Shaft / Shaft's Big Score! / Shaft in Africa

When Harlem P.I. John Shaft first appeared on the movie scene, he was a shut your mouth detective to reckon with, a fact underscored by Isaac Hayes' Oscar winning Best Original Song (1971). Richard Roundtree plays the hard-hitting, street-smart title role in these signature blaxploitation films, hunting for a kidnap victim in Shaft (1971) and seeking a friend's murderer in Shaft's Big Score! Mixing it up with mob thugs each time. Finally, there's Shaft in Africa (He's the Brother Man in the Motherland, proclaimed ads), with our hero bringing down a slavery cartel. Shaft's the name. Excitement's the game!