They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970)
GP | 108 mins | Melodrama | 8 July 1970
Director:
Gordon DouglasWriters:
Alan R. Trustman, James R. Webb, Alan R. TrustmanProducer:
Herbert HirschmanCinematographer:
Gerald FinnermanEditors:
Bud Molin, Irving RosenblumProduction Designer:
Addison HehrProduction Company:
Mirisch Productions, Inc.
After playing “Virgil Tibbs” in the 1967 film, In the Heat of the Night (see entry), Sidney Poitier reportedly stated that he wouldn’t reprise the role. However, an 8 Oct 1969 Var item announced the actor had changed his mind and agreed to participate in a sequel, They Call Me Mister Tibbs, to be directed by Gordon Douglas and written by Alan R. Trustman. A 1 Jul 1970 Var brief noted that Poitier participated in an advanced police detective procedures course in preparation for the sequel. His deal reportedly entailed “a large profit participation,” as noted in the 23 Feb 1970 DV.
Donald Sutherland was considered for a role, according to a 9 Oct 1969 Los Angeles Sentinel brief. News items published in DV and LAT between 18 Dec 1969 and 8 Jan 1970 listed the following as cast members: Bennie Dobbins; John Daheim; Don Hanmer; stuntman Dick Dial; Sherise Rowland; Ken Menard; Frank Babich; Lou Kane; Kenny Mendosa; Steve Ozark; Jim Wagerman; and CBS news staffer Paul Udell.
Principal photography began on 17 Nov 1969, as reported in the 19 Nov 1969 Var. Location shooting in San Francisco, CA, was followed by filming in Los Angeles, CA. On 14 Jan 1970, DV announced that production had been completed under schedule. As noted in the 15 Jan 1970 DV, Gordon Douglas allowed Sidney Poitier to direct the final scene in which he did not appear.
They Call Me Mister Tibbs opened on 8 Jul 1970 in New York City. Following lukewarm reviews, the ...
More
Less
After playing “Virgil Tibbs” in the 1967 film, In the Heat of the Night (see entry), Sidney Poitier reportedly stated that he wouldn’t reprise the role. However, an 8 Oct 1969 Var item announced the actor had changed his mind and agreed to participate in a sequel, They Call Me Mister Tibbs, to be directed by Gordon Douglas and written by Alan R. Trustman. A 1 Jul 1970 Var brief noted that Poitier participated in an advanced police detective procedures course in preparation for the sequel. His deal reportedly entailed “a large profit participation,” as noted in the 23 Feb 1970 DV.
Donald Sutherland was considered for a role, according to a 9 Oct 1969 Los Angeles Sentinel brief. News items published in DV and LAT between 18 Dec 1969 and 8 Jan 1970 listed the following as cast members: Bennie Dobbins; John Daheim; Don Hanmer; stuntman Dick Dial; Sherise Rowland; Ken Menard; Frank Babich; Lou Kane; Kenny Mendosa; Steve Ozark; Jim Wagerman; and CBS news staffer Paul Udell.
Principal photography began on 17 Nov 1969, as reported in the 19 Nov 1969 Var. Location shooting in San Francisco, CA, was followed by filming in Los Angeles, CA. On 14 Jan 1970, DV announced that production had been completed under schedule. As noted in the 15 Jan 1970 DV, Gordon Douglas allowed Sidney Poitier to direct the final scene in which he did not appear.
They Call Me Mister Tibbs opened on 8 Jul 1970 in New York City. Following lukewarm reviews, the picture grossed $2.35 million in film rentals in its first six months in release, as cited in a 6 Jan 1971 Var box-office chart.
The picture marked the last onscreen appearance of noted character actor Juano Hernandez (1896--1970).
A third entry in the “Virgil Tibbs” series was in development by early 1970, the 23 Feb 1970 DV reported. Poitier reprised his role for the final time in the sequel, titled The Organization, released in 1971 (see entry).
More
Less
Los Angeles opening: 12 August 1970
Detective Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs of the San Francisco homicide squad receives an anonymous phone call accusing his close friend, community activist Reverend Logan Sharpe, of murdering a prostitute. The detective questions the clergyman, who admits having visited the victim to bestow pastoral counsel. Other suspects include Rice Weedon, a landlord and narcotics dealer whom Tibbs shoots in self-defense; black janitor Mealie; and Woody Garfield, the victim's protector. Again confronted by Tibbs, Sharpe confesses his guilt, revealing that the prostitute had mocked his sexual prowess, and begging Tibbs to defer arrest until after a referendum on a community control issue Sharpe supports. When the officer refuses, the activist throws himself under a passing ... + −
Detective Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs of the San Francisco homicide squad receives an anonymous phone call accusing his close friend, community activist Reverend Logan Sharpe, of murdering a prostitute. The detective questions the clergyman, who admits having visited the victim to bestow pastoral counsel. Other suspects include Rice Weedon, a landlord and narcotics dealer whom Tibbs shoots in self-defense; black janitor Mealie; and Woody Garfield, the victim's protector. Again confronted by Tibbs, Sharpe confesses his guilt, revealing that the prostitute had mocked his sexual prowess, and begging Tibbs to defer arrest until after a referendum on a community control issue Sharpe supports. When the officer refuses, the activist throws himself under a passing truck. + −
Viewed by AFI
Partially Viewed
Offscreen Credit
Name Occurs Before Title
AFI Life Achievement AwardTOP SEARCHES
CASABLANCA
During World War II, Casablanca, Morocco is a waiting point for throngs of desperate refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe. Exit visas, which are necessary to leave the country, are at ... >>
CITIZEN KANE
Seventy-year-old newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane dies in his palatial Florida home, Xanadu, after uttering the single word “Rosebud.” While watching a newsreel summarizing the years during which Kane ... >>
REAR WINDOW
Laid up with a broken leg during the height of summer, renowned New York magazine photographer L. B. “Jeff” Jeffries enters his last week of home confinement, bored and ... >>
RAGING BULL
In 1941, at a boxing match in Cleveland, Ohio, pandemonium breaks out when Jake La Motta, an up-and-coming young boxer, loses a decision to Jimmy Reeves, suffering his first ... >>
CITY LIGHTS
At an outdoor dedication ceremony, a tramp is discovered sleeping in the arms of a statue as it is being unveiled before a crowd. He is chased into ... >>