Rod Steiger

"In the Heat of the Night" (1967): Few films are perfect, but director Norman Jewison's Academy Award-winning 1967 treatise on race relations in America, cleverly disguised as a murder mystery, comes close. "In the Heat of the Night" is set in rural Mississippi, where racism still... more reigns. As the film opens, a cop (Warren Oates) discovers the body of a wealthy industrialist who has been brutally murdered. The local police pick up Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a mysterious stranger waiting at the train station. As it turns out, Tibbs is not a killer, but rather a homicide detective from Philadelphia who reluctantly agrees to help the town sheriff (Rod Steiger) investigate the murder. Both men resent each other, but as they work together to solve the murder there is a growing respect as they begin to see beyond their prejudices. The tense chemistry between Poitier and Steiger is electrifying, with both actors turning in arguably the best performances of their careers (Steiger won a Best Actor Oscar). Overflowing with rich characters and a fine attention to detail, "In the Heat of the Night" is a deftly layered masterpiece. (The Everett Collection)