Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.

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.

The cop test pilot for an experimental police helicopter learns the sinister implications of the new vehicle.

Two friends who are dissatisfied with their jobs decide to join the army for a bit of fun.

A black police detective is asked to investigate a murder in a racially hostile southern town.

Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.