Today would have been the birthday of Richard Roundtree so, of course, today’s scene that I love could only be the classic opening of 1971’s Shaft.
By doing something as simple as walking down a street in New York, Roundtree showed us exactly who Shaft was and why Shaft did what he did. This is one of those scenes that’s been parodied so many times that it’s actually surprising to rewatch and see how just defiant and sexy Richard Roundtree’s confident strut actually was.
On another note, I enjoy seeing all of the names of the movies that were playing on 42nd Street when this scene was filmed.
Through the Shattered Lens 
Pam Grier apparently said recently she was insulted by the term “blaxploitation” but she should be proud: this was a genre of film showing the african-american experience in real time – at a time when those stories were not being told by the major studios. The success of “Shaft” helped open the doors to modern filmmakers telling unique black stories – from “The Mack” to “Superfly”, “Trouble Man” and “Hit!” Plus of course “Coffy” and “Foxy Brown” among the Grier’s hits…an amazing time for film!
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