Sidney Poitier, Martin Landau, Barbara McNair

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 wo...( read more  read more... )es, including a frustrated wife and a rebellious adolescent son.

Flixster Users

53% liked it

1,587 ratings

R, 108 min.

Directed by: Gordon Douglas

Release Date: July 8, 1970

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: January 9, 2001

Get It:

Stats: 67 reviews

Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (67)


  • October 18, 2009
    I enjoyed Martin Landau's supporting role. I appreciate the social improvement project that he is trying to push forward. In this sequel to In the Heat of the Night, Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs returns home to San Francisco to solve a murder. I think the main reason these s...( read more)equels weren't as critically acclaimed or as popular is because Tibbs was removed from the high tension setting of the south. Race drove most of the drama and success of In the Heat of the Night. Poitier still gives a solid performance, but now the focus is more on his family and the sparsely developed mystery. We get to see an upper middle class black family (wife/mother, son, daughter, and father who isn't around much because of his work). There are other black police officers and detectives, and hardly anyone expresses any resentment that Tibbs holds a prominent law enforcement position. It's all very comfortable. There are several red herrings in the mystery plot in order to slip in some foot and car chases. So the filmmakers try to replace the tense drama with action sequences. The dilemma Tibbs faces when he figures out who the murderer is helps deepen his character, but the ending is too convenient. Abrupt eye for an eye justice that is a slap in the face to Tibbs' ideal that justice is served in the courts wraps up this movie.
  • October 16, 2009
    With its kipper ties, flared trousers and proficient - yet dated - music, They Call Me MISTER Tibbs! is perhaps the Poitier film that has aged least gracefully. While its prequel, In The Heat of the Night, was borne from the epitome of cool that was the sixties, here the seventie...( read more)s nurtured this film, which lends it a kitsch value, as well as the air of a t.v. movie. Though these elements - such as seeing the funky theme start up to the tune of Sidney clocking someone with a telephone, or Ed Asner (tv's Lou Grant) "drive" a car to a filmed backdrop - make it endearing and a must-see for a light-hearted Saturday night.

    A world away from the usual Sidney vehicle we have here a trawl through San Francisco's red light districts, to which the family elements - though the most critically attacked - actually provide effective light. Also unusual is the amount of sexual tone Sidney is here allowed to display. Yet whereas in the former film Poitier was the big town Lieutenant working in small-town Mississippi, here he is on his own territory, thus shaving the film of one of its dimensions. Without Steiger to bounce off, what depth the script provides his character second time around comes from his wife and children, most notably his son. After slapping the boy into submission, Poitier hugs him, mourning the fact that "you're not perfect . and I can't forgive you." Not a perfectly-formed film by any means, this one does improve on repeated viewing, and the majority of ill feeling does seem to be down to disappointment. After all, how does one make a sequel to a movie that's hailed as a classic?
  • March 2, 2006
    Shitty sequel for a groundbreaking film. Screw you Tibbs!
  • August 2, 2008
    This is a good movie
    How can Flixster be so stupid as to not know who is starring in this picture, when the names are right on the poster?
  • March 24, 2008
    This movie had potential, but fell through the cracks. To bad.
  • January 24, 2008
    what can anyone say about calling a person by there name thatright Mr. Tibs
  • September 11, 2007
    They call me MR. TIBBS!
    Gotta see this, 'cause I love Sidney Poitier :D
  • May 13, 2007
    I still have a major crush on SPoitier after seeing this flick & TO SIR WITH LOVE.

Critic Reviews


No recent reviews.

Comments


This board looks lonely. Be the first to talk about "They Call Me Mister Tibbs" !

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • In the Heat of the Night
    In the Heat of the Night (100%)

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

They Call Me Mist... : Watch Free on TV


They Call Me Mister Tibbs Trivia


  • which movie is this famous quote from "They call me MISTER Tibbs!"  Answer »
  • Top 100 Movie Quotes Which 1967 movie has the quote "They call me Mister Tibbs!"?  Answer »
  • "They call me Mister Tibbs!" IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT won 5 Oscars, but the actor who spoke this famous line wasn't even nominated, although he did win the BAFTA for Best Foreign Actor. Who was this American actor who portrayed Virgil Tibbs?  Answer »
  • Movie Quotes- "They call me *Mister* Tibbs!"  Answer »

Movie Quizzes


No quizzes for They Call Me Mister Tibbs. Want to create one?

Video Clips


No video clips yet. Want to upload one?

Recent News


No recent headlines. Got one?

Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?