They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)

San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs is called in to investigate when a liberal street preacher and political candidate is accused of murdering a prostitute. Tibbs is also battling ... See full summary »

Director:

Gordon Douglas

Writers:

Alan Trustman (screenplay), James R. Webb (screenplay),

Stars:

Sidney Poitier, Martin Landau, Barbara McNair

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sidney Poitier	...	Virgil Tibbs
Martin Landau	...	Logan Sharpe
Barbara McNair	...	Valerie Tibbs
Anthony Zerbe	...	Rice Weedon
Edward Asner	...	Woody Garfield
Jeff Corey	...	Captain Marden
Norma Crane	...	Marge Garfield
Juano Hernandez	...	Mealie Williamson
David Sheiner	...	Lieutenant Kenner
Beverly Todd	...	Puff
Ted Gehring	...	Sergeant Deutsch
Linda Towne	...	Joy Sturges
Garry Walberg	...	Medical Examiner
George Spell	...	Andy Tibbs
Wanda Spell	...	Ginger Tibbs

Storyline

San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs is called in to investigate when a liberal street preacher and political candidate is accused of murdering a prostitute. Tibbs is also battling domestic woes, including a frustrated wife and a rebellious adolescent son.

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Plot Keywords:

police | preacher | prostitute | self defense | underground car park | 

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Taglines:

The last time Virgil Tibbs had a day like this was "In The Heat Of The Night"

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a violent scene with nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 July 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!

Filming Locations:

Chinatown, San Francisco, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the handful of major Hollywood releases to have an entire word in upper case in the title.

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Goofs

In early shots, a book in Joy's apartment has a yellow cover with a prominent cross. In later shots the same book is there but the plain back cover is visible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Joy Sturges: Get away from me! Get away from me! Get the hell away from me! I can't even fake it anymore.

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Connections

Referenced in Designing Women: Oh, Brother (1988)

User Reviews

Look for the three-handed murderer!

This sequel to "In the Heat of the Night" will suffer in inevitable comparisons to its infinitely better predecessor. Instead of looking like a theatrical movie edited for television, "Mister Tibbs" looks suspiciously like a TV movie edited for theatrical release, with grainy photography, cheesy opening titles, and sets that look like they're made of plywood. The murder sequence has a glaring continuity error: the camera shows two hands choking the girl, then a shot of a hand reaching for a statuette, then a shot of the girl being choked with two hands again, and finally the statuette coming down for the fatal blow. Solving the case should be easy: find the only guy with three hands! But the shoddy production values can't completely obscure this film's considerable merits: namely, Sidney Poitier's performance as the cool detective determined to follow the evidence wherever it may lead, even if it implicates a friend. Martin Landau is also convincing as the do-gooder preacher-activist suspected of brutally murdering his prostitute girlfriend. In addition to being haunted by the case, Tibbs is conflicted about his home life, but the issues of race and Tibbs' barely concealed sense of social outrage are absent here. So is the complex murder mystery that made "In the Heat of the Night" so compelling.