The second of three films featuring Sidney Poitier as tough city cop Virgil Tibbs, this time investigating the violent murder of a prostitute. The prime suspect is Tibbs' close friend, an activist priest, played by Martin Landau. While the character of Tibbs is hardly fleshed out at all, Landau does a magnificent job at creating a well-rounded figure of the guilt-ridden cleric. Poitier was allowed to direct several scenes in which he didn't appear, but it's hardly a distinguished affair and by no means in the same class as the earlier Tibbs outing, In the Heat of the Night.


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