Shaft (1971)

Cast:

Richard Roundtree is John Shaft
Moses Gunn is Bumpy Jonas
Antonio "Huggie Bear" Fargas is Bunky, the street informant

What the box says:

"Hotter than Bond. Cooler than Bullitt," movie posters proclaimed. John Shaft was indeed a shut-your-mouth detective to reckon with, a fact emphasized from the film's start by Isaac Hayes' Academy Award®- winning Best Original Song and Oscar® -nominated score.

Richard Roundtree plays the smart, tough, confident lead, a private investigator whose hunt for a kidnapped woman puts him in the middle of feuding syndicates. Gordon Parks directs from a screenplay that Ernest Tidyman (that same year's Oscar® winner for The French Connection co-scripted from his own novel. John Shaft is an is on of change from an era of change. Today, Shaft still tells it like it is.

Plot:

New York City, Shaft leaves a subway station in Times Square and, he walks across the street through the cars regardless of traffic, as the Shaft theme begins to play. If you don’t know the Shaft theme, you have problems. A love of pretentious French art films would be a first guess. Shaft is going through the urban jungle as Isaac Hayes sings.

Newsstand guy tells Shaft some men were looking for him and, in the local shoeshine shop, shoe shiner tells Shaft the men were there looking for him. They were packing heat. Guess what? The cops are looking for Shaft, too. Vic talks to Shaft. Vic has heard some rumors of something going down and it’s big. Shaft refuses to tell him anything. Vic’s partner wants to lean on Shaft, but Vic has enough sense to realize that would be a bad mistake with a capital B.

Shaft is heading to his office; he spots a suspicious man waiting for him. And, Shaft gets the drop on the lookout and, he disarms the lookout and drags him to his office. The other guy is there. Fight ensues. Shaft takes them both on. Leroy charges at Shaft who dodges him. Leroy becomes a very shortly flying then dying guy as he goes through the window and eventually the pavement below. Shaft gets the other guy and questions him. Bumpy wants to talk to Shaft.

At the police station, cops are interrogating Shaft about the death. They don’t believe his story. Vic convinces the guy doing the bad cop role to leave, while Vic talks with Shaft alone. He knows the dead guy worked for Bumpy. Vic asks again about what is going on and, Shaft refuses to squeal. Vic lets him go. We can tell that Vic really wants Shaft to help him with this case. And it seems that Vic has a soft spot in his heart for Shaft to let him get away with so much. Well, the emotional quota has been filled.

Shaft uses a payphone to call Bumpy and heads to office. Bumpy and his goon, Willy, get to Shaft’s office first. Willy is complaining about how Shaft is late and killing Leroy. Shaft arrives. Willy is ordered out while Bumpy talks with Shaft. Bumpy wants to hire Shaft for a job. His daughter, Marcy, has been kidnapped and there is no ransom note. Shaft unloads on Bumpy for being well scum, selling drugs, etc… Bumpy claims the only spot in Harlem he can’t check is controlled by militants, La Mumabas lead by Ben Buford, who Shaft knows. Shaft agrees to take the case. Bumpy is distraught over his daughter and will do what it takes to get her back.

Shaft is looking for Ben. We get a searching montage set to another Isaac Hayes song. Shaft talks with the informer or hustler, Antonio "Huggie Bear" Fargas about where Ben will be. Shaft gets the info on where Ben will be that night.

Shaft is in his girlfriend’s apartment. His woman arrives. Well, "the sex machine to all the chicks" lovin' ensues.

Vic finds Shaft again. Shaft refuses to tell Vic anything. It’s close to time for the meeting. Shaft heads to it and arrives at the meeting, but Ben wants Shaft to leave, doesn’t know him anymore. Ben goes through every insult in the list about being a sellout. Shaft tells Ben that Bumpy’s daughter was kidnapped.

Gunfire is heard down the hall and, one of Ben’s friends was killed. Shaft takes Ben with him as the rest of Ben’s crew head to the ceiling. They hide in a little old lady’s apartment. Ben’s crew gets slaughtered. Ben grabs some scissors thinking Shaft set him up. The little old lady stops Ben from attacking Shaft; there’s been too much violence. Ben and Shaft leave.

Skulking in the shadows, they get out of the apartment building and hide before the cops get on the scene. The big question has to be were the shooters after Ben or Shaft. Shaft is going to leave Ben with some people who’ll keep him safe. Ben is pretty distraught by having his group butchered. Shaft is going to see Vic. Shaft takes Ben to crash at his girlfriend's place.

At the police station, Vic is on the phone. Shaft tells him he’s coming in to see him. Shaft gets to the station and talks with Vic. A large number of suspected Mafia guns from around the country are in New York City. A kidnap attempt on a Mafia bigwig failed, but Shaft refuses to tell Vic what’s going on.

Shaft calls Dina, his girlfriend, has some things to check out. In the morning, he wakes Ben. They need to meet with somebody and arrive at Bumpy’s office, Shaft and Ben arrive. Shaft refuses to be searched. Willy really wants to throw down with Shaft. Ben and Shaft go in to see Bumpy.

We learn that Bumpy was behind Ben’s group being shot down in the opposite of a blaze of glory. Shaft is less than pleased to say the least with being manipulated by Bumpy. Bumpy moved in on Mob turf and, they hit him back. Shaft isn’t going on with the case for what he was being paid. Shaft will need Ben’s army to free Bumpy’s daughter and, Ben agrees to help if he's paid to get his people out of jail. $10,000 a man. Bumpy agrees. Shaft wants $20,000 for himself.

Ben goes to rally the troops. Shaft is on mission himself and has some guy turn his office lights for him. Shaft heads to a bar and spots a couple of suspicious guys at the end of the bar. Meanwhile Shaft takes over for the bartender, he fixes some drinks for the Mob guys. You can tell by the way they check to see if Shaft’s office lights are on and, they aren't groovy like everyone else in the bar. Some chick, Linda, is very warm for the form of a certain "private dick who’s a sex machine to all the chicks." Shaft calls Vic who can tell that Shaft needs some help. The Mob guys want Shaft to leave them alone. He introduces himself and gets the drop on them after breaking a bottle over one’s head. The cops haul them out.

Shaft is getting some first aid treatment from Linda. Well, "sex machinin' " ensues again.

Shaft meets with Vic and learns the Mob guys are clean. Shaft talks with them. He has to see Bumpy's daughter and, they set up a meet.

Linda wakes up as Shaft gets back. He calls Ben, needing some tough backup guys. Linda isn't too fond of Shaft’s love me and leave me attitude. Well, she leaves. Shaft gets a new piece, gun.

Vic shows up to talk with Shaft. Apparently, Vic’s captain heard Shaft talk with the mobsters at the police station and, he wants to talk with Shaft. The best way to put it is Vic turns a blind eye to Shaft, claiming he can’t find Shaft anywhere and leaves. Shaft then calls the Mob guys to set up the meet.

Shaft heads to the meeting place. Mob Guy One, this is his name, comes in and get some "charming" ethnic banter to ensue. They leave. Ben and some of his men follow them. They take a winding route. Ben’s men stakeout the building where Shaft entered.

Marcy, Bumpy’s kidnapped daughter, is pacing in the apartment. As Mob Guy One is unlocking the door, Shaft gets the drop on him and finds out there are 2 guards inside. The door opens and, Shaft has a gun on Mob Guy One. Shaft demands that Marcy be let loose. The mafia guys refuse, they offer to let Shaft leave and tell Bumpy his daughter is ok, but Shaft will take Mob Guy One with him. A shootout ensues. Shaft is winged. But, 2 of the mob guys are dead. The last mob guy wants Bumpy to pay the ransom in 24 hours or else, and he beats Shaft and leaves. Ben checks on Shaft and finds him unconscious after last mob guy gets away with Marcy.

Ben rouses Shaft and, Ben’s men are following where last mob guy is going. Ben takes Shaft to Ellie, not sure who this is. Shaft wants Sam to patch him up. Sam isn’t a real doctor. Shaft realizes he’s going to need some backup, wants some guns on his side. Shaft wakes up after passing out from being patched up. The plans are being made, and Shaft calls Bumpy for transportation.

Ben’s people get a variety of hotel worker uniforms, including for bellboys, cooks, etc…

Vic is at the scene of the apartment shootout. Why does he seem to be the only cop in New York City?

Ben gets an order to bring drinks to where Marcy is being held in the hotel. Shaft goes up the fire escape. Ben gets the elevator operator uniform for another of his men. Shaft gets the skylight open. He and other guy climb down into the attic if that’s the word for the storage area on the top of a hotel. They get the drop on some of the mafia guards. The phone lines have been cut. Shaft and other guy are preparing a distraction.

Ben and his crew are in the elevator. Shaft is readying the rappelling line. Ben’s group inches down the hallway. Shaft climbs down the building tossing in the flaming distraction and crashes through the window. Mafia guy is shot. Ben’s crew takes care of the other mobsters.

Shaft grabs Marcy and, they take the elevator. Some of Ben’s crew is injured. Ben, Marcy, and Shaft get to the transportation. Ben's crew gets away before the cops arrive.

Shaft calls Vic telling him the case is wrapped up and walks away as the Shaft theme is playing again.

What I say:

This has to be first for my site. Somehow, an Oscar nominated and winning movie got posted. Granted when, the song that wins is from a singer who'll be best remembered from being on South Park. Isaac Hayes. Sooner or later, Isaac Hayes will be showing up here in a movie. I'll have to mention the music first. With these hands that are typing the review on a keyboard, these hands have once held an 8-track of the Shaft soundtrack. That really doesn't have much to do with this review but seems pretty cool to me.

Shaft, how can I really talk about this movie? Influential is too light a word for it. The 1970s let loose Shaft, Foxy Brown, Superfly, etc… A new group of action stars such as Richard Roundtree, Pam Grier, Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, and many others were let loose upon us, that was a good thing. Very shortly, Blaxsploitation emerged. Hollywood saw money was being made by movies like Shaft. And, if something makes money, it must be run into the ground according to Hollywood. Cheaper and cheaper movies were made. And quality dwindled until no quality ensued. And, actors like Richard Roundtree somehow found the b-movies in the 80s and 90s.

I can’t really say that this was a high dollar production. But, it seems to actually make good use of the budget. The locations were city streets and a few apartments. It's nice to have locations that don't look cheap. Filming in New York and saying it's New York is a good thing. Seeing the mountains in the distance in Rumble in the Bronx is a little hard to to not laugh at. One of my pet peeves has to be when offices that look like they're filmed in a high school or a college.

The scene where the cop leans on the private investigator to tell what's going on wasn't here. It has happened so many times, it's became a bad cliché. The friendship between Shaft and Vic was interesting. Nice to see Shaft has a friend on the force. And no matter, Vic was almost always willing to help Shaft any time is a change from the "I'll have your badge or detective license unless you tell what you're working on now."

Now for the Ladies Man, not Tim Meadows off of Saturday Night Live. No woman can resist the suavainess of Shaft. Granted, I did get a little confused with the number of girlfriends Shaft had. I'm not going to go into the woman who threw themselves at him, like Linda. It's hard to look back at a movie from 30 years ago and realize how everything was controversial. The interracial sex had to be a lot more shocking back then. Now, it's more like Shaft gonna get some "lovin'". Wouldn't want to say Shaft's policy was "love them and leave them". More like, "you loved me now leave me woman".

I can see how Shaft which was one of the first Black action heroes was so influential. In the late 60s, Nichelle Nichols was one of the few Black actresses on anything, Star Trek. A few years later, a very tough, competent, cool Richard Roundtree came on the scene with Shaft. I can see how Shaft would be seen as a hero at the least. This was around the time, Clint Eastwood became Dirty Harry. The 1970s ushered in the anti-heroes or the grim and gritty heroes which seemed so prevalent with everything that was happening in the early 1970s.

I don't want to get into what I think was wrong with the remake a couple of years ago. Sam Jackson does have the badazz aspect down. His Shaft was a police detective. I think a major of flaw was the villain, well sucked on toast. Rich boy...We knew he'd get his in the end.

Shaft definitely has to be one of the influential movies from the early 1970s. This is a good action movie. Thinking of how so many action movies nowadays use martial arts and wire-fu, etc...shows how far things have came since a movie like this. But, instead of jading me from something like Shaft, it makes me seem to appreciate the simplicity of how the action is filmed. So many movies just have a lot of gunfights and explosions, as much as I like action movies, highly staged action sequences can take a lot away from the movie if done wrong. Most of this movie just shows us how much of a badazz Shaft is and I believed it. The fights aren't martial arts based. They are fast and brutal and let the fake blood flow, too. They seem more believable, that way. The gunfights seemed to be more frantic and give it more a realistic edge.

Maybe, we should use the KISS principle... Keep It Simple, Shaft....

Quotable Dialogue
"Can you dig it?"
"They say that Shaft is bad mutha, shut yo mouth, just talking about Shaft."
"Bumpy isn’t going to like it."
"Cat say he gonna be here, he should be here."
"Don’t jive me!!!"
"There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for $20."
"Have funzies..."
Morals of the Story
If you’re cool enough, you can tell “stick it" to the cops and, they’ll take it…
Adding Isaac Hayes songs to movie scenes make them a lot cooler….