Shaft in Africa (1973)

P.I. John Shaft is recruited to go undercover to break up a modern slavery ring where young Africans are lured to Paris to do chain-gang work.

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Ernest Tidyman (characters), Stirling Silliphant

Stars:

Richard Roundtree, Frank Finlay, Vonetta McGee

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Roundtree	...	John Shaft
Frank Finlay	...	Amafi
Vonetta McGee	...	Aleme
Neda Arneric	...	Jazar
Debebe Eshetu	...	Wassa
Spiros Focás	...	Sassari (as Spiros Focas)
Jacques Herlin	...	Perreau
Jho Jhenkins	...	Ziba
Willie Jonah	...	Oyo
Adolfo Lastretti	...	Piro
Marne Maitland	...	Col. Gonder
Frank McRae	...	Osiat
Zenebech Tadesse	...	The Prostitute
A.V. Falana	...	Ramila's Son
James E. Myers	...	Williams

Storyline

John Shaft is persuaded by threats of physical force, the promise of money, and the lure of a pretty tutor, to assume the identity of a native-speaking itinerant worker in Africa. His job is to help break a racket that is smuggling immigrants into Europe then exploiting them. But the villains have heard that he is on his way.

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Plot Keywords:

slavery | africa | fighting | blood | uzi | 

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Taglines:

Shaft is stickin' it...all the way.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Adventure

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 June 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Shaft htypa stin Afriki

Filming Locations:

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Shaft Productions Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Shortly before he boards the ship for France, Shaft is involved in a fight in which his right hand is severely bitten by his opponent, drawing quite a bit of blood. Yet when he boards the ship, his right hand is completely wound free.

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Quotes

Shaft: Look, why don't you get rid of that jolly giant over there, so you and I can get down to the finer strokes.
Aleme: Oziot has guarded me since I was a child. Sometimes I think of him as my living chastity belt.
Shaft: Damn! Man that size, baby, that's a whole lot of chastity!
Aleme: I'm still on my first age grade. We call that fareita. No one is permitted to marry while they are in fareita.
Shaft: What do you do for relaxation?
Aleme: I enter chala, my second age grade, this February. And even the emir's daughter may have sex ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 4 (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Are You Man Enough"
Sung by The Four Tops (as Four Tops)
Words and Music by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter

User Reviews

John Shaft goes James Bond is this final entry in the Shaft series.

The second movie in the Shaft series ('Shaft's Big Score!') was a big disappointment being a tired retread of the dynamic first Shaft movie, a film which basically created the blaxploitation boom of the early 1970s. 'Shaft In Africa' sees director Gordon Parks and creator/writer Ernest Tidyman replaced by John Guillermin and Stirling Silliphant, a safer more Hollywood team which would hit pay dirt the following year with 'The Towering Inferno'. It doesn't have much of a blaxploitation feel to it, it's more of a James Bond thing with a black Bond, but that's okay, it's entertaining enough, and a definite improvement on the lacklustre 'Shaft's Big Score!' Richard Roundtree once again plays super cool private dick John Shaft. This time he is coerced into going undercover in Africa to try and break a slavery ring run by the evil Amafi (Frank Finlay). Roundtree is one cool mutha, and this movie features more sex and violence than the others, so it's easy to watch. Vonetta McGee ('Hammer', 'Blacula') plays Shaft's main love interest, but he also finds time to bed Amafi's sexy and amoral mistress Jazar (Neda Arneric) along the way. It's a pity that there weren't more Shaft movies after this as you could see the series having a lot of life left in it. Instead Richard Roundtree made a TV series which lasted a couple of years, and then his career started to slide into obscurity. By the 1980s he was mostly playing supporting cop roles in dumb action movies. Why this happened is anybody's guess as Roundtree was, along with Fred Williamson, the coolest and most charismatic of the 1970s blaxploitation stars. Both actors deserved a lot more mainstream success.