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DVD The Organization
The Organization was the second and final sequel to 1967's In the Heat of the Night and sees Sidney Poitier's homicide detective Virgil Tibbs called in to investigate the murder of a factory manager. In a lengthy, dialogue-free opening (the film's best sequence), it appears that we are witnessing the culprits in action. However, this group turns out to be a gang of idealistic young vigilantes who knew that the factory was a front for an international drugs cartel--the Organization of the title--and have made off with a haul of $5 million worth of heroin secreted there. Suspected of the manager's murder, they meet Tibbs and seek his cooperation. He agrees to help them, pitting himself not only against the Organization but his own police department.
Set in San Francisco, The Organization invites invidious comparisons with Bullitt: its somewhat cheesy contemporary soundtrack, derived from Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, certainly marks it as a piece of its period, as do the occasionally less-than-convincing action sequences, risible acting, and far-fetched plot. Poitier, as ever, lends the film a certain dignity and poise, worthy of better material to work with than this. The film is also notable for providing early showcases for two of Cop TV's most famous captains: Daniel J. Travanti (Hill Street Blues) and Bernie Hamilton (later Captain Dobey in Starsky & Hutch) are both assigned minor roles here. --David Stubbs
"Is this the reason Poitier took a hiatus from movies?"
This is without doubt one of the worst movies ever made! Wooden acting,poor picture quality and a soundtrack that made my teeth grate. Being a Poitier fan and language student, I got it for the foreign language subtitles. A die hard movie buff might want to see it for the early wasted performances of some fine actors,including Raul Julia as a "Hippy". I often disagree with the critics for lacking a sense of fun, but this turkey deserves all their venom. If you decide to see it, I suggest you use earplugs and just read the subtitles.
Sidney Poitier is seldom praised as a pioneer of blaxploitation, but that's what he is in They Call Me Mister Tibbs. This sequel's title is cribbed from its groundbreaking predecessor, In the Heat of the Night, but similarities end there, since this engaging murder mystery owes more to "blaxpo" and the urban police procedurals that dominated film and TV in the early 1970s. Poitier's got plenty of proto-funk charisma (and a Quincy Jones groove) as San Francisco detective Virgil Tibbs, dominating his Caucasian colleagues with quiet fortitude and sure-fire instincts. His latest case is rife with likely suspects, including a Bible-thumping reformer (Martin Landau) and a sleazy landlord (Anthony Zerbe). It's a routine plot by latter-day standards, but director Gordon Douglas... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Gordon Douglas DVD Release Date: Released the 04 June 2002 Usually ships within 24 hours
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Both riveting murder mystery and classic fish-out-of-water yarn, Norman Jewison's Oscar-winning In the Heat of the Night represents Hollywood at its wiliest, cloaking exposé in the most entertaining trappings. Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger prove the decade's most formidable antagonists. Poitier plays Virgil Tibbs, an arrogant homicide detective waylaid in Sparta, Mississippi; Steiger, in his bravura Oscar-winning turn, is Bill Gillespie, the town's hardheaded, bigoted sheriff who first arrests Tibbs for murder and then begs for his expertise. As the clues and suspects mount, Gillespie and his deputies develop begrudging respect for the black officer. The first-rate supporting cast includes Lee Grant as the victim's angry widow, Warren Oates as a voyeuristic deputy, William... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sidney Poitier - Rod Steiger - Warren Oates - Lee Grant Director(s): Norman Jewison DVD Release Date: Released the 09 January 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Sidney Poitier won an Oscar for this endearing movie about a handyman who thinks he's just passing through a little town in New Mexico, and ends up staying awhile to build a chapel for a cluster of German-speaking nuns. The renowned actor is highly entertaining in his combative exchanges with Lilia Skala, playing a Mother Superior who survived Hitler and makes no bones about bullying the goodhearted, itinerant worker into doing more and more for her. The film has an ambling, easygoing style with several memorable moments, not least of all is Poitier leading his holy hostesses through verses of the gospel song "Amen." Lilies is directed by the late Ralph Nelson, a pioneering director of live television who also made a number of popular feature films with notable performances (Jackie... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sidney Poitier - Lilia Skala Director(s): Ralph Nelson DVD Release Date: Released the 06 March 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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I've never seen "Children of the Dust," and purchased this video on the basis of the reviews here. The cast is strong. I follow a lifelong interest in race relations, in the roots and sources of bigotry, and in what it takes for a racially prejudiced person to gain the self-enlightenment to change his or her views. This film presents a story of 19C America that, among other things, investigates this question. The diverse characters are well drawn and the story is strong. More Info about this DVD Director(s): David Greene DVD Release Date: Released the 16 July 2002 Usually ships within 24 hours
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Based on Chester Himes's novel, this film marked actor-writer Ossie Davis's directing debut. Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques play Himes's volatile police detectives, Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson, who are on the trail of white men who pulled an armed stickup at a Back to Africa rally in Harlem. The money belongs to the poor people who paid for a chance to return to the motherland--but was it really a stickup? Or is the flashy preacher at the center of the Back to Africa movement (Calvin Lockhart) involved in a scam to rip off his own people? The plot drags; the best part of the film are the performances (as well as spotting cameos by such actors as the then-unknown Cleavon Little) and the on-location shooting in parts of New York where a camera had rarely ventured... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Godfrey Cambridge - Raymond St. Jacques Director(s): Ossie Davis DVD Release Date: Released the 26 December 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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