In recent years, I have encountered numerous comments, both online and in print, stating that Shaft was originally intended to be portrayed as a white character in the 1971 film adaptation of Ernest Tidyman’s book. Some go on to say that it wasn’t until Gordon Parks came on board that Shaft reverted to being a…
Tag: Shaft
Prospect of new Shaft material from David F Walker “doesn’t look promising”
In an interview yesterday with the Black Comic Lords YouTube channel, David F. Walker was asked about the possibility of further Shaft output (see from 1:51:42 to 1:53:24). Unfortunately, David said the prospect of new material from him featuring Shaft being released “doesn’t look promising.” He does not own the publishing rights to the character,…
The Last Shaft at 50
50 years ago today, the last of Ernest Tidyman’s seven Shaft novels, appropriately titled The Last Shaft, was published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in the UK – the book was never published in the US. A UK paperback, via Corgi, followed two years later. The book would represent the last original material to…
Book Review – DON’T LET THE DEVIL RIDE (2024) by Ace Atkins
DON’T LET THE DEVIL RIDE (2024) **** by Ace Atkins This hardback edition published by Corsair, 2024, 371pp First published in 2024 © Ace Atkins, 2024 ISBN: 978-1-472-5920-5 Blurb: Addison McKellar isn’t clueless – she knows she and her husband Dean don’t have the perfect marriage – but she’s still shocked when he completely vanishes from…
‘Goodbye, Mr. Shaft,’ the fifth Shaft novel, celebrates 50th anniversary
On 28 December 1973, Dial Press published the US hardback edition of Ernest Tidyman’s fifth Shaft novel, Goodbye, Mr. Shaft. The book was a departure in the series being the first to be set largely away from New York City with Shaft being hired to protect a senator’s two young boys from potential kidnapping and…
Richard Roundtree – The Man Who Was Shaft
My first memory of Richard Roundtree was seeing him in the TV series Shaft sometime in 1974 on Granada TV here in the UK. I thought, even in this sanitised version (I knew of no other at that point), he was the coolest thing on TV. I then realised there were some paperback novels on…
Richard Roundtree dies aged 81
I woke up this morning to hear the very sad news of the passing of actor Richard Roundtree at the age of 81. Richard had recently suffered from pancreatic cancer, having survived breast cancer back in 1993. He will, of course, be forever remembered for his groundbreaking role as private detective John Shaft in Gordon…
50 years since Shaft debuted on TV – a missed opportunity
On Tuesday 9 October 1973, Shaft made its move from big to small screen with the broadcast of ‘The Executioners’ as part of the CBS New Tuesday Night Movie series. “Shaft on TV makes Barnaby Jones look like Eldridge Cleaver,” was the verdict of critic Cecil Smith of the Los Angeles Times after viewing the…
SHAFT IN AFRICA celebrates its 50th anniversary
50 years ago, on 20 June 1973 at 9 a.m., SHAFT IN AFRICA opened in New York at the Cinerama on Broadway and 47th Street, the 59th Street Twin #2 and the RKO 86th Street Twin #2 theatres. The first 300 patrons at the Cinerama also received a copy of The Four Tops’ single from…
Shaft’s Big Score! novelisation published 50 years ago today… but nearly wasn’t published at all
Ernest Tidyman’s novelisation of his screenplay for the film Shaft’s Big Score! was the third book in the series, with Shaft Among the Jews having been published in hardback six weeks earlier. Production of the film had run from January to April 1972 and it was intended the paperback adaptation be published in May ahead…