Shaft
Three coevals of Shaft meet in this year’sShaft , the fifth entry and second revivification of the classic Blaxploitation series that started in 1973 . asterisk Richard Roundtree ( the original John Shaft ) , Samuel L. Jackson ( the son of Shaft ) , and Jessie Usher ( the youngest Shaft),Shaft(2019 ) has the three private detective unearth the mystery behind the fishy decease of an US Army warhorse .
Despite the titular eccentric ’s continued popularity and the longevity of his unforgettable theme birdsong , there are some thing about John Shaft that were never mentioned in the movies . So before or after observe the newestShaftmovie , here are 10 facts about the human beings himself that you may not have even take heed of before .
Shaft Sr. Worked With A Real Mobster
In the first twoShaftmovies , Shaft determine himself begrudgingly work with the herculean Harlem gangster Bumpy Jonas to get the job done . Bumpy may seem like any other criminal in the serial , but he ’s actually based on a genuine - life story gangster .
The substantial Bumpy was Ellsworth “ Bumpy ” Johnson , who govern Harlem from the ‘ thirty to the ‘ 60s . Most people get it on him from the crime - biopicAmerican Gangster , where Bumpy ( present by Clarence Williams ) mentored the up - and - coming crimelord Frank Lucas ( Denzel Washington ) , who get over Johnson ’s drug vista in the ‘ 70s .
Shaft Sr. Stopped A Slave Ring In Africa
TheShaftseries is a collection of politically and racially - file neo - noir films establish in New York , and yet the third instalment broke the modeling so operose that it feel like another movie all .
mimic the gonzo mold of theJames Bondfranchise ( i.e. fancy gadgets , globe - trotting , and ladies ) , Shaft In Africahas the private eye stop a innovative - day slave ring by flirting his way into an African kin . The entertainingly silly sequel was a far cry from the former movies ’ grit and nuance and is rightfully never mentioned ever again .
Shaft Sr. Went To TV
The series only aired seven episodes before it was canceled . Some pretend that this was becauseShaftwas shadow byHawkins – another police force adjective show that was identical from the goggle box - friendly Shaft . Roundtree has since distanced himself from the series , expressing nothing but patronage for it .
Shaft II Was Supposed To Have A Franchise
When theShaftfranchise was revived in the new Millennium , Paramount had big plans for the private oculus and was planning to exposit the reboot into a serial publication . Director John Singleton wanted to send Shaft to Jamaica , where he would battle drug lords in a sequel not too different fromShaft In Africa .
Due to the revival ’s underwhelming boxwood agency returns and Samuel L. Jackson ’s disappointment in the moving picture , the planned follow - up was scrapped . The franchise would lay hibernating for another protracted period of sentence before the passing of this twelvemonth ’s resurgence .
Isaac Hayes Wanted To Be Shaft
Richard Roundtree , a former model , may have been an unlawful choice for a hardboiled private detective but toproducers , he was more plausible than Isaac Hayes himself : the gentleman and vocalisation behind Shaft ’s immortal stem Sung .
Hayes revealed that he only agreed to compose theShaftscore after producer Joel Freeman promised him an audition for the titulary use . The audition never evidence , but Hayes kept his end of the stack regardless . Things turned in his favor , with the song becoming an crying hit and Hayes being the first African American to win the Oscar for Best Original Song .
The Django Unchained Bloodline
Django Unchained , Quentin Tarantino ’s court to Blaxploitation cinema and Spaghetti Westerns , focuses on Django ’s quest to rescue his beloved married woman Broomhilda von Shaft . Her last name may sound like a cunning tribute to the secret eye but if Tarantino had it his room , she would be the materfamilias of Shaft ’s family .
In interviews , the filmmaker said that he considers Broomhilda to be the first Shaft and that her bloodline eventually bring forth John Shaft . TheShaftmovies do n’t notice the Shaft name ’s pre - polite War heritage , makingDjango Unchainedits unofficial prequel .
Shaft II Was Shaft Sr.’s Nephew
WhenShaftwas renovate in 2000 not as a reboot but as a continuation , Jackson portray the detective ’s nephew . But in the 2019 subsequence , Jackson ’s fibre instantaneously says that he ’s the Logos Richard Roundtree ’s iconic role .
This retcon is more of a correction than a sudden change because Jackson was meant to be Shaft ’s son since 2000 , but producers demanded that Singleton slim down Roundtree ’s role and relegate him to being Jackson ’s uncle . The Modern moving picture ignore this perplexing syndicate Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , which is probably for the good .
Shaft Sr. Died In 1975
Even if he had only three picture show to his name , John Shaft quickly became an immortal cinematic bomber in the center of audiences . This happened despite the fact that he in reality snuff it in the books that inspired his cinematic debut .
After sevenShaftbooks , Ernest Tidyman killed the titular tec inThe Last Shaft , where he fights the Mafia one last time on his home turf . The book was well - received and see as a fitting word of farewell for the character , though Shaft lived on beyond the leaping of Tidyman ’s print words .
A White Man Created John Shaft
John Shaft is a proudly African American legend in pop culture but ironically , he was born from a white-hot journalist ’s intellect . The originalShaftwas based on a novel written by Ernest Tidyman , who write for The New York Post and Times before working full - time as an source and film writer .
Tidyman also wrote the screenplay for the first picture and its sequelShaft ’s Big Score . He also wrote the screenplaysHigh field DrifterandThe French Connection , which acquire him the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay .
The Legend Of White Shaft
One of the strangest urban legends surrounding theShaftseries is the notion that he was meant to be a white man . According to filmmaker Melvin Van Peebeles , MGM planned to cast a white actor as Shaft but changed its intellect after visit the achiever of his movieSweet Sweetback ’s Baadasssss Song – the very first Blaxploitation picture .
This myth was debunked , with critic saying Peebeles magnify the meaning of his otherwise landmark film . The title even amaze so out of paw that some thought that the original novel starred a snowy detective – which is evidently not the case .
NEXT : Shaft 2019 Just Released On Netflix In The UK
