In the Heat of the Night (1967) – Filming Locations
Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller · Directed by Norman Jewison · Starring Sidney Poitier, Lee Grant
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.
Where was In the Heat of the Night filmed?
- Sparta, Mississippi, United States, Sparta – Rod Steiger's Detective Gillespie interrogates Sidney Poitier's Virgil Tibbs around the small Southern town. The film's primary setting was shot on location in this small Mississippi town, providing authentic 1960s Southern atmosphere and architecture essential to the film's exploration of racial tension in the Deep South
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, Philadelphia – Sidney Poitier arrives by train from Philadelphia at the opening of the film. The opening sequence establishing Virgil Tibbs' arrival by train was filmed in Philadelphia before he travels to Mississippi
- Dyersburg, Tennessee, United States, Dyersburg – Additional exterior scenes and establishing shots of the small Southern town setting. Secondary locations in Tennessee were used to supplement the Mississippi production and provide authentic rural Southern scenery