"In The Heat Of The Night" (1967). If there was ever a film for two actors to share an Oscar for "Best Actor in a Leading Role," then it should have been Poitier and Steiger for "In the Heat of the Night." Starring Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards African-American Philadelphia police detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is arrested on suspicion of murder by Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger), the racist police chief

In 1967, America was at the height of the civil rights movement and the country's biggest star was Sidney Poitier. With the release of three films that year: TO SIR WITH LOVE, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER?, he was at the top of his game. #BlackHistoryMonth #LetsMovie | Turner Classic Movies: TCM

This famous "slap heard 'round the world" scene from IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT ('67) marked the first time an African American man had ever slapped a white man on screen before, which Sidney Poitier insisted on. | Turner Classic Movies: TCM