Year:  1970
Rating: 5.5

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You might be wondering what ever happened to Mr. Virgil Tibbs when he left Mississippi after solving the murder and taking on local prejudices. As it turns out quite a bit. Tibbs had a long shelf life and in a time when all things old are coming back again, who knows when Tibbs might return. The character is based on a series of books written by John Ball. In total there were seven Virgil Tibbs novels and a few short stories beginning with In The Heat of the Night in 1965 going to 1986. There were also two film sequels to In the Heat of the Night (1967) also starring Sidney Poitier - this film in 1970 and The Organization in 1971. And much to my surprise there was a TV show titled In the Heat of the Night that went from 1988 - 1995 that I had never heard of starring Howard Rollins as Tibbs. In the TV series Tibbs goes back to the setting for In The Heat of the Night and takes a job in the police force working with Gillespie - Rod Steiger in the film, and Archie Bunker i.e. Carroll O'Connor in the TV series. That just seems a stretch but if it lasted for that many seasons it must have been decent.


In the Heat of the Night is considered a classic film - directed by Norman Jewison, the script adapted from the book by Stirling Silliphant who wrote many screenplays as well as developing the TV shows Naked City and Route 66, two great actors in Poitier and Steiger at the top of their game and music from Quincy Jones. At the time - in the middle of the Civil Rights movement - it really struck a chord with its ugly display of racism and the proud black man (They Call me Mr. Tibbs) who works through it and solves the crime. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Actor for Steiger. The film still resonates today - because a lot hasn't changed unfortunately.


Three years later they made a sequel and it would be difficult topping the first film. And they didn't. In Heat Tibbs is a single man who is a cop in Philly - but in both sequels for reasons unknown - maybe based on the books - he now works in San Francisco and he is married (to the lovely Barbara McNair) with two children. Which I guess is fine, but this film spends an inordinate amount of time going into domestic complications with the children - the boy is turning into a brat - but who really cares? It really slows down the film and breaks the tension. I expect they thought it was interesting to show all sides of Tibbs but they are boring sides.


And obviously the racial conflicts are gone - re-doing that would have felt like reheating leftovers - so they turn the film into a basic police procedural in which Tibbs has to solve the murder of a kept woman. One of the prime suspects is his friend (Martin Landau) and another is played by Ed Asner with a full head of hair which looks so wrong. Anthony Zerbe is also on hand as the sleazy landlord. The film never gets going really and is interrupted too often by domestic blandness. The next film - The Organization - is much better.

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The Organization
Director: Don Medford
Year:  1971
Rating: 7.5

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This is a much better film than the immediate sequel to In the Heat of the Night - They Call Me Mr. Tibbs (1970). Tibbs is still married with the two children but they take up much less time than the previous film. Thankfully. This has some very tense moments and a couple chases on foot around San Francisco that were great. It is again basically a police procedural without the dramatic racially charged set up of in The Heat of the Night - but one that takes an interesting turn.


It begins with a terrific well-done heist inside a building of a load of heroin. It turns out of course that they are stealing from the Organization i.e. The Mob i.e. The Mafia. Not generally a real good idea unless you feel that you have lived long enough already. But the robbers not only knew this but intentionally did it to hurt the Organization and bring them out into the open. Among this group are Raul Julia and Ron O'Neal (Superfly). They are social do-gooders who perhaps have gotten over their heads - especially when five men are brought in from the outside to find the dope and kill whoever is behind it.


Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is assigned the case because a dead man was left behind with two shots to his head. As he digs into it he begins to realize that this company is only a front and some very big and bad people are behind it. And they very much want the drugs back. It is almost funny watching an older film like this nowadays - the total lack of technology - they use payphones - and the lack of fireworks, a big body count, heroic bloodshed - just a very solid suspenseful well-made film. They don't make films like this anymore. I expect people brought up on Die Hard will find this slightly dull. What stands out in all three films is simply Poitier - his acting is always great - a commanding figure that you can't take your eyes off of in even the simplest scenes - always intense, always true to his character.