Line #28 Film/Shaft


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6	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shaft.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:310:''"Can you dig it?"'']]
8
9	->"''Who's the black private dick\
10	That's a sex machine to all the chicks? (SHAFT!)\
11	Ya damn right!\
12	Who is the man that would risk his neck for his brother man? (SHAFT!)\
13	Can you dig it?\
14	Who's the cat that won't cop out\
15	When there's danger all about? (SHAFT!)\
16	Right on!''"
17	-->-The opening lyrics to the theme song.
18
19	[[FunetikAksent You's know de dojigger. You's know de movie. You's might even know de remake. But do ya' know Shaft?]]
20
21	''Shaft'' is a 1971 {{Blaxploitation}} film directed by Creator/GordonParks and written by Ernest Tidyman, based on Tidyman's novel of the same name.
22
23	It tells the story of John Shaft (Creator/RichardRoundtree), a tough African-American private detective who travels through Harlem and infiltrates TheMafia in order to find the missing daughter of a black mobster. Also in the cast are Creator/MosesGunn as Bumpy Jonas, Charles Cioffi as Lt. Vic Androzzi, and Christopher St. John as Ben Buford, along with Gwenn Mitchell and Creator/LawrencePressman. Music/IsaacHayes did the [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic theme song]] quoted above, which has reached MemeticMutation to the point where it may actually be better known than the movie. It also earned Hayes the MediaNotes/AcademyAwardForBestOriginalSong, the first ever awarded to a black musician.
24
25	The film was followed by two sequels -- only the first of which was based on a Tidyman novel and directed by Parks -- along with a series of [[MadeForTVMovie made-for-TV movies]] following the further adventures of Shaft during the 1973–74 season of ''The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies''. As the series was being aired on network television, the character of [[AntiHero Shaft]] was [[{{Bowdlerise}} toned down]] [[{{Badbutt}} a fair amount]]; for example, he frequently worked with the police, instead of being against them as in the original movie. Due to this ExecutiveMeddling, the series was unpopular, and it was quickly cancelled.
26
27	Two {{spinoff}} / {{sequel}} / {{revival}} films followed, focusing on other members of Shaft's family, in [[Film/Shaft2000 2000]] and [[Film/Shaft2019 2019]]. Roundtree [[RoleReprise reprised his role]] in both as a supporting character.
28
29	Incidentally, Ernest Tidyman, writer of the original novel series and the first two movies, also wrote ''Film/TheFrenchConnection'' and ''Film/HighPlainsDrifter''.
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31	In 2014 a ''Shaft'' comic book debuted to strong critical reaction, inspired more by the Tidyman novels and written by David Walker of [=BadAzz=] [=MoFo=], a blog about Blaxploitation history. Included in each issue of the first arc, ''A Complicated Man'', was a chapter of ''Shaft's Revenge'', the first new novel about John Shaft since Tidyman's death. In Walker's second arc, ''Imitation Of Life'', Shaft gets hired on a low-budget detective film [[MythologyGag that may or may not be based on his life]].
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33	[[MemeticMutation And we can dig it.]]
34
35	For the anime studio, look no further than Creator/StudioSHAFT.
36
37	!! "That cat Shaft shows up in these other baaad mutha- / Shut your mouth!":
38	[[index]]
39	* ''Shaft's Big Score'' (1972)
40	* ''Shaft in Africa'' (1973)
41	* ''Film/{{Shaft\|2000}}'' (2000)
42	* ''Film/{{Shaft\|2019}}'' (2019)
43	[[/index]]
44	----
45	!!"But I'm troping about Shaft!/And we can dig it":
46	* AdaptationalNiceGuy: Shaft was a bit of a [[PoliticallyIncorrectHero homophobe]] in the original novel, a trait that's dropped for the movie.
47	* BigBad: The first film has Lee, TheMafia agent who led the operation to kidnap Bumpy's daughter.
48	* BigShutUp: The iconic theme song has a famous example.
49	-->''"They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother--\
50	SHUT YOUR MOUTH!\
51	But I'm talkin' 'bout Shaft.\
52	THEN WE CAN DIG IT!"''
53	%%* {{Blaxploitation}}: A TropeCodifier--usually the first film anyone thinks of when hearing the term.
54	* BraggingThemeTune: ''"Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks?/Shaft!/Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all around?/SHAFT!"''
55	* BrooklynRage: The film focuses on a New York private eye who initiates a one-man battle against Da Mob in Harlem.
56	* CanonWelding: According to Creator/QuentinTarantino in a 2012 Comic-Con interview, Django and Broomhilda (von Shaft) from his movie ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' are the great-great-great-great grandparents of John Shaft. Make of this what you will.
57	* TheChiefsDaughter: Shaft woos an African princess in the second sequel.
58	* TheChosenZero: One of the taglines was something along the lines of "The mob wanted Harlem back. They got Shaft."
59	* ColdCash: Shaft keeps a pair of revolvers in his fridge.
60	* CompensatingForSomething: Played up in the ads. According to a book on blaxploitation films, several theaters had a contest going during the run of ''In Africa'' where customers could win a prize if they correctly guessed the length of Shaft's... walking stick.
61	* CreatorCameo: Gordon Parks briefly appears as a landlord.
62	* CultSoundtrack: Isaac Hayes' legendary "Theme From Shaft," which is so memetic that it was inducted into the UsefulNotes/NationalRecordingRegistry!
63	* CurseCutShort: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHbYLjWEEQA The title theme:]]
64	-->'''Isaac Hayes:''' They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother-- \
65	'''Female Chorus:''' Shut your mouth! \
66	'''Isaac Hayes:''' But I'm talkin' 'bout Shaft! \
67	'''Female Chorus:''' And we can dig it.
68	* DestinationDefenestration: One of the two goons sent to bring Shaft in gets knocked out of his window during a scuffle.
69	* DoubleEntendre: "Who's the black private ''dick'' that's a sex machine to all the chicks?" "Shaft!" "Damn right..."
70	* FlippingTheBird: At the beginning of the original film, Shaft flips the bird at a cab driver who's honking his horn at him and yelling "Up yours! Get out of the way!"
71	* FriendOnTheForce: Lt. Androzzi, one of the few cops Shaft genuinely likes and respects.
72	* GrievousBottleyHarm: Shaft whacks a bottle over a Mafia mook's head at the bar. All it gets the mook is a cut scalp.
73	* HollywoodHealing: Shaft gets shot once in the shoulder at close range by a machine gun and hits the floor, apparently unconscious. After minimal medical attention, it doesn't seem to take long for him to get back in action.
74	* IHaveYourWife: The mafia kidnaps Bumpy's daughter to try and make him back down.
75	* IronicEcho: Vic tells Shaft to "Close it yourself, shitty!" referring to the door of his apartment, echoing (non-ironically) the woman Shaft has just slept with. In the final scene, Shaft echoes the line, this time referring to "closing the case."
76	* KickTheDog: Shaft grabs one of Lee's {{mooks}} and uses him as a HumanShield to try and escape. The villain shoots and kills his own henchman. He lets Shaft live only because he has to report back to Bumpy that Lee hasn't killed Bumpy's daughter, that he has taken her hostage.
77	* TheMafia: They serve as the main antagonists, trying to take over Harlem.
78	* MafiaPrincess: Deconstructed with Bumpy's daughter. Turns out, in the cutthroat world of organized crime, being a crime lord's beloved little girl isn't necessarily a good thing...
79	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Bumpy Jonas is very obviously based on real-life Harlem mobster Bumpy Johnson.
80	* OneBookAuthor: This was the only film role for Sherri Brewer (Marcy Jonas).
81	* OneWordTitle: It's simply ''Shaft''.
82	* PayingForTheActionScene: Shaft routinely compensates people for the damage his fights cause.
83	* PhoneyCall: When Shaft is impersonating a waiter at a bar that several mafia goons are drinking at, he calls his FriendOnTheForce Lt. Androzzi to let him know how many are there and where to send the cops, pretending to be talking to one of his girlfriends.
84	* PoliticallyIncorrectHero: In the novel, Shaft is very antagonistic toward homosexuals.
85	* ProtagonistTitle: The title is ''Shaft'', and John Shaft is the protagonist.
86	* RaceLift: Ellie Moore was white in the original novel. Conversely, Linda was black in the novel, but white in the film. In the novel, the bartender at The No Name Bar, Rollie, is black in the novel, but in the film is a white friend of Shaft who nonchalantly declares that he is gay.
87	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Police Lt. Vic Androzzi. He's pretty much the only cop that Shaft is willing to put up with, and frequently helps Shaft out by looking the other way while he takes care of business.
88	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: When Bumpy hires Shaft to find his daughter:
89	-->'''Shaft:''' Got any idea who grabbed her?\
90	'''Bumpy:''' A lot of cats hate my guts.\
91	'''Shaft:''' [[SarcasmMode A sweet, loving dude like you?]] Sweet-talking a man's lady as you beat her man out of his paycheck in the back room of a horse parlor? Feeding his kid shit to shoot in his arm? Who could hate ''you'', Bumpy?
92	* RecycledTitle: Three out of the five films are just called ''Shaft''.
93	* SequelGoesForeign: ''Shaft in Africa'', as the title states, has Shaft being taken to Africa.
94	* ShootTheHostage: Mob boss Bumpy hires Shaft to get his kidnapped daughter back. Shaft wants proof that Bumpy's daughter is still alive so he goes to meet with the kidnappers, and grabs one of the mooks to try and use him to get Bumpy's daughter back. The kidnapper shoots and kills his own mook, grabs the daughter, then beats up Shaft but doesn't kill him because he has to be alive to tell Bumpy that his daughter is alive and unhurt.
95	* {{Tuckerization}}: During the scene where Bumpy Jonas visits Shaft at his office, a door adjacent to the office says "Skloot Insurance" - named for Steven P. Skloot, a production manager on the film.
96	* TVTelephoneEtiquette: Shaft does it in style...
97	-->'''Shaft:''' Vic, your case just busted wide open.\
98	'''Androzzi:''' So close it for me.\
99	'''Shaft:''' Cut the crap man, this is Shaft. Looks like you gonna have to close it yo'self, ''shitty''! ''(cackles and hangs up, walks away, theme song music plays)''
100	* VillainBall: Inadvertently held by Bumpy. Since he's a Harlem crime lord, and leaving the safety of his neighborhood would be a risk with the Mafia out gunning for him, he orders two of his men to bring John uptown to him instead; he doesn't specify ''how'' he wants it done, though, so they show up armed, which arouses Shaft's suspicion and gets one of them killed in the ensuing scuffle. [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot If they'd just been told to be upfront about their employer and why they wanted to see him, none of it would've gone down the way it did]].
101	-->'''Bumpy:''' Been looking for you, Shaft.\
102	'''Shaft:''' I got an office.
103	----
104	->''"Any questions?"''

Context Film / Shaft