Excellent, smart action film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

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)

Sydney Poitier is marvelous in any movie he has been in, so far as I have noticed. When he first showed up as MISTER Tibbs in Heat of the Night, I knew it would be a great watch. Unfortunately, by the third run, The Organization, even his usual and expected dazzlement could not save the faulty plot and slow pacing. The premise of a group of amateurs trying to bring down "the organization" and then trying to drag in a good cop like Tibbs (who doesn't let the force know what he is doing) is, well, thin and silly. There were great slices of Tibbs' home life with his son and daughter, which goes to show that Poitier brings life into even a tedious period cop piece like this one. Overall, it's still watchable, but only if you are a dedicated Poitier fan.

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....

From its suspenseful opening heist scene to its realistic ending,Sidney Poitier's third and final outing as Vigil Tibbs is everything a cop movie should be.Well cast with some great chase scenes.Director Don Medford keeps the fun rolling along at a nice pace.All in all,a great film.