'' is a
1971 film used as a model for
Blaxploitation films, but many debate whether it actually falls under the category of blaxploitation itself. It tells the story of a black detective,
John Shaft , who travels through Harlem and to the Italian mob in order to find the missing daughter of a black mobster. It stars
Richard Roundtree as Shaft,
Moses Gunn ,
Charles Cioffi ,
Christopher St. John ,
Gwenn Mitchell and
Lawrence Pressman . The movie was adapted by
Ernest Tidyman and
John D. F. Black from Tidyman's 1971 novel of the same name. It was directed by
Gordon Parks .
Shaft's character embodied standard movie-detective coolness, but brought it to a new level by adding pronounced
Blackness . John Shaft was cool, confident, sexy, and represented the black point of view. In being rational, real, ''and'' afrocentric, Shaft outclassed other black stereotypes in the film, including black urban junkies, black
Activists , and black
Gangsters .
A crucial scene emphasized Shaft's afrocentrism, and unwillingness to accept racial pen, saying "You're not so black." Shaft replies by holding up a white ceramic
Coffee Cup , asserting "you ain't so white either."
It won an
Academy Award for
Best Music, Song for
Isaac Hayes for "Theme from Shaft". It was nominated for
Best Music, Original Dramatic Score .
According to one version of events, "Shaft" was originally written as just another detective movie, with a white detective in the lead, but, after the success of ''
Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song '' (1971), the film was rewritten and recast as a blaxploitation movie. This story has been recounted many times by "Sweetback" writer-director Melvin Van Peebles
{Link without Title} , who claims that he read the original "Shaft" script before the movie went into production; however, Van Peebles' story seems doubtful, since Tidyman's novel (the basis for the film) is about a black detective, not a white one.
Ernest Tidyman, who was white, was an editor at the New York Times prior to becoming a novelist. He sold the movie rights to "Shaft" by showing the galley proofs to the studio (the novel had not yet been published). Tidyman was honored by the NAACP for his work on the "Shaft" movies and books.
Two sequels were made: ''
Shaft's Big Score '' in
1972 , and ''
Shaft In Africa '' in
1973 .
In
2000 , a sequel was made featuring
Samuel L. Jackson in the title role (see ''
Shaft (2000 Movie) ''). Jackson plays the nephew of
Richard Roundtree 's character; Roundtree returns as John Shaft, but is now a private eye, trying to get his nephew to join him.
In
2000 , the United States
Library Of Congress deemed the original film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the
National Film Registry .
