

Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Score
Isaac Hayes' theme—still the greatest entrance music ever
Direction
Gordon Parks photographing Harlem like holy ground
Acting
Roundtree invented a whole archetype in one film

Director
Gordon Parks
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Gordon Parks was the first Black director to helm a major studio action film. He shot Shaft guerrilla-style in actual Harlem locations, often without permits, because the studio barely cared what happened in 'that market.'
Richard Roundtree wasn't first choice—he got the role after the original pick demanded script approval. The leather coat was borrowed. The 'black private dick who's a sex machine' line? Hayes ad-libbed it in the recording booth.