They Call Me Mister Tibbs!

Detective Virgil Tibbs, 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’ enquiries lead him to conclude that Sharpe really is the murderer. When confronted, Sharpe confesses; 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.

Quincy Jones wrote the score, as he did with In the Heat of the Night, although the tone of the music in each is markedly different. The previous film, owing to its setting, had a country and bluesy sound, whereas his work for this film was in the funk 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 film was the last appearance of veteran actor Juano Hernández, who died in July 1970, a few days after the film premiered.

The AFI Catalog of Feature Films describes the film as having opened in New York City on July 8, 1970, following lukewarm reviews.^[4] Stuart Galbraith IV of DVD Talk described the film as a routine but not-bad cop thriller, writing that Sidney Poitier's performance was very good but that the film was weakened by Gordon Douglas's direction and its subplot about Tibbs's personal life.^[5] On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 50% rating based on six critic reviews.^[6] 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 Best Picture Oscar.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

The film score was composed, arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones, and the soundtrack album was released on the United Artists label in 1970.^[7]

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".^[8]

Track listing

All compositions by Quincy Jones

1. "Call Me Mister Tibbs (Main Title)" − 4:33
2. "'Rev' Logan (Organ Solo)" − 2:12
3. "Blues for Mister Tibbs" − 6:27
4. "Fat Poppadaddy" − 3:28
5. "Soul Flower" − 4:20
6. "Call Me Mister Tibbs (Main Title)" − 2:15
7. "Black Cherry" − 2:15
8. "Family Man" − 1:20
9. "Side Pocket" − 2:05
10. "Why, Daddy?" − 3:08
11. "Call Me Mister Tibbs (End Title)" − 0:46

Personnel

• Unidentified orchestra arranged and conducted by Quincy Jones including
  • Carol Kaye - electric bass^[9]
  • Chuck Findley - trumpet^[9]
  • Emil Richards - percussion^[9]

• List of American films of 1970