Great Characters: John Shaft (“Shaft”)

Cool Protagonists are… well… cool. There’s James Bond cool. There’s Harry Callahan cool. And then there’s John Shaft cool.

Says it right here in the IMDB plot summary for the 1971 movie Shaft [screenplay by Ernest Tidyman and John D.F. Black, based on Tidyman’s novel] which kicked off the series starring Richard Roundtree as the lead character: “Cool black private eye John Shaft is hired by a crime lord to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.”

The movie’s taglines are cool:

The mob wanted Harlem back. They got shaft…up to here.

SHAFT’s his name. SHAFT’s his game.

Shaft’s his name. Shaft’s his game.

Wanna see Shaft? Better ask yo’ mamma.

Hotter than Bond, Cooler than Bullitt.

His dialogue is cool:

Sergeant Tom Hannon: Hey, where the hell are you going, Shaft?

John Shaft: To get laid, where the hell are you going?

Vic Androzzi: Have a chair, John.

Shaft: I don’t like your chair.

John Shaft: You are one wise Caucasian, Vic.

John Shaft: Don’t let your mouth get your ass in trouble.

John Shaft: Warms my black heart to see you so concerned about us minority folks.

Vic Androzzi: Oh come on Shaft, what is it with this black shit, huh?

[Vic holds a black pen up to Shaft’s face]

Vic Androzzi: You ain’t so black.

John Shaft: [Holds a white coffee cup next to Vic’s face] And you ain’t so white either baby.

But it’s Shaft in action that is really cool:

And of course, his theme song by Issac Hayes with that cool wah-wah pedal:

Shaft is so cool, the character started an entire subgenre: Blacksploitation movies.

Shaft is fearless. Doesn’t take shit from anybody. Knows how to handle a gun and his fists. A ladies man. Has the right line all the time. He’s larger than life, but from the streets, an idealized version of a real man in a tough urban environment.

Sometimes we like our heroes hot. But sometimes, we like them cool. And Shaft is one cool mother… [shut your mouth]!

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