After the huge success of In the Heat of the Night, Sidney Poitier made two more appearances as police detective Virgil Tibbs, the last one being '71's The Organization. Here, our hero is approached by drug dealers who want to clear their names (after a complicated heist makes them look like murderers, which they're not).

Poitier's dilemma is made all the more difficult by the fact that the police are in on the take, and Poitier can't be sure who's in on the racket and who isn't. The plot gets awfully confusing in this thing, but it doesn't end up mattering too much, as there are numerous taut chase sequences (both on foot and in cars), enough to make us forget that there appear to be a few loose ends.

Nice casting touches, too, including one very young Raul Julia and the ever-fine Sheree North as a widow with a pivotal role in the film's final act. The one drawback are the cheesy, better-suited-to-sitcom moments of Poitier palling around with his cutesy kids. » Matthew Hays