RELEASED IN 1971-72 and directed by Don Medford, "The Organization" features detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) working in San Francisco where he encounters a noble radical group who want to take down a crime syndicate that deals in heroin. Barbara McNair plays Virgil's wife while Raul Julia & Ron O'Neal play two of the vigilantes. This was the third and final Virgil Tibbs movie, which happened to be the first detective movie series in color to go three films (or so they say). Between the first film, "In the Heat of the Night" (1967), and the second film, "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs" (1970), Tibbs transferred from Philadelphia to San Francisco and now had a family (he was single in the first film). This was perhaps done due to the success of "Bullitt" (1968) and the spectacular locations of San Francisco in general. Speaking of the iconic "Bullitt," "The Organization" is similar in tone, but more melodramatic, like "Dirty Harry," which was released around the same time. While "The Organization" is the least of the three, it's not far off and has its own points of interest. There's an over-the-top funky score by Gil Melle, which certainly dates the movie, but it was avant-garde at the time ("hip" and "happening"). The scores to those other movies are dated too, of course, but they're not as overdone. Personally, I appreciate the music. Sheree North was 38 during shooting and plays a past-her-prime alcoholic babe, but she was still very jaw-dropping. If you've seen "In the Heat of the Night," it's interesting to see Tibbs in his own stomping grounds, i.e. the multiculturalism of the big city, as opposed to be an understandably angry stranger in a small town of the still-prejudiced Deep South. As a snapshot of Big City, USA, 1970 (when it was filmed) "The Organization" is priceless. The climax is clumsily abrupt and ambiguous, yet it illustrates that Tibbs won the battle, but lost the war. THE FILM RUNS 106 minutes and was shot in San Francisco. WRITER: James R. Webb. GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

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.

Sydney reprises his Mr. Tibbs moniker in a nicely paced crime drama that has some well orchestrated action sequences, especially the one at the onset of the film. Those first 10 minutes or so reminded me of the heist scene in "Rififi" (1955), in that this scene too was captured with no dialog, letting the viewer see for himself how the action plan was set into motion.Some reviewers "dissed" the 70's sound track and street jargon, but what do you expect? It's a period piece, a 70's action film and by definition will employ those contemporary motifs. To me, it's both refreshing and amusing to be thrust back into the cultural modes of yesteryear.The plot line may have had some small weaknesses to it and some of the actors were no Academy Award nominee hopefuls, but the thrust of the film keeps you attentive and anticipatory. Also, it was nice to see Raul Julia, Demond Wilson and Ron O'Neal in one of their earlier films. Sydney, as usual, shines in his rendition of the Tibbs detective. But the plot twists toward the end where Mr. Tibbs puts the pieces together and gets ready to see justice served... Well, see for yourself in this brutally realistic conclusion.

Sidney Poitier reprises his Virgil Tibbs role from In the Heat of the Night as a San Francisco police officer who forms an uneasy alliance with a group of well-meaning vigilantes who stole 40 lbs of heroin from the syndicate's import headquarters.It's hard to find anything specific that's wrong with the film, except that if you're going to have a car chase in SF, it should be more than a minute long.Maybe it's just the annoying 70s music....