Summary
Cool Black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Good for
- Date night
- Friends night
- Party vibe
Where to watch
Fingerprint
At a glance
Critics vs audiences
Critics a little warmer than audiences (+9)
Critics 77Audiences 68GoodWatch 72
Tomatometer88%
Metascore66
Letterboxd · 41 K ratings3.5/5
Audience score68%
User score6.8
IMDb6.6
Box office
11×its budget
- Budget
- $1 M
- Worldwide
- $12 M
Worldwide it earned $11 M more than it cost.
Running time
1 h 40 min
A typical length for crime movies, −6 min on the typical 106
typical 106100Half of all crime movies run 95–120 min.
Reach
Streams in 1 country, rent or buy in 68 more
Released
1971
June 25, 1971
55 years ago
Genres
CrimeThrillerDramaActionLanguage
English
Original language
Made in
- United States
Academy Awards1972
- Music (Original Song)1972Won
- Best Original Dramatic Score1972Nominated
Golden Globe Awards1973
- Best Original Score1973Won
MTV Movie & TV Awards1994
- MTV Movie & TV Awards1994Won
Rated
- RUnited States
What's in it
- ViolenceStrong
- Gore, disturbing imagesLittle or none
- Frightening scenesLittle or none
- Sex, nudityMild
- Dark themesModerate
- Strong languageNamed in the advisories
- Drug useNamed in the advisories
In white: what the content advisories name. Levels from the title analysis.
Viewing guide
AdultsDate NightFriends NightParty VibePartner WatchPublic Viewing SafeSolo WatchTeensPure EscapismThought-ProvokingNot listed for kids or family movie night.
and 22 more43 people
- Richard RoundtreeJohn Shaft
- Moses GunnBumpy Jonas
- Charles CioffiVic Androzzi
- Christopher St. JohnBen Buford
- Gwenn MitchellEllie Moore
- Lawrence PressmanSergeant Tom Hannon
- Victor ArnoldCharlie
- Sherri BrewerMarcy
Rex RobbinsRollie
Camille YarbroughDina Greene- MWMargaret WarnckeLinda
Joseph LeonByron Leibowitz
Arnold JohnsonCul
Dominic BartoPatsy- GSGeorge StrusCarmen
Edmund HashimLee
Drew Bundini BrownWilly
Tommy LaneLeroy- AKAl KirkSims
Shimen RuskinDr. Sam
Antonio FargasBunky
Gertrude JeannetteOld Lady- LSLee SteeleBlind Vendor
Damu KingMal
Directing · 1
- Gordon Parks Director
Writing · 2
- John D.F. Black Screenplay
- Ernest Tidyman Screenplay, Novel, Executive Producer
Production · 5
- Stirling Silliphant Executive Producer
- Joel Freeman Producer
- Roger H. Lewis Producer
- David Golden Producer
- Judith Lamb Casting
Camera · 1
- Urs Furrer Director of Photography
Editing · 1
- Hugh A. Robertson Editor
Sound · 2
- Isaac Hayes Original Music Composer
- J.J. Johnson Original Music Composer
Art · 2
- Robert Drumheller Set Decoration
- Emanuel Gerard Art Direction
Costume & Make-Up · 1
- Martin Bell Makeup Artist
Lighting · 1
- Louis Gerolomi Gaffer
Other crew · 4
- Bob Herron Stunts
- George Strus Stunts
- Joe Pronto Stunts
- Tommy Lane Stunts
Tropes
More like this
Watch order
In this series
Film 1 of 4 · then Shaft's Big Score!
- Shaft (1971)
GoodWatch score 72You're here
- Shaft's Big Score! (1972)
GoodWatch score 57Film 2
- Shaft in Africa (1973)
GoodWatch score 61Film 3
- Shaft (2019)
GoodWatch score 52Film 4
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