Richard Roundtree appreciation: The long shadow of ‘Shaft,’ cast by a groundbreaking action star
It is so all there, in the first two minutes. Manhattan, 1971. Noise. Grime. The mean streets two years before Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets.” Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft” — still the greatest-ever Oscar-winning song, just ahead of “Thanks for the Memory” — strides in underneath the “Shaft” opening credits sequence at the 30-second mark, as the camera glides by a grindhouse marquee ...
It is so all there, in the first two minutes.
Manhattan, 1971. Noise. Grime. The mean streets two years before Martin Scorsese’s “Mean Streets.”
Isaac Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft” — still the greatest-ever Oscar-winning song, just ahead of “Thanks for the Memory” — strides in underneath the “Shaft” opening credits sequence at the 30-second mark, as the camera glides by a grindhouse marquee advertising “The Wild Females.” He hasn’t even made his entrance yet, and they’re already lining up for him? Damn right.
Then, up from the subway, there he is, in leather and a turtleneck, cutting across a sea of sedans heading downtown. “Up yours!” says the private eye whose resume will forever lead with the lyric “sex machine to
