''They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'' is a 1970 American DeLuxe Color crime drama film directed by Gordon Douglas. The second installment in a trilogy, the release was preceded by '' In the Heat of the Night'' (1967) and followed by '' The Organization'' (1971). The film's title was taken from a line in the first film.

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

reprised his role of police detective

Virgil Tibbs John Dudley Ball Jr. (July 8, 1911 – October 15, 1988) was an American writer best known for mystery novels involving the African-American police detective Virgil Tibbs. Tibbs was introduced in the 1965 novel ''In the Heat of the Night'', which ...

, though in this sequel, Tibbs is working for the San Francisco Police rather than the Philadelphia Police (as in the original film) or the Pasadena Police (as in the novels).

Plot

Detective

, now a lieutenant with the San Francisco police, is assigned to investigate the murder of a prostitute. A prime suspect is Reverend Logan Sharpe, a street preacher who is leading one of the sides in a city referendum on an urban renewal project. He tells Tibbs he was visiting the prostitute in his professional capacity, to advise her spiritually, and that when he left her apartment, she was alive and healthy. Tibbs tracks down and questions the janitor from the victim's building, Mealie Williamson, and Woody Garfield, a shady character who owns the building and might have been the dead woman's pimp, who sent the janitor into hiding. Later, suspicion falls on a hood named Rice Weedon, who is pursued and shot by Tibbs in self-defense. Tibbs’ ongoing investigation leads him to conclude that Sharpe really is the murderer. When confronted, Sharpe confesses; however, he requests that Tibbs not arrest him for 24 hours, until the polls close on the city referendum. When Tibbs refuses, Sharpe, while being taken away to be arrested, purposely steps in front of a moving vehicle and is killed.

Cast

Production

Quincy Jones wrote the score, as he did with '' In the Heat of the Night'', although the tone of the music in both is markedly different. The previous film, owing to its setting, had a country and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

y sound, whereas his work for this film was in the

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

''milieu'' that would become Jones' trademark in the early 1970s. The film's title was taken from Virgil's assertive response in ''In the Heat of the Night'' after the chief mockingly asked him what people call him in the city where he works. It was followed by a third film titled '' The Organization'' (

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

). The film was the last appearance of veteran actor

Juano Hernández Juano G. "Juano" Hernández (July 19, 1896 – July 17, 1970) was a Puerto Rican stage and film actor who was a pioneer in the African American film industry. He made his silent picture debut in '' The Life of General Villa'', and talking ...

, who died in July 1970, a few days after the film premiered.

Reception

The film has a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of June 2009. It did not attract nearly as positive a response as the series' 1967 debut, '' In the Heat of the Night'', which won five Academy Awards including the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

Best Picture Oscar.

Musical score and soundtrack

The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' ...

was released on the United Artists label in 1970.Edwards, D & Callahan, M
Discography Preview for the United Artists label 40000 & 4000/5000 Series (1958-1972)
accessed January 30, 2018 Allmusic's Steven McDonald said "''They Call Me Mister Tibbs!'' had a more open, urban attitude from its San Francisco setting. The music throughout has an edge, with some interesting musical experiments going on ... Jones, as one example, used cimbalom to reflect Tibbs' feelings".

Track listing

All compositions by Quincy Jones # "Call Me Mister Tibbs (Main Title)" − 4:33 # "'Rev' Logan (Organ Solo)" − 2:12 # "Blues for Mister Tibbs" − 6:27 # "Fat Poppadaddy" − 3:28 # "Soul Flower" − 4:20 # "Call Me Mister Tibbs (Main Title)" − 2:15 # "Black Cherry" − 2:15 # "Family Man" − 1:20 # "Side Pocket" − 2:05 # "Why, Daddy?" − 3:08 # "Call Me Mister Tibbs (End Title)" − 0:46

Personnel

*Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones including **

Carol Kaye Carol Kaye (née Smith, born March 24, 1935) is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 50 years. Kaye began play ...

- electric bass **

Chuck Findley Charles B. Findley (born December 13, 1947 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) is an American trumpet player known for his diverse work as a session musician. He also plays other brass instruments such as flugelhorn and trombone. His technical abilities ...

- trumpet ** Emil Richards - percussion

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:They Call Me Mister Tibbs! 1970 films 1970s crime thriller films American crime thriller films American mystery films American sequel films Blaxploitation films Films scored by Quincy Jones Films directed by Gordon Douglas Films set in San Francisco Films set in the San Francisco Bay Area Films shot in San Francisco American police detective films Virgil Tibbs United Artists films African-American films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films