The Organization

Following the success of "In the Heat of the Night", Sidney Poitier made two more films starring the cop, Virgil Tibbs. However, neither of the sequels were like the original film in several ways. Inexplicably, Tibbs works for the San Francisco Police Department, though in the original film he was a detective with the Philadelphia Police Department. He also didn't have a family...but does in the sequels. But, more importantly, neither of the sequels were about race prejudice...Tibbs was just a good cop working homicide as a detective. When the story begins, a group of amateurs break into a building and steal millions of dollars in drugs. But they are not planning on selling it but stole it to hurt the organization marketing drugs in the city. But they don't want to work with the cops, as the department is apparently filled with men on the take with this organized crime ring...and they approach Tibbs since he's known as an honest cop. Naturally, there's a lot more to it than this and the plan does not go smoothly at all! So, it's left to Tibbs to pick up the pieces and work the case....even though he's not in the Vice Squad. This film is a departure from the second film in that "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!" had a lot in it about Tibbs' personal life and family. In "The Organization", there isn't much about this...it's mostly just a straight cop drama....much like a Dirty Harry film but without the same level of violence. Worth seeing but the weakest of the three films.

Virgil Tibbs apparently left his detective post in Philadelphia for one in San Francisco, where he shows up investigating a robbery of furniture company that's actually a front for The Organization, a group of businessmen dedicated to the sale of heroin. A Mod Squad of locals orchestrates the robbery as the film opens, stealing four million dollars worth of smack, not to sell it, but to keep it off the streets. Since they're not hardened drug dealers, they're not much of a match for the well-portrayed hit men of the Organization, leaving it up to Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) to try to protect them while working to break the heroin ring. The outdoor locations are great, with one car chase that succeeds quite well, but overall it mostly resembles one of those made-for-TV movies of that era.