Shaft (smoothly played by Richard Roundtree) gets chosen by a group of kidnappers who have abducted a banker's wife (fetching Karen Carlson) to deliver the ransom, but the drop-off of the ransom money gets botched after Shaft runs afoul of a bigoted small town deputy (an effectively hateful portrayal by Erik Holland).
Director Alexander Singer keeps the absorbing story at a brisk pace, makes nice use of the rural Connecticut locations, and stages the exciting action scenes with flair and skill. Moreover, the clever script by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter derives lots of interesting dramatic mileage out of placing slick urbanite Shaft in a different country environment where he has to deal with racism -- Shaft gets pulled over by the deputy while en route to a pay phone simply because he's black -- and seeks assistance from a helpful local boy (a solid and likeable performance by Nicolaus Beauvy). Well worth a watch.
Director Alexander Singer keeps the absorbing story at a brisk pace, makes nice use of the rural Connecticut locations, and stages the exciting action scenes with flair and skill. Moreover, the clever script by William Read Woodfield and Allan Balter derives lots of interesting dramatic mileage out of placing slick urbanite Shaft in a different country environment where he has to deal with racism -- Shaft gets pulled over by the deputy while en route to a pay phone simply because he's black -- and seeks assistance from a helpful local boy (a solid and likeable performance by Nicolaus Beauvy). Well worth a watch.
