In the Heat of the Night
Sidney Poitier Classic ‘In the Heat of the Night’ Gets 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Release April 19
February 15, 2022
Kino Lorber has announced the next classic it will release on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray will be In the Heat of the Night, the acclaimed 1967 Best Picture Oscar winner starring the late Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger.
The film, from director Norman Jewison, will be released on ultra-high-definition disc on April 19, with retail orders due March 22. The 4K Ultra HD set includes, as a bonus, the 1970 sequel They Call Me Mr. Tibbs and 1971’s The Organization.
In the original film, which was released theatrically in 1967, Steiger gives an Oscar-winning performance as a sheriff from small-town Mississippi who finds himself in an uneasy alliance with a black homicide detective from Philadelphia, portrayed by Poitier. In the course of investigating the crime, the two strong-willed men must reconcile their inherent prejudice toward each other. The final result is justice—and an unlikely but touching mutual respect.
Other cast members include Warren Oates and Lee Grant. The film features an evocative score by Quincy Jones and vivid cinematography by Haskell Wexler.
In the Heat of the Night picked up five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Stirling Silliphant and Best Editing for Hal Ashby.
Bonus features include a new audio commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson with Robert Mirisch (nephew of producer Walter Mirisch, and son of the Mirisch Company founder Harold Mirisch), as well as a previously issued commentary track with director Jewison, cinematographer Wexler and actors Steiger and Grant.