Tough private eye John Shaft finds himself in the middle of an equally tough case in this, the first (and best) of three Seventies' actioners starring Richard Roundtree. He's hired by a Harlem mobster to find his kidnapped daughter, but with the Mob and the police to deal with, things are far from straightforward. Under the direction of Gordon Parks, the movie is fast-moving and hard-hitting, with the bonus of properly rounded characters. Shaft is tough all right, but he also comes across as real. The music's good, too. Indeed, writer/performer Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for the theme song. The film was recently revamped (rather less satisfactorily) with Samuel L Jackson.

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