There are two ways to make a good sequel – either hire the exact same people and attempt to replicate exactly what made the original such a success in the first place, or do everything extremely differently, keeping the similarities to the film that preceded it to an absolute minimum, as a way of avoiding unnecessary comparisons. They Call Me Mister Tibbs! occupies the second category, with director Gordon Douglas taking the reigns from the legendary Norman Jewison at the helm of this new adventure for the iconic Virgil Tibbs, the creation of novelist John Ball who was brought to life a few years earlier in the highly acclaimed and now extremely important In the Heat of the Night, which played a fundamental role in starting conversations around race relations at a time when these issues were not only pressing, they were a matter of national importance. They Call Me Mister Tibbs! is a very smart film insofar as it never attempts to retreat the elements that made the previous film successful – part of this is probably due to the fact that it is an original work that was not able to use a well-received novel as more of a guideline, and thus needed to find new ways to use this character without losing the spirit of what made him such a revolutionary figure in the first place. Entertaining but incredibly insightful in a way that may not allow it to rise to quite the same level as the previous film, but still have merits all on its own (which are earned in isolation, rather than being the product of discussions around how this is a surprisingly decent sequel to a great film), leading to a wonderfully captivating crime thriller that stands as one of the more effective forays back into the world of one of cinema’s most fascinating detectives.

Douglas did have his work cut out for him, since replacing the already notable Jewison as director was enough of a reason to feel some kind of scepticism that They Call Me Mister Tibbs! would be anything but an attempt to capitalize on a popular character. Mercifully, the director managed to take control of the film and go in search of something much deeper and more profound than simply a replication of previous narrative components. In the Heat of the Night was not just a great film, it was a cultural phenomenon, and Douglas (along with screenwriters Alan Trustman and James R. Webb) knew the only way to pay tribute to this film was to do a different direction – they kept the same central protagonists, but brought on a new cast of characters and situated it in an entirely different location (with the hustling urban streets of San Francisco standing in for the ominously quaint backstreets of Sparta, Mississippi) – and most importantly, they did not focus on the same themes as the previous film. While there is certainly an element of race relations underlying this film, they’re woven into the film in a different way, filtered through Tibbs’ relationship with a white preacher, who puts on a facade of caring about the inner-city population, but proves to be a much more sinister figure when his intentions are made clear. The conversations are meaningful but avoid becoming overwrought, and it feels much more natural than simply structuring a crime thriller around a social-issues drama, which is only effective when done well, which is always a gamble. They Call Me Mister Tibbs! takes a very unique approach to handling both the original source material, and its own unique themes, which ultimately coalesce in a deeply captivating two hours of socially-charged storytelling that feels like it comes from a place of genuine interest in seeing where this subject matter could be taken.

Perhaps the most important decision made in producing They Call Me Mister Tibbs! was bringing back Sidney Poitier in the titular role of Virgil Tibbs, who has now been promoted to a lieutenant in the San Francisco police force. While it may seem logical that they’d bring him back to reprise the role, its important to remember that this film was made at a time when recasting roles for sequels was not uncommon (especially when it came to films in this genre, which didn’t often hinge on the actors), and that Poitier was an enormous star that was often quite selective with his projects. In no uncertain terms, he defined this role – the title of this film was inspired by his resounding roar of “They call me Mister Tibbs!”, which shook the world a few years earlier, and cemented him as one of the most foreboding actors of his generation. This film exists primarily to offer us more insights into Tibbs’ life – it looks at the man behind the badge, the person who is not only a brilliant investigator, but a family man who is doing his best to balance his personal and professional life. Needless to say, Poitier is exceptionally good, and turns in yet another incredibly warm, layered performance that simply reaffirms his status as one of the most important actors to ever work in the medium. He is joined by Martin Landau as the film’s version of an antagonist – and even using this term seems ill-fitting, since the character of Reverend Logan Sharpe is never constructed as a villain, but rather a woefully misguided man whose public-facing persona is one fuelled by dogma and puritanical values, but whose personal life is mired with an addictive desire that throws him into the clutches of debauchery, and later outright murder. Landau fits into this world perfectly, and the film follows the pattern of its predecessor in presenting us with a more complex antagonist, developing him as a human rather than a bundle of villainous quirks.

As we’ve alluded to, They Call Me Mister Tibbs! is not too much of a mystery film at all – the actual resolution is extremely obvious (and the film never tries to prove otherwise – instead, it smartly lets the audience know that our suspicions are correct, and that it isn’t interested in foolish us into doubting it). We figure out the murderer very soon, even if it is only revealed in the final moments, with the rest of the film being focused on the actual process of dealing with a suspect and ensuring that the process of law and order is carried out fairly and without bias, which was a frequent topic of conversation at the time, and one that persists to this day. There are certainly many scenes that are aligned with the genre (several depicting Tibbs chasing suspects through the busy streets, almost to the point where it seems to border on parodic), but these elements are much smaller and not all that important when we look at the deeper meaning behind the film, which is essentially the story of a man trying to juggle both his job and family, while retaining a sense of sanity. The crime narrative might be interesting, but nothing in They Call Me Mister Tibbs! is close to as thrilling as the scenes where the titular character is interacting with his family – far too often do we see crime films where the investigator is viewed as an objective, aloof genius that can solve any mystery and then disappear into the ether, a quality that is likely the result of the dominance of characters like Sherlock Holmes and Hercules Poitor, both iconic figures that exist solely to solve crimes, with very little of their lives shown to us. This film dares to be different – as much as Tibbs investigates this murder, the audience investigates his routine, observing his daily life, which is somehow far more thrilling than the actual resolution of the film, which is rather anticlimactic in comparison to the excellent work done to develop the titular character as more than just a detective, but as a solid and layered man in his own right.

They Call Me Mister Tibbs! seems like it is exactly what we’d expect it to be at a cursory glance – a rivetting crime thriller that revisits an iconic character and presents him as someone who still has a lot of mileage left in him. It may not reach the heights of In the Heat of the Night, but it certainly didn’t aim for that in the first place. Instead, it decided to expand on the world in which Virgil Tibbs is a resident – it focuses on his struggles as both a conflicted police officer who has to make difficult decisions when it comes to his job, as well as the experience of being a husband and father to a family that understands the stress inherent to his career, but still wishes he would be more present in their lives. It’s a layered and very complex film that warrants a reputation that is more than simply being the inferior sequel to one of the most important films ever made, because even though it doesn’t have the gravitas as its predecessor, it still makes a considerable impact, and deserves much more attention than simply being a straightforward crime thriller, having many unique elements that ultimately lead to a unique and multidimensional glimpse into the other side of the crime procedural, a genre that we have seen many incredible works produced in, but rarely on the scale that we see throughout this astounding film.