User Reviews

Shady businessman Gil Kirkwood (well played to the conniving hilt by David Hedison), who's been accused of embezzlement, gets killed in a fire. Moreover, his wife Joanna (a sympathetic portrayal by Cathy Lee Crosby) is injured in said fire. Joanna hires Shaft (Richard Roundtree, as smooth and charismatic as ever) to investigate after the fire is determined to be arson.

Director Allen Reisner not only relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, but also stages a few action sequences with a reasonable amount of flair, with the wild arson set piece rating as the definite rousing highlight. The nice cast keeps this one watchable: Eddie Barth as the gruff Lt. Al Rossi, Don Knight as the smarmy J.L. Teague, Robert Phillips as vicious hitman Harry Praeger, Bert Freed as a hard-nosed fire inspector, and Arthur O'Connell as the kindly Frank Lucas. Ravishing 70's drive-in movie goddess Candice Rialson has a regrettably minor role as foxy moll Myrna. Johnny Pate's funky-grinding score hits the get-down groovy spot. Although this teleflick suffers a bit from routine plotting and a claustrophobic overemphasis on exteriors (this Shaft outing would have benefitted from more scenes set outside in the city), it nonetheless makes for an entertaining enough diversion.