When America speaks of movie CLASSICS we hear Gone with the Wind,Casablanca,It’s a Wonderful Life,The Wizard of Oz….Black America got some CLASSICS as well…SHAFT was released on July 2, 1971. Its about private eye John Shaft who is hired by Harlem crime lord, Bumpy Jonas to retrieve his kidnapped daughter from the mob. The film was directed by Gordon Parks, Hollywood’s first major black director.The film was one of only three profitable movies in 1971 grossing $13 million on a budget of $500,000. Shaft was well received by film critics and is considered by many as one of the best films of 1971. The soundtrack scored by Isaac Hayes peaked at number 1 on The Billboard 200 chart, and spent 60 weeks on the charts. At the 1972 Academy Awards Isaac Hayes became the first African-American to win an Oscar for a non-acting category when “Theme from Shaft” won the award for Best Original Song. At the Golden Globe Awards he won Best Original Score and at the Grammys he won Best Instrumental Arrangement and Best Original Score. In 2000, Shaft was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. CLASSIC.