The Organization (1971) *** [Virgil Tibbs Triple Feature Pt. 3]

Of the three Virgil Tibbs films (following In The Heat Of The Night (1967) (review) and They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) (review)), The Organization (1971) is a more exciting and cinematic thriller with a bit more bite than its predecessor but still doesn't hold a candle to the original. This second (and final) sequel was released a couple of months before (and shares some traits with) Dirty Harry, which permanently changed the landscape of police thrillers. Sidney Poitier's Tibbs takes a bit of a backseat (as does the Tibbs family who featured heavily in the preceding film) as the story focuses on a group of radical vigilantes, which includes early roles for Raul Julia and Ron O'Neal (the year before he made a splash in the blaxploitation classic Super Fly). Quincy Jones did not return to provide music but Gil Mellé's jazzy, funky, atonal score follows the Lalo Schifrin playbook fairly well. All in all, a solid procedural to close out the Tibbs trilogy.