These talented kids ended up becoming more successful than their famous parents
Directed by Gordon Parks and starring Richard Roundtree, 'Shaft' remains the definitive blaxploitation movie. A commercial and critical success, 'Shaft' is also remembered for its music. The soundtrack album, recorded by Isaac Hayes, garnered a slew of awards: the theme won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
This blaxploitation thriller tells the picaresque story of a poor Black man who uses his ingenuity and survival skills to outwit the police after helping a young Black militant escape from custody.
Inevitably perhaps, a sequel swiftly followed. Again directed by Gordon Parks, 'Shaft's Big Score!' scored another hit at the box office and was praised for its improved production values and direction.
Interestingly, 'Hit Man' is based on Ted Lewis' 1970 novel 'Jack's Return Home,' more famously adapted as 'Get Carter' (1971), which is set in England and stars Michael Caine.
At the time of its release, 'Super Fly' was criticized for its glorification of substance abuse. Starring Ron O'Neal as a pimp and a dealer who tries to walk away from his violent underworld life, the movie displeased many African Americans who were disappointed with the negative image of themselves being portrayed in blaxploitation productions in general.
Former American Black football stars were finding new fame as thespians of sorts, and 1960s defensive back Fred Williamson was another sports personality who found himself immersed in the world of blaxploitation cinema. In this crime thriller he is cast as B.J. Hammer, a boxer who rises up the ranks with help from the Mafia.
Actor and filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles (pictured) wrote, co-produced, scored, edited, and directed the cult picture, which he also financed and shot independently. The film's fast-paced montages and jump-cuts were unique features in American cinema at the time, and 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song' became a box-office hit. According to Variety, it demonstrated to Hollywood that films that portrayed 'militant' Black people could be highly profitable, leading to the creation of the blaxploitation genre.
Blaxploitation cinema wasn't all about crime, car chases, and shoot-outs. In this take on the Dracula legend, 'Blacula' features an African prince (played by William H. Marshall) who is bitten and imprisoned by Count Dracula. Once freed from his coffin, he spreads terror in modern-day Los Angeles. As unlikely as the plot sounds, the movie received fair reviews. The Chicago Tribune called it "well-made and quite frightening." The New York Times, however, lamented that anyone who "goes to a vampire movie expecting sense is in serious trouble, and 'Blacula' offers less sense than most."
But 'Blacula' made money, and sparked a wave of other Black-themed horror films. Pictured is William Marshall about to bite into Vonetta McGee, a leading lady during the blaxploitation era.
'Coffy' spawned imitators, including 'Cleopatra Jones,' although this was more an action-comedy. In fact, the movie is extremely—and deliberately—funny, with over-the-top villains and crackling one-liners.
The role of Cleopatra "Cleo" Jones, an undercover special agent working for the US government, went to fashion model Tamara Dobson. Her character is seen as strong, assertive, and combative, qualities that further illustrated the film industry's progress toward gender equality, and in keeping with feminist principals of the time.
"The Hammer" was Williamson's official nickname during his playing days, and Black audiences flocked to the cinema to see one of their heroes up on the big screen. The movie gained a positive reception, and went on to become a staple of the genre.
'Shaft' played a crucial part in the development of African American advancement in Hollywood. Parks' decision to cast Roundtree rather than a white actor, for whom the role was originally written, instantly altered the presentation of race in the film. The movie has since been selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The film's tagline in advertising spelled it out big time:"They call her 'Coffy' and she'll cream you!" Indeed, the movie is notable in its depiction of a strong Black female lead, something rare in the genre at the time, and also in its then-unfashionable anti-substance abuse message.
Former NFL player Bernie Casey stars as super-slick Oakland hit man Tyrone Tackett, who comes home to southern California for the funeral of his brother and to seek revenge on those who murdered him. The cast also includes Pam Grier, who'd soon be making her own inimitable mark in the world of blaxploitation movies.
Jim Brown, another former professional football player, had already found mainstream success in films like 'The Dirty Dozen' (1967) when he appeared in this thriller, where he plays a former Green Beret captain out to even the score after his father is killed in an organized crime hit.
'Slaughter' was Brown's first starring role. Typical of most blaxploitation films made during this era, it was a success at the box office and was lifted by a dynamic theme song by soul-funk artist Billy Preston, who just three years earlier had appeared with the Beatles as they played out their careers on a rooftop in London.
The martial arts genre in blaxploitation cinema was ably represented by athlete and karate champion Jim Kelly, who appeared in his first starring role as the eponymous character. Kelly was known to international audiences for his role in 1973's acclaimed 'Enter the Dragon' alongside Bruce Lee.
Jim Kelly was teamed with blaxploitation regulars Fred Williamson and Jim Brown for this unlikely tale about three martial-arts specialists who prevent white supremacists from tainting the US water supply with a toxin that's only harmful to Black people. By now the formula was tired, the plotlines more fanciful.
Hailed by many as the first blaxploitation film, 'Cotton Comes to Harlem' was shot in the summer of 1969. It features two Black NYPD detectives, "Coffin" Ed Johnson (played by Raymond St. Jacques) and "Gravedigger" Jones (played by Godfrey Cambridge), on the hunt for a money-filled cotton bale stolen by a corrupt reverend named Deke O'Malley, portrayed by Calvin Lockhart.
Raymond St. Jacques and Godfrey Cambridge checking on two members of the mafia in a scene from the film 'Cotton Comes to Harlem.' In hindsight, some critics felt the movie didn't quite make the blaxploitation cut, identifying it more as merely an action comedy. Instead, it was another movie released early the following year that really catered to America's Black audiences, who were craving their own riffs on genre cinema.
'Shaft in Africa' was the last in the original 'Shaft' series of films. A television show starring Roundtree was produced, but was canceled after just seven episodes. Blaxploitation was beginning to lose its luster.
But by the mid-1970s, attitudes towards the depiction of African Americans in cinema were changing. 'Foxy Brown' was criticized not only for its "disturbing" portrayal of Black womanhood, but also for its controversial stereotypes about violence and substance abuse in Black culture. Grier, in a 1979 interview with Essence, defended her role. "Why would people think I would ever demean the Black woman? she said. "Sure, a lot of those films were junk. But they were what was being offered. They provided work for me and jobs for hundreds of Blacks. We all needed to work. We all needed to eat."
Pam Grier is up there with Richard Roundtree as a standout name in the history of blaxploitation cinema. Having already appeared in supporting roles in a number of films, Grier took top billing as a vigilante who seeks violent revenge against an illegal substance dealer responsible for her sister's addiction.
Blaxploitation heroine Pam Grier returned to the screen for this sort-of sequel to 'Coffy.' In it she plays a vigilante who takes a job as a high-class call girl in order to get revenge on the mobsters who murdered her boyfriend.
The Congress for Racial Equality, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and other organizations attempted to block the film's distribution, and advocated for more African American involvement in Hollywood's creative process. Meanwhile, 'Super Fly' created a real buzz at the box office, and was the highest-grossing blaxploitation film at the time, doing even better than 'Shaft.'
Richard Roundtree agreed to appear in this third outing for private detective John Shaft, with much of the action taking place in Ethiopia. The movie received lukewarm reviews: "Less daring, less ethnically sophisticated, more antiseptic, more comfortably middle-class" was how the New York Times described the effort, this time directed by John Guillermin.
Despite Kelly's obvious skills as a martial artist, 'Black Belt Jones' was released to mixed critical reception: most of Kelly's film roles played up the novelty (at the time) of an African-American martial arts master, though he was a very impressive exponent of karate and highly regarded by the likes of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.
'Three the Hard Way' ended up almost parodying itself. Few took it seriously, and many agreed the genre had lost its edge. It had been exploited enough!
The hugely successful 'Shaft' film series made a mainstream star out of Richard Roundtree, who would reprise his role again in 1973 (and much later in 2000 and 2019, with Samuel L. Jackson now in the lead role). But for the most part, blaxploitation remained defined as consisting of low- to mid-budget, non-mainstream productions starring Black actors in key roles, and originally intended for Black urban audiences.
The blaxploitation movies of the 1970s emerged out of the civil rights and Black Power movements and represented the first real explosion of American cinema dominated by, for, and about communities of color. With Black audiences craving their own riffs on genre cinema, these films enjoyed incredible success, mostly between 1972 and 1975. The genre's audience appeal soon broadened across racial and ethnic lines, and Hollywood took notice. So too did the music industry: blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of funk and soul music! Meanwhile, some of the era's most popular stars, actors like Richard Roundtree and Pam Grier, went on to enjoy mainstream success.
The genre's legacy endures. Filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, and the late John Singleton have drawn on blaxploitation's enormous and complicated influence on American cinema as reference while making their pictures.
Melvin Van Peebles was one of the earliest and most influential creators in the genre and is remembered as the "Godfather of Black Cinema." He passed away on Tuesday, September 21, at the age of 89. His influence on cinema and culture in the 1970s was immense, and he is even credited with creating the blaxploitation genre with his 1971 movie 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song.' Van Peebles was an actor, director, writer, musician, and painter. He created acclaimed works in both cinema and theater. The New York Times once described him as “the first Black man in show business to beat the white man at his own game,”
Click through the following gallery and start digging some of the most influential blaxploitation movies ever made.
Blaxploitation cinema revisited
Learn more about the movies made by, for, and about Black communities
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The blaxploitation movies of the 1970s emerged out of the civil rights and Black Power movements and represented the first real explosion of American cinema dominated by, for, and about communities of color. With Black audiences craving their own riffs on genre cinema, these films enjoyed incredible success, mostly between 1972 and 1975. The genre's audience appeal soon broadened across racial and ethnic lines, and Hollywood took notice. So too did the music industry: blaxploitation films were the first to feature soundtracks of funk and soul music! Meanwhile, some of the era's most popular stars, actors like Richard Roundtree and Pam Grier, went on to enjoy mainstream success.
The genre's legacy endures. Filmmakers including Quentin Tarantino, Spike Lee, and the late John Singleton have drawn on blaxploitation's enormous and complicated influence on American cinema as reference while making their pictures.
Click through the following gallery and start digging some of the most influential blaxploitation movies ever made.