They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)

starring Sidney Poitier, Martin Landau

directed by Gordon Douglas

San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs (Poitier) investigates the murder of a prostitute. The primary suspect is Logan Sharpe (Landau), a friend of his. Logan insists that he didn't do it. He is a minister and the leader of a social jutsice movement. Tibbs believes his friend didn't do it but he has to prove it and find the killer.

Tibbs has troubles at home, in part because he spends so much time working and is never around. His son smokes and hits his sister. Tibbs uses some unorthodox methods to deal with his son's behavior issues.

Woody Garfield (Ed Asner), the first viable suspect that the case turns up, runs from the police. They chase him out of town until he crashes his car on the highway. He survives the crash but it soon become clear that he is not the murderer. Rice Weedon, a crook and the owner of the building where the prostitute lived, is the next logical suspect. He also runs from the police. He winds up dead after he gets into a shoot out with Lt. Tibbs.

Thoughts

Jeff Corey plays Captain Marsden, Lt. Tibbs boss. He looked familiar to me but I can't recall anything that I have seen him in. He was blacklisted in the early 1950s for refusing to name names to the House Unamerican Activities Committee and didn't work in front of the camera for about a decade. He became an acting teacher and went on to teach a number of future academy award winners.

John Hillerman, best known to me for playing Higgins on Magnum PI, shows of very briefly at the end of the movie in a non-speaking, uncredited role as a reporter.

This is not a great movie. It has its moments. I enjoyed both chase scenes. I thought they were very well shot. The music by Quincy Jones was good. There are quite a few moments when the camera inexplicably goes from a medium shot to close ups on people's faces talking directly into the camera. My best guess is that these were scenes that had to be reshot for one reason or another. I was shocked by the scenes where Lt. Tibbs tries to get his son to shape up my making him smoke a cigar and drink whiskey and then later by slapping him.

I wasn't too crazy about Martin Landau's performance. When he's good he's great but I didn't think this was one of his great performances. I didn't really buy that Tibbs and Sharpe were good friends.

I have seen In the Heat of the Night (1967) but it has been quite some time since I saw it, probably more than 20 years. I can't say that I would recommend this movie to most people.