dean : Delores Purdy

Award wins
Academy Award for Best Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama New York Film Critics Circle Awards for Best Picture Academy Award for Best Actor (Rod Steiger) Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Rod Steiger) Academy Award for Film Editing (Hal Ashby) Academy Award for Sound (Samuel Goldwyn Studios) Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay (Stirling Silliphant) Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay (Stirling Silliphant) BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor - Rod Steiger BAFTA UN Award - Norman Jewison

Award nominations
Academy Award for Directing - Norman Jewison Academy Award for Sound Editing - James Richard BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actor - Sidney Poitier BAFTA Award for Best Film from any Source - Norman Jewison Directors Guild of America for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures - Norman Jewison Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Director - Norman Jewison Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture Actor - Drama - Sidney Poitier Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Lee Grant Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Quentin Dean Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media - Quincy Jones Writers Guild of America for Best Written American Drama - Stirling Silliphant

Sequels
In the Heat of the Nighttime was followed by ii sequels, They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! in 1970, and The Organization in 1971.