Directed by:
Gordon ParksCinematography:
Urs FurrerCast:
Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John, Gwenn Mitchell, Lawrence Pressman, Victor Arnold, Dominic Barto, Tony King, Gordon Parks (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
While the Black Power movement was reshaping America, trailblazing director Gordon Parks made this groundbreaking blockbuster, which helped launch the blaxploitation era and gave the screen a new kind of badder-than-bad action hero in John Shaft (Richard Roundtree, in a career-defining role), a streetwise New York City private eye who is as tough with criminals as he is tender with his lovers. After Shaft is recruited to rescue the kidnapped daughter of a Harlem mob boss (Moses Gunn) from Italian gangsters, he finds himself in the middle of a rapidly escalating uptown vs. downtown turf war. A vivid time capsule of seventies Manhattan in all its gritty glory that has inspired sequels and multimedia reboots galore, the original Shaft is studded with indelible elements - from Roundtree’s sleek leather fashions to the iconic funk and soul score by Isaac Hayes. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
![Richard Roundtree](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271750_717a15.jpg)
Richard Roundtree
USA
Best movies:
Se7en (1995)
Roots (1977) (series)
Man Friday (1975)
![Moses Gunn](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/280/280531_664475.jpg)
Moses Gunn
USA
Best movies:
The NeverEnding Story (1984)
Roots (1977) (series)
Ragtime (1981)
![Charles Cioffi](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/471/471130_ca316b.jpg)
Charles Cioffi
USA
Best movies:
The X-Files – File 9: Redux (1997) (video compilation)
Columbo (1971) (series)
Missing (1982)
Christopher St. John
Best movies:
Shaft (1971)
![Gwenn Mitchell](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/534/162534989_63d203.jpg)
Gwenn Mitchell
USA
Best movies:
Shaft (1971)
![Lawrence Pressman](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/268/268842_fc962c.jpg)
Lawrence Pressman
USA
Best movies:
The Winds of War (1983) (series)
Kojak: The Marcus-Nelson Murders (1973) (TV movie)
Ally McBeal (1997) (series)
Victor Arnold
USA
Best movies:
...And Justice for All (1979)
Two Family House (2000)
The Incident (1967)
![Dominic Barto](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/386/386733_03d198.jpg)
Dominic Barto
USA
Best movies:
Man of the East (1972)
Rocky IV (1985)
They Call Me Trinity (1970)
![Tony King](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/999/165999448_61397d.jpg)
Tony King
USA
Best movies:
The Godfather (1972)
Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980) (TV movie)
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
Gordon Parks
USA
Best movies:
Shaft (1971)
Shaft (2000)
Shaft's Big Score! (1972)
![Antonio Fargas](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/280/280527_e0f84d.jpg)
Antonio Fargas
USA
Best movies:
The Gambler (1974)
Florida Straits (1987) (TV movie)
Conrack (1974)
![Edmund Hashim](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/983/160983289_032c62.jpg)
Edmund Hashim
Best movies:
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Fury of the Dragon (1976) - a.f.
The Helen Morgan Story (1957)
![Alan Weeks](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/073/162073686_55d5a7.jpg)
Alan Weeks
Best movies:
The French Connection (1971)
Truck Turner (1974)
Black Belt Jones (1974)
![Eddie Barth](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/201/162201258_39c414.jpg)
Eddie Barth
USA
Best movies:
Fame (1980)
Rover Dangerfield (1991)
Bananas (1971)
![Rex Robbins](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/534/162534981_b6b761.jpg)
Rex Robbins
USA
Best movies:
1776 (1972)
The Man Who Wasn't There (1983)
The Secret of My Succe$s (1987)
Arnold Johnson
USA
Best movies:
Rocky (1976)
American Hot Wax (1978)
Racing with the Moon (1984)
![Tommy Lane](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/535/162535020_2afc18.jpg)
Tommy Lane
USA
Best movies:
Live and Let Die (1973)
The Pilot (1980)
Ganja & Hess (1973)
Ed Bernard
USA
Best movies:
Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993)
Across 110th Street (1972)
The Hot Rock (1972)
Joseph Leon
USA
Best movies:
Sophie's Choice (1982)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Brewster's Millions (1985)
Shimen Ruskin
Russian Empire
Best movies:
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
Love and Death (1975)
Citizen Kane (1941)