Shaft's Big Score

Shaft's Big Score! is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Gordon Parks and written by Ernest Tidyman. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is the second entry in the series about private detective John Shaft, with Richard Roundtree again in the lead. Moses Gunn and Drew Bundini Brown reprise their roles from the first film, joined by newcomers Joseph Mascolo, Julius Harris and Joe Santos. Counted among the blaxploitation films of the 1970s, it blends neo-noir and mystery elements and is set in New York City.

When Isaac Hayes, composer of the first film, declined the scoring offer (contributing only the song "Type Thang"), Parks, himself a musician, composed and performed the score. Made on a budget of about $1,978,000 — more than three times that of its predecessor — the film received mixed reviews: critics praised its improved production values and direction but found it lacking the original's charm. The series continued one year later with Shaft in Africa.