Shaft Collection

Action

Crime

Thriller

Shaft

Shaft Productions

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

United States of America

English

Richard Roundtree

Moses Gunn

Charles Cioffi

Christopher St. John

Gwenn Mitchell

Lawrence Pressman

Victor Arnold

Sherri Brewer

Rex Robbins

Camille Yarbrough

Margaret Warncke

Joseph Leon

Arnold Johnson

Dominic Barto

George Strus

Edmund Hashim

Drew Bundini Brown

Tommy Lane

Al Kirk

Shimen Ruskin

Antonio Fargas

Gertrude Jeannette

Lee Steele

Damu King

Donny Burks

Tony King

Benjamin R. Rixson

Ricardo Brown

Alan Weeks

Glenn Johnson

Dennis Tate

Adam Wade

James Hainesworth

Clee Burtonya

Ed Bernard

Eddie Barth

Joe Pronto

Robin Nolan

Ron Tannas

Betty Bresler

Gonzalo Madurga

Paul Nevens

Jon Richards

Joel Freeman

David Golden

Judith Lamb

Urs Furrer

Roger H. Lewis

Ernest Tidyman

J.J. Johnson

Hugh A. Robertson

Stirling Silliphant

John D.F. Black

Emanuel Gerard

Gordon Parks

Isaac Hayes

Robert Drumheller

Bob Herron

Louis Gerolomi

Martin Bell

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**

CinemaSerf

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 this supposedly integrated society actually was. There’s a bit of violence and some sex, but they are mostly implied as the story gathers pace in an unforgiving community where the goodies and baddies do not follow all of the expected stereotypical assumptions. Isaac Hayes’s theme complements the whole look and feel of the early 1970s with big cars, big shoes, big hair and big opportunities and though it has dated, it’s still builds on a solid story that delivers well.

Shaft • 1971 • Theatrical Trailer

Best Movies

Shaft

Cast & Crew

Videos

Cast

Richard Roundtree

Moses Gunn

Charles Cioffi

Christopher St. John

Gwenn Mitchell

Lawrence Pressman

Victor Arnold

Sherri Brewer

Rex Robbins

Camille Yarbrough

Box office

More Like This

Hellboy

16 Blocks

Unfaithful

Music Box

8 Women

The Grudge

The Grudge 2

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer