Shaft (1971) 6.5
Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter. Director:Gordon Parks |
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Shaft (1971) 6.5
Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter. Director:Gordon Parks |
|
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Richard Roundtree | ... | ||
| Moses Gunn | ... | ||
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Charles Cioffi | ... |
Vic Androzzi
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Christopher St. John | ... |
Ben Buford
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| Gwenn Mitchell | ... |
Ellie Moore
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| Lawrence Pressman | ... |
Tom Hannon
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Victor Arnold | ... |
Charlie
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Sherri Brewer | ... |
Marcy
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Rex Robbins | ... |
Rollie
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Camille Yarbrough | ... |
Dina Greene
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Margaret Warncke | ... |
Linda
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Joseph Leon | ... |
Byron Leibowitz
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Arnold Johnson | ... |
Cul
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Dominic Barto | ... |
Patsy
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George Strus | ... |
Carmen
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John Shaft is the ultimate in suave black detectives. He first finds himself up against Bumpy, the leader of the Black crime mob, then against Black nationals, and finally working with both against the White Mafia who are trying to blackmail Bumpy by kidnapping his daughter. Written by John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
This is not a great film, but it is one of the most important films in American history.
The film suffers primarily because Parks isn't sure whether he wants to direct a 'relevant' black crime drama - for which he doesn't really have the money - or a film of the genre that became infamous as "blaxploitation", which had at that time not yet achieved definition. In other words, Parks is breaking new ground, and he wasn't sure exactly what ground he is breaking. So the film tends to amble, and sometimes even stagger, as it tries to define a goal for itself.
Nonetheless, this is the first film where a strong black man in a truly heroic role - without the props of white liberal social blather, and without being borderline criminal - is portrayed without excuses or apologies. Shaft is truly a hero of his time, part Sam Spade (& no jokes here, please), part James Bond - and all man - intelligent, fast to act, direct and always true to himself - he's nobody's "boy".
Although these qualities are in the script, the communication of the message depends entirely on Richard Roundtree - one of the truly great action actors of Hollywood history - hey, I'm a white boy, and I still want to be this John Shaft! he's that cool. The marginalization of this savvy and witty actor, due to the racism of Hollywood, is a real crime.
Well, for now, never mind; his performance alone carries this film, and makes it a treasure; and no matter how badly Hollywood marginalizes black action cinema, Roundtree's performance will continue to stand tall, for many generations to come.