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The Organization
The Organization
Directed by	Don Medford
Written by	James R. Webb; John Ball (character)
Produced by	Walter Mirisch
Starring	Sidney Poitier; Barbara McNair; Gerald S. O'Loughlin
Cinematography	Joseph Biroc
Edited by	Ferris Webster
Music by	Gil Melle
Production; company	The Mirisch Corporation
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	October 20, 1971;
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

The Organization is a 1971 DeLuxe Color American crime thriller film starring Sidney Poitier and directed by Don Medford. It was the last of the trilogy featuring the police detective Virgil Tibbs that had begun with In the Heat of the Night (1967), followed by They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970). In The Organization, Tibbs is called in to hunt down a gang of urban revolutionaries, suspected of a series of crimes. The screenplay was penned by James R. Webb, and the film co-stars Barbara McNair, Gerald S. O'Laughlin, Sheree North and Raul Julia.

Plot

After a break-in at the San Francisco headquarters of a company, the police are called in. One of the executives has been murdered, and the security guard has been bludgeoned. It is not a simple robbery, as the executive was killed by shots from two different guns, nothing was stolen, and there are several other unexplained facts.

Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) is contacted by the group which committed the break-in and stole four million dollars' worth of heroin. They are urban revolutionaries who explain that the company is a front for drug-dealing. They had hoped the break-in would lead the police to investigate the company itself and want to use the heroin to get to the leaders of the organization. Tibbs arrests the security guard to question him, but the guard is murdered while sitting in the police car.

Tibbs agrees to help the group if they co-operate with him. One member of the group is hunted down and beaten by the drug pushers and another is murdered. Tibbs himself comes under suspicion from his superiors when the narcotics division tie him to the stolen drugs, whereupon he is removed from the case and suspended.

He persuades one of his colleagues to help him with information on the bogus company behind the drug traffic. One of the revolutionaries, Juan, contacts the drug dealers and offers them the drugs back for $500,000. He sets it up smartly, proposing to exchange the first half of the drugs for half the money, using identical suitcases in a very busy square.

Once the exchange takes place one of the other revolutionaries 'robs' the suitcase containing the money. The drug dealer shoots a policeman and tries to get away but is tackled by Juan and arrested. Juan notes the license plate on the car of the criminal executive who had come to supervise the deal. The revolutionary escapes with money, pursued by some of the gang through the construction site for the unfinished Montgomery Street Station.

Tibbs goes to the house of the wife of the security guard. When Tibbs' colleague arrives, Tibbs confronts the wife, accuses her of being a runner for the gang, shows heroin in a package she has just brought home, and tells her she can choose between prison or being killed by the mob like her husband. She gives in and identifies the two chiefs of the organization.

The chiefs are arrested by a large group of police officers, including Tibbs. When they are taken to the police car, a mob hit-man takes them out before they can talk. Tibbs now sees that he won a battle but is losing a war.

Cast

Sidney Poitier as Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs
Barbara McNair as Valerie Tibbs
Gerald S. O'Loughlin as Lieutenant Pecora
Sheree North as Mrs. Morgan
Fred Beir as Bob Alford
Raúl Juliá as Juan
James A. Watson Jr. as Stacy Baker
Billy Green Bush as Dave Thomas
Ron O'Neal as Joe Peralez
Lani Miyazaki as Annie Sekido
Demond Wilson as Charlie Blossom
Bernie Hamilton as Lieutenant Jessop
Daniel J. Travanti as Sergeant Chassman
Garry Walberg as Captain Stacy
John Lasell as Zach Mills
Max Gail as Rudy
Ross Hagen as Chet
Paul Jenkins as Tony
Allen Garfield as Benjy
Graham Jarvis as William Martin
Johnny Haymer as John Bishop
Charles H. Gray as Night Watchman
Richard C. Adams as Dan
Jarion Monroe as Larry French
George Spell as Andy Tibbs
Wanda Spell as Ginger Tibbs
Oscar Beregi Jr. as Andre - Drug Lord (uncredited)
John Alvin as Forensic Officer (uncredited)
Mark Tapscott as Captain Grayson (uncredited)
Ganga Narayana Das as Hare Krishna (uncredited)

Release on DVD and HD

The Organization was released on Region One DVD in 2001 and in Region Two in 2003.^[1] In 2010 it was digitized in High Definition (1080i) and broadcast on MGM HD.

Kino Lorber released the film alongside They Call Me Mr. Tibbs on May 12, 2015, on Blu-ray. The two-disc Ultra HD release of In the Heat of the Night, also from Kino, included both sequels as one of the extras in the Blu-ray disc unlike the previous Blu-ray releases where they were sold separately.

Reception

Critical response

The film received largely poor reviews from critics. Roger Ebert gave it two stars, stating that "the plot is not exactly believable",^[2] while A.H. Weiler in The New York Times wrote "The Organization can be rough on super-city sleuths as well as movie-goers who've been through much the same melodramatics before".^[3]

Box office

The film opened in 18 cities in the United States and Canada and was number one at the US box office for the week.^[4] It grossed $1,260,233 in its first 12 days.^[5]