In der Hitze der Nacht

Sidney Poitier insisted that the movie be filmed in the North because of an incident in which he and Harry Belafonte were almost killed by Ku Klux Klansmen during a visit to Mississippi. That's why Sparta, IL, was chosen for location filming. Nevertheless, the filmmakers and actors did venture briefly into Tennessee for the outdoor scenes at the cotton plantation, because there was no similar cotton plantation in Illinois that could be used. Poitier slept with a gun under his pillow during production in Tennessee. He did receive threats from local racist thugs, so the shoot was cut short and production returned to Illinois.

The police chase Harvey Oberst through the yellow leaves of an autumn forest, clearly indicating that it is not the middle of summer, as claimed in the movie.

No uppercase ("capital") letters are used in the opening and closing credits, including the film's title, cast and characters, crew and job titles, and company credits.

The 2001 MGM and 2002 United Artists opening fanfares and closing 2001 MGM logo originally appeared in the 2008 DVD and Blu-ray prints. But in the Criterion Blu-ray and Kino Lorber 4K release, the MGM logos were plastered with the 2012 variants.

Featured in Film Review: Film Review (1967)