The mob wanted Harlem back. They got Shaft...up to here.
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
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Character
Earnest, classical in form, grave and plot-driven.
- earnestironic
- classical in formformally daring
- gravecomic
- character-ledplot-driven
- effortlessdemanding
Who loves it, who doesn't
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Where do you stand?
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“Is this Gordon Parks's best work?”
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“Does Moses Gunn steal Shaft from Richard Roundtree?”
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“Would a little humor have helped?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
Reviews
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Curator Co.'s numbers.
- JPV852on TMDB · Jun 20227/10
Richard Roundtree was great and Shaft as a character was absolutely amazing, everything else from the plot which was thin and performances by the supporting cast was a bit iffy. The pacing was also pretty slow and despite only being 100 minutes, felt a bit longer. Still, a good opening into the franchise. **3.5/5**
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · Sep 20257/10
Richard Rowntree exudes loads of charisma here as he takes on the role of the shrewd Harlem private investigator “Shaft” who finds himself embroiled in some fairly brutal New York politics. He’s drafted in by local gangster “Bumpy” (Moses Gunn) when this man’s daughter is kidnapped. He doesn’t know by whom or why - there are no ransom demands nor many breadcrumbs to follow, but there are plenty of suspects. Initially he suspects that it might be the “Black Power” movement but after some plausible, if double-edged, tip-offs begins to suspect that some other hustlers are planning on bumping off his employer and muscling in on the lucrative rackets of the city. “Shaft” knows full well that the truth is being drip-fed to him, and that both “Bumpy” and police officer “Androzzi” (Charles Cioffi) and trying to manipulate him as he tries to track down “Marcy” (Sherri Brewer). It’s a very slick and classy production, this, with Rowntree navigating the racial tensions of his city deftly and engagingly. His “Shaft” is quite a likeable rogue, and though many of the scenarios do tax even the most vivid of imaginations, he manages to more subtly and skilfully illustrate just how unintegrated thi
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Cast
- Richard RoundtreeJohn Shaft
- Moses GunnBumpy Jonas
- Charles CioffiVic Androzzi
- Christopher St. JohnBen Buford
- Gwenn MitchellEllie Moore
- Lawrence PressmanSergeant Tom Hannon
- Victor ArnoldCharlie
- Sherri BrewerMarcy
- Rex RobbinsRollie
- Camille YarbroughDina Greene
Crew
- Gordon ParksDirector
- Ernest TidymanScreenplay
- John D.F. BlackScreenplay
- Ernest TidymanNovel
- Urs FurrerDirector of Photography
- J.J. JohnsonOriginal Music Composer
- Isaac HayesOriginal Music Composer
- Hugh A. RobertsonEditor
- Joel FreemanProducer
- Roger H. LewisProducer
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Pairings
Companions we picked from the closest works, and how to take them.
Similar in taste
Closest on the same fourteen dimensions, from everything scored on Curator Co. Other media included when they land close.
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Poupelle of Chimney Town 202081% alikeBoth earnest, classical in form, grave.
Magnum Force 197380% alikeBoth classical in form, earnest, grave.
Belgravia 202080% alikeSeries · Both classical in form, earnest, grave.
Blackwell Unbound 200779% alikeGame · Both earnest, classical in form, grave.
Often watched with
Recommendations from TMDB. Opening one adds it to Curator Co.
