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The Organization

Play trailer Poster for The Organization PG-13 1971 1h 47m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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Reviews 29% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
When an executive and a night watchman are killed in a San Francisco office building, Lt. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is called in to investigate and discovers the watchman was actually killed elsewhere. Soon Tibbs is contacted by urban revolutionaries who confess to kidnapping -- but not killing -- the watchman in a botched attempt to expose a heroin ring operating out of the building. Tibbs believes them, but when his superiors learn of his ties to the group, he's suspended from the force.
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The Organization

Critics Reviews

View All (8) Critics Reviews
A.H. Weiler New York Times The Organization can be rough on super-city sleuths as well as movie-goers who've been through much the same melodramatics before. May 9, 2005 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times There's a bit of shooting, a few identities are untangled, and the movie comes to an unmourned end. Rated: 2/4 Oct 23, 2004 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills Without Heat’svivid racial conflict, these movies try to drag in different forms of “social relevance” (including Tibb’s dull domestic problems), but in such a wishy-washy fashion that they don’t really say anything about those issues. Aug 12, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy A dreary endeavor. Rated: 2/4 Apr 30, 2022 Full Review Sharon Scott New Pittsburgh Courier I, for one, cannot say exactly what is going on in the film. Dec 13, 2021 Full Review Chuck O'Leary Fantastica Daily Rated: 3/5 Oct 21, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (23) audience reviews
steve d This is the worst in the series but still entertaining. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Sidney Poitier's third outing as Virgil Tibbs is better than "They Call Me, Mr. Tibbs!", but still nowhere near "In the Heat of the Night". Truth be told, the idea that Poitier is playing Tibbs here feels totally arbitrary. It's probably better to think of this as a fairly generic cop film starring Poitier. Where this film really shines is the casting. Allen Garfield, Raul Julia, Ron O'Neal, Daniel J. Travanti (credited as "Dan Travanty"), Billy Green Bush, Max Gail and Ross Hagen all show up. Where it suffers is in TV veteran Don Medford's direction. The style and pacing of the film is really sluggish and it feels quite a bit like a glorified TV film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member Disjointed story, kept hoping it would get better. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member For my money, cop movies of the 1970s look cooler than any other era (i.e.. "Dirty Harry," "Across 110th Street," "The Driver," "The Seven-Ups," etc.) and this film fits nicely into my love of cops in tweed suits, big American cars, criminals with big sideburns, big collars, awesome sunglasses and lingering 60s hippie subculture elements. I also love the gritty washed out look most of these films had, rejecting the splashy color of Hollywood past and going for more of a documentary look. Iv'e also always liked that many of these film often had threads of anti-establishment (pro or con) and often didn't shy away form addressing issue of race, two things that rarely seem to be most action films now. So that being said, I am biased towards liking any cop/crime film of this era. In this film, Sidney Poitier is back for a third time as Virgil Tibbs, and this time is investigating a heist of millions of dollars worth of heroine. The first film to feature Tibbs, "In the Heat of the Night," was a meditation on racism, historically and in the present day, in the guise of a murder mystery. The subsequent sequels, including this film, lacked the social commentary of the first, but Poitier is so compelling onscreen that it doesn't really matter. The sequels could have easily have changed Tibbs name to something else and it really wouldn't have mattered. So taken on it's own, it's a solid 70s cop drama with an excellent chase scene near the end. Raul Julia appears in an early part and Ron O'Neal appears in a pre-Super Fly role. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Right from the opening heist this movie had me hooked! I enjoyed The Organization & all the twists & turns & action/drama that were a part of it.My only complaint would have to be the ending.It just seemed to end way too soon & I felt like I was left hanging or something.I guess it was suppose to show you that no matter what, You can't beat The Organization Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member The homicide detective Tibbs is called to investigate on an international drug cartel on t he third and final film of the series. Though the film is thrilling and well paced, the plot is a times hard to follow and the style is much too close to that of any longer detective TV series episode the time. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Organization

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis When an executive and a night watchman are killed in a San Francisco office building, Lt. Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) is called in to investigate and discovers the watchman was actually killed elsewhere. Soon Tibbs is contacted by urban revolutionaries who confess to kidnapping -- but not killing -- the watchman in a botched attempt to expose a heroin ring operating out of the building. Tibbs believes them, but when his superiors learn of his ties to the group, he's suspended from the force.
Director
Don Medford
Producer
Walter Mirisch
Screenwriter
James R. Webb
Production Co
United Artists
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 47m
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