Shaft (1971)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Gordon Parks

Writers:

Ernest Tidyman (novel)
Ernest Tidyman (writer) ...

Release Date:

2 July 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The mob wanted Harlem back. They got shaft...up to here.

Plot:

Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.

Plot Keywords:

Mafia | Detective | Kidnapping | Gangster | Urban Decay

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 4 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Richard Roundtree	...	John Shaft
Moses Gunn	...	Bumpy Jonas
Charles Cioffi	...	Vic Androzzi
Christopher St. John	...	Ben Buford
Gwenn Mitchell	...	Ellie Moore
Lawrence Pressman	...	Sergeant Tom Hannon
Victor Arnold	...	Charlie
Sherri Brewer	...	Marcy
Rex Robbins	...	Rollie
Camille Yarbrough	...	Dina Greene
Margaret Warncke	...	Linda
Joseph Leon	...	Byron Leibowitz
Arnold Johnson	...	Cul
Dominic Barto	...	Patsy
George Strus	...	Carmen

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X (original rating) | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | South Korea:15 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:R (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Netherlands:16 (video rating) | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Cafe Reggio, MacDougal Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The women backing vocalists in the film's theme song are Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson from Tony Orlando & Dawn.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Shaft gets hit with the machine gun, one of the wounds is to his head - you can clearly see blood there. Yet after the doctor works on him and gets him patched up, all signs of the head wound have vanished - there's no scar or patch there.

Quotes:

[first lines]
John Shaft: [holding up his middle finger to a cab driver who is honking his horn at him] Up yours! Get out the way!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in One Hundred and Eighty: The Tour Documentary (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

No Name Bar

Compared to the rest of the genre this is an exceptional film

SHAFT is a very famous so-called "blaxploitation" film--a genre that showed exceptionally tough Black men fighting "the man" and coming out on top. Most of these films had poor production values--low budgets, inexperienced actors and simple story lines. However, SHAFT is a great example of a blaxploitation film that is so much more than the genre--it's got exceptional acting, a catchy soundtrack, a decent budget and a good story. Nothing about this film seems cheap or second-rate.

Shaft is played by Richard Roundtree and he's a Black private eye and super-stud (as the title song tells us). He's been hired to find and rescue a local mobster's daughter but although he's super-tough and super-determined, he might just be in over his head--as there's much more to this story.

As I said, this film is much better than the usual blaxploitation fare and it's a real shame it's lumped into this category because it is entertaining and a good film regardless if you are Black or White or Green! I can't wait to see the sequels--I hope they are of similar quality and excitement.

FYI--It's unusual to see that the White cops in this film aren't all evil like in most other films like this one.