The 1971 film starring Richard Roundtree that introduced the character John Shaft is Shaft.
Directed by Gordon Parks, the film adapts Ernest Tidyman’s novel about a confident private detective working in New York City. Shaft is hired by Harlem crime boss Bumpy Jonas to rescue his kidnapped daughter, drawing him into a conflict involving rival criminal groups and Italian mobsters.
The film became a defining example of blaxploitation cinema, presenting a stylish Black action hero with professional independence, authority, and control over his own world. It was filmed in locations including Harlem, Greenwich Village, and Times Square, giving the story a strongly grounded Manhattan setting.
Isaac Hayes’s funk-and-soul score became nearly as famous as the film. “Theme from Shaft” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, making Hayes the first Black man to win that category. Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Foxy Brown, and Super Fly are related genre landmarks, but none introduced John Shaft.