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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1970s Movies»Movies 1971
    Movies 1971 Movies S 2 Mins Read

    Shaft (1971)

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    The flood of Blaxploitation pictures continued in 1971 with Shaft, in which Richard Roundtree played the eponymous black private eye hired to find Marcy, the kidnapped daughter of big-time Harlem mobster, Bumpy Jonas (Moses Gunn).

    shaft_3John Shaft would not knuckle under to anyone – white cops or black drug gangsters included.

    Aided by his friend Ben Buford (Christopher St John), the leader of a militant civil rights group, Shaft found himself up against the Mafia, who are trying to force Bumpy out of his territory.

    Former Life photographer Gordon Parks directed with his foot pressed firmly down on the sex and violence pedal and gave the film an almost documentary-like quality.

    The brilliant Theme From Shaft remains probably the finest use of a wah-wah pedal since the dawn of civilisation, right? (Damn right).

    Richard Roundtree reprised his role in a CBS television series of Shaft which aired between 9 October 1973 and 20 August 1974.

    Roundtree came to acting by way of a modelling career, joining the Negro Ensemble Company in 1967.

    Prior to Shaft, he had appeared in What Do You Say To A Naked Lady? (1968), Alan Funt’s X-rated variation on the Candid Camera theme.

    shaft031

    John Shaft
    Richard Roundtree
    Bumpy Jonas
    Moses Gunn
    Vic Androzzi

    Charles Cioffi
    Ben Buford

    Christopher St John
    Ellie Moore

    Gwenn Mitchell
    Sgt Tom Hannon

    Lawrence Pressman
    Charlie

    Victor Arnold
    Marcy

    Sherri Brewer
    Rollie
    Rex Robbins
    Diana Greene

    Camille Yarbrough

    Director
    Gordon Parks

    Video

    Audio

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